Ravenstock Farmhouse

Ravenstock Farmhouse is a house dating to the late 16th century, with additions from the early 19th century and later 19th century arranged in a linear fashion. It is timber-framed, with plaster rendering, red brick (some burnt), peg tile, clay tile, and slated roofs. The front, which faces southeast, is composed of three distinct blocks arranged in descending roof levels from southwest to northeast. The tallest block, on the southwest, is of early 19th-century brick construction, with dentilled eaves and a peg-tiled roof. It has a two-window range, with a large, projecting, gabled brick porch of the late 19th century situated between the windows. A heavy, late 19th-century stack rises from the roof eaves towards the southwest end, with a similar cornice moulding at the northeast end. The windows are a mix of styles; the ground floor has a segment-headed three-light casement, and a 19th-century 2x2-paned casement. The first floor has a sash window with glazing bars (5x4 panes), and a 20th-century three-light casement. The porch features stone kneelers, a plinth, a gable parapet, and a stone inscription reading “F.G. (Gibson?)”. An inner, 19th-century boarded door with moulded battens leads inside. To the northeast is a timber-framed and plastered block with pargetting dating from around 1900, and a slate roof. This section has a two-window range with 20th-century two- and three-light casements with glazing bars, and a simple door. The northeasternmost unit is recessed and has a flush, half-length lean-to, with a large rebuilt stack at the southwest end; the windows are predominantly 20th-century casements. The rear, which faces northwest, is similar to the front, with a mixed pattern of fenestration across the three units. The southwest-facing end has a 20th-century rectangular bay window with a 1:8:1 light arrangement and a clay-tiled hipped roof. The northeast-facing end has a rendered ground floor with a 20th-century door and a single light casement window, with a sash window (3x4 panes) above. The interior of the central block (section 2) and the ground floor of section 3 reveal late 16th-century timber framing, with jowled posts, internal nailed tension braces, and stout ceiling joists. The exposed joists in section 3 feature diminished haunched soffit tenons and step/lamb's tongue chamfer stops. A stair trap is also present. A large stack, constructed of late 16th/early 17th-century brickwork, is located between the units. Large ground-floor, timber-lintelled back-to-back fireplaces are also present. The first floor of section 3 was rebuilt in the early 19th century using softwood. The interior of the 19th-century brick unit is plain. The building originated as a late 16th-century timber-framed range with a central stack, possibly incorporating a lobby-entrance system common to the region.