Cotton Farmhouse

Cotton Farmhouse is a farmhouse that dates from the mid to late 16th century and the mid-17th century, with alterations and additions made in the 18th century and mid to late 19th century. It is constructed with a timber frame and red brick nogging, which has been partly refaced, underbuilt, rebuilt, and extended using red brick and red sandstone. The roofs are covered with plain tiles.

The building features closely spaced uprights with a middle rail and consists of a range of three framed bays aligned approximately north-south, with a wing to the southwest and a 17th-century wing to the northwest. It is arranged in a U shape, which was filled in during the late 19th or early 20th century. The farmhouse has two storeys.

On the north front, the left-hand cross wing has an external brick lateral stack and an integral brick-end stack. The 17th-century range to the right has a brick ridge stack. The left-hand gabled range features four-light wooden casements on each floor and an underbuilt jetty made of 18th-century brick, with a moulded bressumer. There is a blocked first-floor window, with the present window offset to the right. The refaced 17th-century range to the right has two and three-light segmental-headed wooden casements, with two on the first floor and three on the ground floor.

The left-hand return front of the 17th-century range displays timber framing and a jettied gable with a moulded bressumer, along with a collar and tie-beam truss featuring queen struts. There is a lean-to 19th-century porch at the angle, which has a segmental-headed half-glazed door. The left-hand return front shows irregular fenestration and an off-centre doorway to the left. The infill range has an external brick end stick.

Inside, the ground-floor ceiling frame in the northernmost two bays of the eastern range includes ovolo-moulded cross beams, closely spaced ovolo-moulded joists, and a central carved boss featuring a grotesque mask with dragons at each corner. The dining room has a deeply chamfered cross-beam ceiling with large broach stops and 17th-century panelling. Some reused 17th-century panelling is present in the hall, along with old panelled and boarded doors. The east and south ranges have exposed wall plates with closely spaced peg holes, suggesting that the former framing in these walls was similar to what is still visible on the north front.