West End Farmhouse

West End Farmhouse

Farmhouse, dating to circa the late 17th century or possibly early 18th century (a datestone in the south-west wall is inscribed I.H.1702), remodelled and extended in the late 18th or early 19th century, with 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed of whitewashed red brick laid in alternate courses of stretchers and headers, though not in regular Flemish bond. The roof is Welsh slate with moulded brick coping to gable ends and a hipped end to the rear wing. A moulded brick kneeler sits at the rear south-west corner; the front kneelers are covered by a later moulded wooden cornice. A brick plinth and wide moulded brick platband at first-floor level run along the front and east side of the rear wing. Internal gable-end stacks with rebuilt shafts are present, with a large axial stack (formerly gable-end) to the rear wing featuring a later yellow-brick shaft.

The house is T-shaped in plan. The original form comprises a two-room north front range with a central entrance and stairhall, both rooms heated by gable-end stacks. The kitchen occupied the central rear wing, also served by a gable-end stack. In the late 18th or early 19th century, the house was remodelled and extended: the front was refenestrated, a two-storey unheated one-room addition (probably a dairy) was built at the end of the rear kitchen wing, and a one-room addition with a back staircase was constructed in the rear left-hand angle. In the 20th century, further alterations included the demolition of ground-floor external walls of the rear left-hand addition to form an open-sided loggia, the repositioning of the back stairs, the addition of a bay window in the rear left-hand angle, and a conservatory porch in the rear right-hand angle. It is uncertain whether a small room partitioned at the rear of the left-hand room of the main range was an original feature; its partition wall was demolished in the 20th century. A single-storey stable range at the right (west) end of the front range is probably 18th-century; the coach house has been converted to an office, and the stables now serve as a garage, both with doorways on the rear elevation.

Exterior: The building is two storeys with attic space. The symmetrical three-window front is disposed slightly to the left, with a central doorway. Originally a five-window front, the original openings have been blocked and replaced with late 18th or early 19th-century 16-pane sashes in flat brick arches; these windows break through the plinth and platband. The ground-floor right-hand sash is a 20th-century replacement. The central doorway features a 19th-century glazed flush-panel door and 19th-century porch with rebuilt wooden piers. The gable ends display brick stringcourses at eaves level and small 19th or 20th-century two-light attic casements with glazing bars. The right (west) gable adjoins the stables, while the left (east) end has blocked openings. The moulded platband continues on the east side of the rear, where a 19th-century or late 18th/early 19th-century two-storey addition with a hipped roof now stands open at ground level; in the angle to the left sits a 20th-century bay window, and to its left are a 12-pane sash and two-light casement on the ground floor. The west side of the rear wing features circa late 18th or early 19th-century 16-pane sashes (the ground-floor right-hand being a 20th-century replacement) and a 20th-century glazed conservatory porch in the angle with the main range. The south end of the rear wing has a small three-light casement with glazing bars on the first floor. The stable and coach-house wing on the right (west) side is built of irregular-bond red brickwork with a hipped slate roof; it is blind on the front but has a small lunette, large 20th-century garage doors, and French casements at the rear.

Interior: Much original internal joinery survives. The front right-hand room features bolection-moulded panelling and glazed china cupboards flanking a fireplace with a 20th-century chimneypiece; a chamfered ceiling beam with hollow-step stops is present. The front left room has a 20th-century ceiling board and 20th-century chimneypiece. The large rear wing room (formerly the kitchen) has a 20th-century chimneypiece and arched china cupboards either side. The central hall contains a late 17th-century open-well moulded-string staircase with twisted balusters, square newels, and moulded handrail, with a fielded-panel dado. Bolection-moulded panelling decorates the landing at the top of the stairs, with a segmental arch and flush-panel double doors to the rear landing, topped by a moulded cornice, and flush-panel doors to left and right. The right-hand bedroom has a moulded cornice and small fireplace with bolection chimneypiece and flanking cupboards with flush-panel doors. The back landing has two- and three-panel doors, one with a drop handle. The rear bedroom features bolection panelling on its rear wall and a small fireplace with bolection chimneypiece and 19th-century cast-iron tiled grate; a cambered chamfered ceiling beam with hollow-step stops is present. The balustrade at the top of the attic stairs comprises thick stack balusters with a moulded handrail. Two-panel doors appear in the attic. The roof is of tenoned butt-purlin construction, with the upper purlins appearing to be clasped above the collars. The rear wing has a light-scantling tenoned butt-purlin roof.