Brook Farmhouse

Brook Farmhouse is a 17th-century house significantly altered in the 19th and 20th centuries. The listing applies only to the north-western range. The house is timber-framed and rendered, with a decorative pattern that mimics the appearance of timber framing moulded into the render. The roof is covered in peg tiles, with an 18th century stack, rebuilt in the 19th century, set slightly off-centre to the north-east and featuring three diagonal shafts. The building has a rectangular plan with a projecting bay on the north-west side, positioned off-centre to the southwest. There is an 19th-century lean-to out-shut at the north-east gable with a peg-tiled roof.

The north-west front elevation has 19th-century casement windows, each with a small weather hood and glazing bars. The ground floor windows run from the north-east to the southwest, with one single-light window (2x3 panes), two 2-light windows (4x3 panes each), and one 2-light window on the projecting bay’s north-west face (4x3 panes). The south-west face of the bay has one single-light window (2x4 panes) and one 2-light window (4x3 panes). The first floor has a similar pattern of windows with one 2-light window (4x2 panes), a 2-light window on the projecting bay’s north-west face (4x3 panes), a single-light window on the projecting bay’s south-west face (2x4 panes), and a 2-light window (4x2 panes). The north-east gable has a first-floor window (2x3 panes). The out-shut has weatherboarding and a 2-light casement window. The southwest gable is partially hidden by a 19th-century porch and doorway. Front windows include a 2-light casement (4x3 panes) on the ground floor and a 2-light casement (4x3 panes) on the first floor. The roof space has a fixed light (2x3 panes). An interior divided into three rooms retains 17th-century bridging joists with lamb's tongue chamfer stops, joists with diminished haunched tenons and pendant soffits, and a wall plate with a face halved and bladed scarf joint. The stack, positioned between the central and north-east rooms, has fireplaces rebuilt in a 17th-century style. Evidence of straight tension bracing is visible in the outer walls and a partition aligned with the stack. This partition extends into the roof space, indicating the house was originally two stories with an attic. The roof structure includes side purlins and wind braces. The projecting bay shows a gap in the studding and is original. It was likely a stair tower, providing access to both the upper floor and the attic, though the stair is now gone. Remaining original doorway framing is on an internal partition wall between rooms. Although the original front door is missing, it likely faced outwards on the southeast side, now cut away and altered in the 19th century. The house is therefore an example of the 'internal chimney' type rather than the more common lobby entrance form. What is visible of the 17th-century structure represents the rear wall, along with a rear stair tower and an early-19th century back door in the out-shut.