Black Hall

The Black Hall is a house dating probably to the 15th century, significantly remodelled around the early 17th century and altered in the 18th century. It is timber-framed with plaster infill, partly faced with red brick in an English garden wall bond, a sandstone rubble plinth, and a tile roof with gabled and hipped ends. Large stone rubble lateral stacks, featuring set-offs and later brick shafts, are also present.

The building retains two east bays of a medieval open hall, forming the north-west corner. Two ranges were added around the early 17th century, creating an L-shaped plan. The south range has a two-room plan, and the east range has two rooms with a stairhall and small back room between them. In the 18th century, an outshut and a large integral stack were built on the west side of the south wing, and the south front of the east wing was faced in brick.

The front of the building, facing south, is brick-built with three windows and features 19th-century 2-, 3-, and 4-light casement windows with glazing bars. Larger ground-floor windows have cambered arches. A circa 18th or early 19th century 6-panel door, with a porch, is located to the left of the centre. The wing on the left (west) has close-studding, tension braces, and a jettied first floor on all three sides. This wing adjoins a stone outshut and large integral stack. The rear (north) of the building shows large timber framing, a lateral stack, and a lower, earlier range on the right (north-west).

Inside, the two-bay medieval north-west range retains two cruck trusses. The centre truss is open, while the eastern truss is complete, with trenched purlins, a diagonal ridgepiece, curved wind-braces, and some reused smoke-blackened rafters. An inserted floor divides the bay; the eastern bay has chamfered cross beams and broad, unchamfered joists, whereas the western bay has a wall-post on the north side with a carved capital. The south wing has a queen-post roof with trenched purlins and thin wind-braces, and ovolo-moulded ceiling beams on both floors, along with dragon beams to the jetties on three sides. The west side is underbuilt with an outshut and a fireplace with chamfered stone jambs. The east wing features a framed ceiling with deeply chamfered beams and joists. An inscription, "NOW EST MORTALE QUOD OPTO," is above a doorway. A 18th-century open-well staircase has stick balusters, square newels and a moulded rail, accompanied by a 19th-century king-post and strut roof. Other 17th-century joinery includes some panelling and a scratch-moulded door within the south wing.