Church Farmhouse

Church Farmhouse is a substantial timber-framed house of mid-16th-century origin, significantly expanded and modified over the following two centuries. It stands on the east side of Shawrury Lane at Church End.

The house comprises a mid-16th-century centre block with a south-east cross-wing, and a north-west cross-wing dated 1669 (marked with initials CTK, now removed from the gable end). The mid-18th century saw further additions to the north-west cross-wing. These elements combine to form an H-shaped plan.

The main range and south-east cross-wing are timber-framed but have been cased or rebuilt in red brick. The north-west cross-wing is constructed of coursed and squared sandstone. All sections have plain-tiled roofs with gable-end parapets and shaped coping. Ridge stacks of red brick are present, with two side stacks to the main range and a similar arrangement to the north-west cross-wing.

The building presents two storeys, with a later 19th-century wood dormer added to the main range. Ground-floor windows and a doorway feature flat arches of rusticated sandstone and gauged brick arches, with a panelled door. The rear wall contains mid-18th-century window openings with original mullions featuring quadrant mouldings.

The south-east cross-wing has a front gable with a blind attic window and similar rusticated sandstone arches to one ground and one first-floor window. Its rear gable displays exposed timber framing, with a cambered tie-beam on jowled posts with curved bracing and queen-struts supporting a through-purlin roof with wind bracing.

The north-west cross-wing rises to two storeys and an attic. The attic window retains an original splayed casement surround with a chamfered mullion. Ground and first-floor windows have been enlarged, though another original window with a chamfered mullion survives in the side wall. The side wall also retains an original sandstone chimney stack, flush with the wall and finished with red brick upper courses and a cogged brick string at eaves height. A second side stack in the same wall dates probably to the mid-18th century.

The mid-18th-century additions include a service range to the rear, constructed of red brick in Flemish bond with a plain-tiled roof, end parapets and coping. This range has a casement with Y-tracery in a 2-centred arch in its gable end and an external staircase to the first-floor loft in its rear gable. Adjoining and contemporary with this range is a privy, featuring a parapet above its front-gable doorway (which has a 2-centred arch and original 2-panelled door) and a small lunette window to the rear, with two internal seats and cupboard doorways below.

Interior

The main cross-wings retain substantial timber framing. The south-east cross-wing has exposed timberwork with stop-chamfered wall posts, two bays, and a through-purlin roof on queen-struts with cambered tie-beams and wind bracing. A side-wall doorway has an arched head and old strap hinges. The main-range roof exhibits similar construction, though the red-brick external casing has concealed much of the internal framing, with only the wall plate visible.

The north-west cross-wing comprises two units. The front parlour is lined with raised-and-fielded deal panelling in two heights with a cornice, probably dating to the mid-18th century. Two and four-panelled doors occur throughout the house. A doorway from the north cross-wing to the mid-18th-century service range has an ogee arch, with a raised-and-fielded two-panelled door featuring an ogee-headed upper panel. An inglenook hearth occupies the rear room of this north cross-wing. The principal staircase, of mid-18th-century date, is a dog-leg type with column-on-vase balusters and toads-back rail on a closed string.

The opposing front and rear doorways of the original hall are positioned away from an inglenook hearth, typical of the mid-16th-century plan.