Fernhall Farmhouse And Adjoining Cowhouse

Fernhall Farmhouse and an adjoining cowhouse are a timber-framed building, originally divided into three tenements, dating to the late 14th and early 15th centuries. The building has undergone several alterations, likely in the 17th century, late 18th century, mid-19th century, and restoration in the late 20th century. The main structure is timber-framed with painted brick infill on a rubble base. Later replacement walling is of brick and rubble, and the roof is stone-tiled, laid in diminishing courses, with a large rubble ridge stack, partially rebuilt in brick, and a brick stack at the north-east end.

The farmhouse is a cruck hall-house of two framed bays aligned north-east/south-west, originally featuring cross-wings at both ends. A rubble external chimney adjoins the south-west wing’s south elevation. The main roof now extends over the north-east cross-wing. A central chimney and ceiling were inserted into the hall in the 17th century. The farmhouse is single-story with an attic and dormers. The timber framing on the front elevation has three panels from sill to wall-plate, with only the upper row of panels visible. Cross-wing trusses incorporate collar and tie-beam trusses with struts and V-struts above the collar; the front-facing V-struts are swept.

The north-west front elevation features a 3-light, a 2-light, and a single-light leaded casement window on the ground floor, along with three raking-top dormers with 2-light latticed casements. There are also three doors, two of which are partly glazed. The cross-wing gable end has a ground floor 3-light casement window, a 4-light attic window with latticed casements, a plank weathering, and a partly-glazed door with flanking square leaded lights. A lean-to outshut with a catslide roof is located at the rear north-east end.

The interior hall retains the central cruck truss, featuring a collar and three cusped openings above the collar, along with cusped braces below the collar. Surviving end trusses and a large fireplace are also noted in the south-west bay.

The adjoining cowhouse, dating to the 17th century, is timber-framed and weather-boarded with a stone-tiled roof laid in diminishing courses. It has three framed bays and is single-story. The north-west elevation has two doors and a large opening. Internally, the cowhouse exhibits wall framing with two panels from sill to wall-plate and short straight braces across the lower corners. The roof structure includes a collar and tie-beam truss with three struts and a V-strut at the west end, plus two intermediate and a king-post truss at the south-west end, and two tiers of trenched purlins.