Halfway House

The Halfway House is a house, likely dating from the late 16th century, with extensions added in the mid-17th century and a late 20th-century restoration. It is timber-framed with rendered infill on a sandstone rubble base, and has a thatched roof. The original core of the house consists of two framed bays aligned north-west to south-east, with a timber-framed lean-to at the rear of the north-western bay. A two-bay byre, lower in height, was added to the south-eastern end (now incorporated into the living space), alongside a single-bay cross-wing at the north-western end, both likely constructed in the mid-17th century. Two large external chimneys of rubble construction, with tiled offsets and brick stacks, adjoin in the rear angle between the cross-wing and the main range. The house is single storey with an attic, featuring dormers. The timber framing on the main range consists of three rows of panels from sill to wall-plate; the cross-wing has four rows of panels from sill to wall-plate. The main range has an attic truss with a collar and tie-beam, with two struts to the collar and a V-strut in the apex at the south-east gable end. The cross-wing has an interrupted collar and tie-beam truss with a V-strut in the apex at the south-west gable end. The south-west front has 20th-century single-light casement windows. The main range has five square ground floor windows (with two pairs set beneath continuous plank weatherings), and an eyebrow dormer with two further pairs of square windows. The main entrance, to the left, is a 20th-century glazed door. The cross-wing has three rectangular ground floor windows beneath a continuous plank weathering, and an attic light. Inside, the main ceiling beams are stop-chamfered with run-out stops. A fireplace in the main range is blocked, but the timber lintel remains, inscribed with the date “1648,” presumed to mark the date of the 17th-century alterations.