Arden Farmhouse

Arden Farmhouse is a former farmhouse, now a house, dated 1755 with later additions. It is located on Mill Lane (west side).

The building is constructed of coursed squared sandstone with 20th-century pantiles to the main roof and stone slates to the rear wing.

The plan comprises a two-storey house with a central entrance and stairway, with a single room to either side. To the rear is a lower two-storey single-depth section with an adjoining workshop behind. Chimney stacks are positioned at each gable end and at the rear end of the first rear wing.

On the front elevation, a central doorway is flanked by square two-light casement windows with plain surrounds and a single-light stair window above the door. The doorway features a large triple keystone with the centre fluted. Below the stair window is a small datestone inscribed JM dated 1755, which appears to have been truncated above. A late 20th-century half-glazed porch has been attached to the front between the windows. The left return has a single-light window near the front and two blocked attic windows. The rear wing has a three-light casement window in a plain surround with a two-light window above. Behind this, the workshop unit steps forward and has a small blocked window below the eaves. A square stone-built extension with brick infill to former windows is attached to the workshop; it is roofless and has no external access. The right return has a single attic window. The rear wing has an entrance door with a further door and window to the workshop behind, both obscured by a brick and breezeblock half-glazed lean-to extension running the whole length of the wing. There is a small stair window on the rear of the main house.

Internally, the front door opens to a small lobby with the staircase immediately in front. To the left is the main room with a large central beam with chamfer stops and exposed joists but no fireplace. The right-hand room (parlour) has a similar beam, partly boxed, with joists and a tiled mid-20th-century fireplace. Windows in both rooms have window seats below in the thickness of the wall. The rear wing is a kitchen with exposed joists. The two upstairs rooms in the main house have similar beams with chamfer stops and joists. A chamber above the rear wing has exposed purlins and a projecting chimney stack; the fireplace is blocked. A staircase from a corridor to the left of the stairs leads to the attic floor where two rooms are divided by the stair. There is a fielded panel door to one of the first-floor rooms. The roof structure is 20th-century, supported on original stone walls with an added line of bricks. Both end walls and dividing walls have a stone core with brick infill and extension. The workshop is open to the roof and contains a mixture of timbers, all machine cut.

The datestone over the entrance gives a date of 1755 and the main house is of this date. To the rear is a two-stage wing which is probably 19th-century and was certainly in place by 1893, as shown by the First Edition 1:2500 Ordnance Survey map. The outer section of the rear wing is later than the inner. The 1854 1:10560 map shows buildings on the site but is not clear enough to identify their footprint. By 1962 a small brick extension had been added to the rear north side, which by 1984 had been extended to form a small conservatory. A half-glazed porch at the front was also added by this date. The 20th-century extensions are not of special interest.