Court Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating to the late 16th century, it was altered and extended in the late 19th century. The construction is timber-framed with painted brick and rendered infill, on a base of lias limestone rubble and brick. Replacement brick walling, intended to resemble timber-framing, has been painted. The roof is tiled. The original plan consists of four framed bays aligned east/west, with a single-bay wing to the rear of the eastern end. The central two-bay hall has a rear external chimney with a brick stack and a front porch wing. There are late 19th-century additions including a single-bay extension to the west end service bay, featuring a gable-end chimney and a bread oven; another porch wing to the front of the east end bay, and a two-bay cross-wing at the east gable end. The farmhouse has two storeys, an attic, and a cellar. The timber framing exhibits four panels from sill to wall-plate. A large swept brace is visible at the front, in the lower left corner of the hall. The porch has a jettied first floor and attic with moulded brissums and, above, a tie-beam truss with two struts, a rail in-between, and a V-strut in the apex. The rear wing gable has two rows of panels at first-floor level. The central two panels of the lower row have a small convex brace across their inner corners, while the upper row features a collar and tie-beam truss with three struts and a concave V-strut in the apex. The south front has a 2-light and a 4-light casement window on the ground floor, and three 2-light casements on the first floor. The porch wing has an open front entrance, a 5-light window on the left side, and a 3-light ovolo-moulded wood-mullioned window on the right side. A 17th-century door within features an ogee moulding on the lintel. A 19th-century addition to the left side has an outshut. The 19th-century porch wing has a 4-panelled door with a flat canopy on consoles, a 2-light first-floor casement with a cambered head, and an attic light. The 19th-century cross-wing gable end has a ground- and first-floor 3-light casement with cambered heads. The interior was not inspected. A 19th-century verandah, supported by moulded posts, adjoins the hall at the rear. Sandstone and brick steps lead to an upper-level door in the 19th-century service bay.