Former House At Lion Farm

Former House at Lion Farm, Burghill

A former farmhouse dating from the late 17th century, now used for agricultural storage. The building comprises a timber frame structure with original wattle and daub infill to the first floor and attic, and later brick infill at ground floor level. The roof has been replaced with corrugated metal.

The house is two storeys with an attic, built to a three-cell plan with a central lobby entry and staircase. Both the north and south rooms have chimney stacks positioned at the gable ends. Nineteenth-century additions have been constructed to the north gable end and to the east and west sides.

The west (road) front is largely obscured by sizeable 19th-century additions for agricultural storage. Only the upper floor can be seen at the left, displaying timber clapboarding and two 19th-century two-light casements. Inside the later additions, the original timber frame is exposed. The ground floor features small-framed walling with a mid-rail and passing braces to the lower corners, infilled with red brick. Plank doors are positioned at the centre and right, with a two-light window to the right of centre in a bay that formerly held the front door. The first floor has wattle and daub infill and a cross-window at right.

The east flank is entirely obscured by a 19th-century lean-to addition with brick walling, though the original small-framed walling structure with lower angle struts to both floors is evident within. A door serves the ground floor centre, with a further ground floor door to the north and a first floor door immediately above it.

The north gable end is masked by 19th-century additions to its lower body, with the chimney stack decapitated. The gable is partially exposed with clapboarding, and gaps reveal timber framing and brick where the former stack stood. The southern gable end has a projecting brick stack at its centre, also decapitated. The walling is covered with clapboarding but gaps reveal the frame and central brickwork of the former chimney stack. Doors serve both floors at the left of the stack.

The ground floor rooms contain central, axial beams with chamfered edges and end stops. Both fireplaces have 18th or 19th-century surrounds, with the northern hearth lined with 19th-century bricks. The staircase in the central bay is a later replacement. At first floor level, the two lateral rooms each have two axial beams with chamfers and end stops, with wide floorboards to both rooms. The walls of the northern room have been clad with 20th-century pine, though this has been removed to the left of the chimney, revealing part of the timber frame. Sections of ceiling and joists are missing in the southern room, allowing a view through to the attic, which has chamfered and end-stopped purlins arranged in a staggered pattern. The partition walls at either side of the central bay contain wattle and daub infill, and the queen post trusses both incorporate a central doorway. The common rafters appear to be original, and despite the corrugated metal roof cladding, the majority of the battens have been retained in place.

The building possesses definite quality in its construction and the detailing of its joinery, with a timber frame that is largely intact. It forms a related group with the neighbouring barn, which appears to have been built at the same time and forms the nucleus of a farmstead.

The 19th-century brick buildings abutting the former farmhouse to its north, east and west sides are not included as part of this designated item.