The Whare

House. Dating from the late 15th to early 16th century, The Whare is a large, T-plan hall house facing south, with a cross wing to the east. In the 17th century, a floor was inserted into the hall range, and a large chimney was added, along with a reconstruction of the roof.

The house is timber-framed and plastered, featuring steep gabled roofs covered in old red tiles. A small, lean-to extension, with a catslide tiled roof, sits at the rear, in the angle between the hall and cross wing. The north gable of the east wing has a projecting gable and a dripboard at eaves level. A large red brick central chimney, with four octagonal shafts aligned across the hall range, is a prominent feature. A more modern chimney is located in the center of the east wing.

The front of the house has three windows, with a door situated in line with the central chimney. The windows are wooden casements, mostly with three or two lights. The east wing was originally built as two storeys and two structural bays, providing two rooms on each floor. A stair hatch, originally in the southwest corner, has been extended to accommodate a modern staircase. Tension bracing is visible within the walls. The roof is of collar purlin crown post construction with straight braces to the purlin.

Part of a four-light, unglazed diamond mullion window is exposed on the north wall of the ground floor, adjacent to the northeast corner. Similar blocked windows survive in the east wall of the upper rooms, and mortices and a shutter groove are visible on the underside of the tie beams in the north and south gables. Edge-halved scarf joints with bridled butts are found in the wall plates of both the cross wing and the hall range, indicating they are structurally separate. Close studding and a long curved brace are visible at the west end. Angled jowled posts and a severed tie beam are located at the east end of the hall range. The roof was reconstructed using a clasped purlin method. The inserted floor is supported by chamfered and hollow-stopped joists carried on a chamfered axial beam in both parts of the hall range. The central chimney includes a wide fireplace with a stopped and chamfered lintel in the hall, while the west parlour and the chamber above (formerly the stair in the southwest corner) have depressed four-centred chamfered brick arched fireplaces, now plastered within the parlour. The hall fireplace is served by two flues.

Historically, The Whare was part of the same ownership as a 16th-century property, Bridge End (formerly Yewhurst Farm), located 3 metres to the south. Researchers at the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (RCHM) have suggested this may be an example of a unit system, providing housing for separate households jointly farming the same land.