Top Farm Farmhouse

Top Farm Farmhouse

This is an early 19th-century farmhouse of Grade II significance. It is constructed of red brick laid in Flemish bond on its principal south elevation and in an indeterminate bond on the north face, with stone and brick dressings and a slate roof.

The farmhouse has a rectangular, double-pile plan with a late 19th-century extension on the east gable end, and a 20th-century lean-to entrance hall and porch occupying the angle between them. The north elevation faces onto a yard enclosed by a long L-shaped agricultural range; the other farm buildings are 20th-century and were not included in the assessment.

The two-storey, three-bay structure presents a shallow hipped roof with wide eaves. Brick chimney stacks with tall octagonal clay pots sit on the gable ends. The principal south elevation is considered the 'polite' front and features a central front door (now boarded up) with a wedge-shaped stone lintel, flanked by windows on both floors. These are eight-over-eight pane sashes with slender glazing bars which form into pointed arches in the upper sash, and have wedge-shaped lintels and projecting stone sills. To the right, the late 19th-century two-storey service extension is slightly recessed with a lower pitched roof and a wide brick gable stack, unrelieved by apertures. On the gable end stands a lean-to housing an outdoor privy with a plain wooden door frame (door removed), and a small opening in a plain wooden frame just above ground level in the return wall. The left return wall of the farmhouse is lit by a small four-pane casement window at ground floor level.

On the north-facing service elevation, the ground floor brickwork shows signs of repair. The first bay has a six-over-six pane sash window retaining external shutters, while the third bay window is boarded over but appears wider; both have gauged brick arches. The first floor is lit by two-light casements with slender wooden glazing bars and a small window with iron glazing bars in the central bay, all beneath segmental brick arches. The 20th-century lean-to has a vertical timber plank door and a sliding door, behind which the 19th-century service extension is lit on the ground floor by a wide three-light window with wooden glazing bars under a segmental brick arch. The top floor has two two-light casement windows with wooden lintels and sills.

The interior follows a double-pile arrangement with service rooms occupying the north pile and reception rooms the south pile. Ground and first floors each contain four rooms, one in each corner. The 20th-century lean-to on the north side provides access to both the farmhouse and service extension through doors with four flush panels and upright handles beneath segmental brick arches.

The service rooms feature plank and batten doors with strap hinges. The former kitchen in the north-east corner of the farmhouse has a black and red quarry-tiled floor, a chamfered bridging beam with lamb's tongue stop and joists, a wide opening with timber lintel and brick jambs for the former range or open grate, and a built-in cupboard with panelled sliding doors. Adjacent to the kitchen, the dairy also has a chamfered bridging beam and joists, a brick floor and whitewashed walls, with shallow arched brick thralls in white render lining three sides. The cellar contains low brick benches. The 19th-century service extension has ceiling joists and a brick floor, and retains the bread oven, hot water copper, and a glazed ceramic shallow sink on brick supports. The outdoor privy consists of a wooden box with a square wooden seat.

The 'polite' side contains four-panelled doors and plain skirting boards. Ground floor floors are laid in red and black quarry tiles, except the south-west room which has been partially carpeted, possibly concealing a fully-tiled floor. The wide six-panelled front door in a moulded wooden surround opens into this room, which retains a chimneypiece with a plain mantelshelf supported by shaped brackets and jambs indented with a narrow pointed arch; the fireplace has been boarded over but the grate may survive. The reception room in the south-east corner has a Victorian chimneypiece with a timber surround embellished with a dentilated mantelshelf, a cast-iron hood and green tiled splayed sides, and features a full-height built-in cupboard with recessed square panels.

A straight flight stair accessed from the south-west reception room leads to the first floor. The two rear bedrooms retain no features except for a small built-in cupboard with a plank and batten door and strap hinges in the north-east room. The two front bedrooms have fireplaces with plain timber surrounds and early 19th-century hob grates, with a narrow, unlit room between them. Loss of plaster on the east wall reveals construction of brick, lath and plaster, strengthened by vertical timber posts and one horizontal post.

The service stair ascends from the kitchen to two rooms which retain no features except the landing banister, which has stick balusters and a chamfered square newel post with finial.

The 19th-century roof comprises king post trusses with purlins and replacement rafters.