Hill Farm

Hill Farm is a farmhouse dating from the later 17th century with 18th-century alterations, located in Kirtling. It is constructed of timber box-frame with brick infill panels, faced with cement render, and roofed with plain tiles.

The building comprises a pair of two-storey ranges and a single-storey range arranged contiguously in an east-west orientation. The principal south elevation consists of three distinct sections. The first has three bays with a central entrance door flanked by modern small-paned casement windows, and three eight-over-eight sash windows at first-floor level. The adjoining range features a pair of 20th-century glazed doors at ground level with a 20th-century timber-framed casement window above. The single-storey section has a large 20th-century timber-framed casement window and a smaller casement beside it, with a blind east gable.

The rear north elevation of the single-storey range contains a six-light casement window and a combed pargetting panel to the left of it. A 20th-century glazed and timber entrance porch has been added here. The central range has modern timber-framed casement windows at ground and first-floor levels and in the east gable. The end range features a catslide roof with a two-storey gabled dormer containing the main staircase. The west gable end has a modern small-paned casement at ground floor and a small two-light window at attic level.

The interior at ground floor contains a kitchen, dining room, two sitting rooms, games room, study and WC, connected by a passageway. Fireplaces survive in the dining room and both sitting rooms. Exposed timber framing, studs, cross-timbers, spine beams and groundsills are visible throughout. A simple open-sided timber staircase with half-landings stands on the north side, leading to the cellar, first floor and attic, with an internal leaded light in the flank wall of the stair turret.

The first floor comprises a bathroom, four bedrooms and a walk-in closet, with exposed framing, studs, cross-beams and bracing throughout. A secondary staircase abutting the south side of the central chimney stack links the master bedroom to the middle sitting room. The attic contains a mixture of historic timbers and later replacement rafters, tie beams and collars, with a wide timber-boarded floor.

Plank and batten doors with strap hinges survive in various locations throughout the house.

Hill Farm lies within the former Kirtling Estate, acquired by the Tudor courtier Edward North in 1533; he was created Lord North of Kirtling in 1554. From the 1680s the estate's fortunes declined, with the property being one of 13 farms on the estate by 1696. Careful management in the 1770s consolidated the farms into larger units, during which alterations to the building may have been undertaken. Further 20th-century alterations include the addition of a new porch and replacement windows.

The building is designated for its historic and architectural significance. As a pre-1700 farmhouse with substantial surviving original timber-frame and historic fabric, it sustains claims to special historic interest. Architecturally, it represents an evolved structure with distinctive detailing such as the two-storey stair turret, demonstrating its different stages of development and exemplifying the vernacular architecture of the region.