Withersley

Withersley is a farmhouse that dates from the early to mid-16th century, with an addition made in the late 16th or early 17th century. It features a heavy oak pegged timber-frame construction with plaster and brick in-fill. The roof is hipped and covered with corrugated iron, with boarded eaves over the remaining thatch. A brick ridge stack is present.

The exterior includes a single storey and attic, with a gable on the right that has a moulded bressumer jettied over the entrance. There is a 19th-century two-light casement window in the gable and a 19th-century plank door. The rear elevation shows a timber-framed gable to the left over a rubble panel, and to the right, there is a gable dormer with a 19th-century three-light casement above additional 19th-century casements.

Inside, there is a massive rubble base for the chimneystack, which features a 19th-century oven beneath a chamfered bressumer. The spine beam is chamfered and has stops, with joists supporting an 18th-century floor. A framed partition, with some wattle and daub in-fill, is located at the north end where the roof is hipped, now containing a partial loft. A 19th-century stair is enclosed with planks and leads to the attic. The roof structure includes single purlins, slightly curved wind braces, trusses with a tie beam, short struts, a collar, and v-struts. The attic is boarded over, while much of the ground floor retains exposed framing.

Historically, the building appears to have been constructed as an open hall in the early to mid-16th century, with the shorter bay to the south added later, which was also unfloored and unheated, featuring the moulded bressumer over the entrance. The partitioned north bay may have functioned as a smoke bay. A floor and stone fireplace were added to the early range around the 18th century, while the floor in the later range is from the 19th century.

Withersley is recognized as a small timber-framed farmhouse from the 16th century and later, with an intriguing history that remains relatively untouched since the 19th century.