Middle Beanhall Farmhouse

Middle Beanhall Farmhouse, now a house, dates from the early 16th century and has undergone alterations in 1635, the 18th century, the mid-19th century, and the mid-20th century. The construction is timber-framed with painted brick and rendered infill, a sandstone base, brick replacement walling, and additions. The roof is tiled. The original layout comprised four framed bays and a cross-passage bay, roughly aligned north/south. Large external sandstone chimneys are located at the rear north-east and south gable end; the former features three tall 17th-century star-shaped stacks with a joint cap, and the latter a large 18th-century brick stack. A framed porch wing was added to the west front elevation around 1635, when the west front itself was altered.

The building is two storeys, with an attic and a cellar. The timber framing is mainly close-set vertical studding (two rows per storey), with the south service bay exhibiting three and four rows of square panels, except for the first floor of the west front. The north end of the west front has a jettied first floor supported by consoles. Above this are four attic gables (added around 1635 to create a fashionable galleried effect) featuring decorative concave lozenge panels. The porch wing displays herringbone panels above the first floor. The interior of the roof comprises collar and tie-beam trusses with struts.

The west front elevation has a jettied section to the left of the porch. Here are two ground floor four-light casements and a three-light and a four-light first floor casement. The windows in the attic “gallery” are now blocked. The attic gables have decoratively carved bargeboards and pendant finials. A door with six raised and fielded panels is located at the far left. The service bay to the right of the porch wing contains a three-light ground floor casement with plank weathering and a two-light and a four-light first floor casement. The porch wing includes a small 19th-century canted bay window with a moulded cornice and a two-light first floor casement with plank weathering. To the left of the bay window, an open passageway leads to a 20th-century main entrance door, and to the right of this passageway is an original bench with turned legs. The right side of the porch wing features a 19th-century lean-to and a tall brick stack.

The interior includes two first-floor rooms with Jacobean oak panelling; one of these rooms also has an arcaded chimneypiece and a decoratively carved frieze. A 19th-century wing extends from the north gable end, and 19th and 20th-century additions are at the rear. The extreme south end of the original building was a smoke bay which was later incorporated into the service bay. The date of the 17th-century alterations is inscribed on a rainwater hopper head at the centre of the attic “gallery.” Stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops are also present.