Hall Croft

Hall Croft is a farmhouse, now a house, probably dating from the earlier 17th century, with rebuilding and enlargement work in the 18th century and subsequent alterations. The building is constructed of coursed squared sandstone with quoins, and has a stone slate roof. It has a gable facing the road. The building is composed of three units; the first unit, closest to the road, is single depth, while the others are double depth and project forwards. The house has two and a half and two storeys under a single roof. A doorway with a plain surround is located near the left corner of the 18th-century portion. To the left of the doorway, the earlier part of the house is set back and has larger masonry up to the level of the first-floor window head, likely indicating it was raised above this level. A recessed, chamfered three-light mullioned window is present at the first floor, and a similar window, lacking mullions, is found in the gable wall at the same level. The rest of the windows are three-light, flat-faced flush mullion windows of 18th-century style, along with a tall attic window in the gable. A single ridge chimney is present, and at the rear of the first unit is a large, extruded chimney stack of segmental section, topped with a rectangular chimney featuring an offset and moulded cap. The south end of the main west range contains remains of an earlier timber-framed building incorporated into the rear wall; this includes a wall post with mortices and peg holes for former angle-bracing and scarf jointed wallplate, with peg holes indicating the positions of former wallposts. A large rectangular fireplace with a massive rectangular lintel is also present in this wall, with a smaller similar fireplace in the chamber above. A lime-ash floor remains in the former attic granary at this end, along with three lateral chamfered beams, including one in the south gable wall, featuring chamfer-stops, and stop-chamfered floor joists. A Tudor-arched doorway with a broad stop-chamfered surround is situated at the north end of the east wall, and a flight of stone steps around the northeast corner leads to a blocked doorway in the north gable wall (now covered by a later addition). The north range, formerly a cow-house, incorporates an integral half-sunk dairy on the care room, with former external doorways and windows now covered by a later addition. (An attached wing at the right-hand end, at right angles, in matching style but probably a 20th-century conversion of a former agricultural building, is not included in the description).