Astley Town House

Astley Town House is a former farmhouse dating from the late 16th to early 17th century, with later additions. It is timber-framed, with the ground floor partially bricked and painted brick and lath and plaster infill filling the panels, and tiled roofs. The building’s layout is roughly an ‘F’ shape, featuring a projecting cross-wing to the west and a central stack with a triple chimney arrangement. There is also an external stack to the main range and one to the cross-wing. A cross-passage lies behind the main stack.

The main range consists of two bays with a gabled bay, and the projecting cross-wing has two bays. The north elevation has two gables, one to the right of centre and one in the projecting cross-wing to the right. These contain two-light leaded casement windows. The first floor has irregular fenestration with three windows, one of which is housed in a small gabled projection with a small external stack. A later brick lean-to on the ground floor obscures the original facade, and it now contains 20th-century windows and a door. The east gable has a painted brick ground floor and three 19th-century casements with segmental heads, along with a four-light window on the first floor. A lean-to is present at the rear.

The timber framing consists of square panels, roughly two panels from the mid-rail to the eaves; at the rear, the framing is largely complete with two panels from sill to mid-rail, and incorporates V-struts in the gables. Timber weatherboarding protects the windows.

Inside, remnants of a former 17th-century staircase with twisted balusters lead from the first floor to the attic. A large inglenook fireplace is located backing onto the cross-passage.