Cross Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Built in the late 15th or early 16th century as a hall house, it originally comprised two-storey cross wings at each end. Around the late 17th century, the entire house was faced with chequered red brick, and a cross wing was added to the northeast end. A further cross wing, finished with roughcast render on the front, was added in the early 18th century. The roof is covered with plain tiles. The house has two storeys and attics. A projecting central porch, also of two storeys and attics, is a prominent feature. All gables have parapets with moulded brick coping and corbelled-out flat ends. A continuous plinth and floor band runs around the building. Two tall, late 17th-century red brick chimney stacks are located on the front slope of the roof, one to the right of the left cross wing and the other between the porch and the right cross wing; an inserted stack is present in the former two-bay hall. A remarkable feature is the survival of the original late 17th-century windows on both the front and back elevations. These are oak mullioned casements of one to three lights. The larger windows have diamond iron mullion bars, and nearly all the iron casements are original, featuring scrolled iron spring catches. The front elevation includes three-light casements to both the ground and first floors, a two-light casement for the stair window to the left of the porch, and a one-light casement in the northeast attic gable. The attic of the porch has a two-light casement which retains original diamond leading and glass, while the side elevations of the porch have two-light casements. The front door retains its original wooden frame. The southwest wing has original 18th-century casements to the ground and first floors, with four and three lights respectively. On the rear elevation, the first-floor windows are shorter. The right-hand side of one of the two three-light ground floor windows retains diamond leading and original glass. Inside, the structure of the house is fully exposed. The hall (to the right of the porch) has an inserted chamfered floor beam. The cross wing behind the porch features curved wind braces. A late 17th-century stairwell to the northeast connects with a wing containing a ground floor room with ovolo moulded bearers and scratch moulded panelling. The windows throughout the interior have simple fielded-panelled folding shutters, believed to be original late 17th-century. Many original early doors remain. The 18th-century wing contains a newel staircase adjoining a chimney stack on the rear gable end.