Manor Farmhouse With Attached Smith And Stables

This is a small country house with attached smithy and stables, dating to the mid-18th century with early 19th-century additions. It is located on the north side of Main Street in Kirmond Le Mire. The house is built of red brick with ashlar dressings and has pantile hipped and double-ridge roofs, with two ridge stacks and a single stack on the hip at the rear. Decorated brick eaves run along the roofline.

The south front is two storeys and an attic, with two bays. A central doorway has a round-headed ashlar architrave with a raised keystone, a fanlight, and a six-panelled door. Flanking the doorway are single windows with segmental heads and raised ashlar keystones; the window to the left has a glazing bar sash, and the window to the right is blocked. There are two glazing bar sashes above, also with segmental heads and raised ashlar keystones. The west side of the house has five bays, with the bay to the right projecting slightly. It features five glazing bar sashes with segmental heads and raised ashlar keystones on the ground floor, and five glazing bar sashes above, the window to the right also with segmental head and raised ashlar keystone. Two small, semi-circular domers are visible. The east side of the house has a first-floor band and decorated eaves. Four bays are irregular, with three glazing bar sashes on the ground floor, three above, and a fourth adding a window that breaks through the first-floor band with a segmental head.

A mid-19th century extension serves as a smithy, stables, and cart shed and is attached to the west side of the rear. This extension features decorated eaves and two glazing bar sashes with segmental heads. A doorway is positioned to the right, with a segmental head, a plain overlight, and a four-panelled door. Further to the left are plank double doors, followed by a small opening with a shutter. Four stable doors alternate with three shuttered openings. The smithy’s interior is intact and features a tall chimney, a window with a segmental head and close-set vertical bars, and a doorway. Attached to the smithy is a cart shed.

Inside the house, a mid-18th century staircase has a two-flight return with three cylindrical moulded balusters, each featuring a knop, ornate carved treadends, and a V-moulded handrail. A mid-18th century drawing room is notable for its high-quality fielded panelling, delicately moulded cornice with egg and dart, foliated scroll, and dentil decoration. The drawing room’s marble fireplace has an ornate, deeply carved chimney piece, featuring a sharply carved, stylised flower head flanked by foliate scrolls. Above the fireplace is a moulded square panel with lugged corners containing rosettes.