The Laurels

The Laurels is a farmhouse, now disused, mainly of the late 17th century, but possibly incorporating parts of an earlier building, with later additions and alterations. It is constructed of red brick in random and English garden wall bonds, and timber framing with red brick infill to a gabled range at the rear, all under slate roofs. The building has a basic L-plan with a lower range to the rear on the left, and an outbuilding attached to the left. It is two storeys and has an attic. Late 18th or early 19th century segmental-headed three-light casement windows are located directly below the eaves on the left and right, with a similar window to the ground floor on the left. A six-panel door is situated to the right, sheltered by a gabled brick porch with barleysugar balusters to the sides, coped verges, and an outer Tudor arch. A gabled dormer window in the roof above the right window features a 18th-century casement and cusped bargeboards with a pointed finial. A stepped red brick ridge stack is located to the left, with a toothed band to the base and four attached diagonal shafts. An external end stack is present to the right, and a pointed finial adorns the left gable end. A short gabled range to the rear on the left has a queen-strut end truss with V-struts from the collar, projecting single-purlin ends and cusped baseboards. An external end stack serves a 19th-century single-storey gabled addition abutting the rear range. Remaining evidence of a label is found above the centre ground-floor window. A single-storey range to the left of the main range (possibly formerly a malthouse) has three 19th-century casements to the front, two to the right with segmental heads. Reused perforated tiles, similar to those found in malthouses, form the external steps to the rear. Inspection of the interior was not possible at the time of resurvey in March 1987, but it was noted to have chamfered ceiling beams, inglenook fireplaces in the ground-floor rooms on either side of the ridge stack, brick cross walls, and one collar and tie beam truss to the loft in the 19th-century addition to the left of the main range.