Hole Farmhouse

House. Dating from the 15th century, with extensions in the 19th century. The house is timber framed and has a roughcast rendered exterior, with a roof of handmade red plain tiles. It originally consisted of a two-bay hall facing northwest, with a late 16th-century chimney stack in the right bay against the rear wall. A service bay was added to the right, featuring a 19th-century internal stack against the rear wall, and a parlour or solar bay is on the left. A 19th-century lean-to extension of painted brick with a slate roof is at the left end, along with a 19th-century gabled bread oven beyond, and an internal stack at the rear. The house is one storey high with attics. There is one 19th-century tripartite sash window with 4-12-4 lights, one early 19th-century sash window with 16 lights, two small casements, and two 19th-century casements set in gabled dormers. A plain boarded door has a small light. At each end of the roof, collar and collar-purlins are visible through the render. The house features jowled posts, arched braces to a cambered central tiebeam, and heavy studding, with much of the original wattle and daub infill remaining; one panel is exposed behind glass. The left bay has heavy plain joists, arranged longitudinally and raised, with a blocked stair trap in the front right corner. The hall includes paired display braces and bench fixings. There is an inserted floor dating from around 1560, with a chamfered axial beam with run-out stops of step form with the corners cut back, joists plastered to the soffits, and supported on deep pegged clamps. A wide wood-burning hearth has a chamfered mantel beam with plain stops, reduced for a 20th-century grate; the back has been cut away and the flue rebuilt. The current front door occupies the original front door’s position, and a window now stands where the original rear door was. There are twin plain service doorways, and the original axial partition has been removed. The original crownpost roof is largely complete, with axial braces, although soot-encrusted over the hall and painted over. The original timber frame survives in exceptionally unaltered condition.