Farmhouse at Walnut Tree Farm

Farmhouse at Walnut Tree Farm

This farmhouse was likely built in the late 16th or early 17th century as an open hall house with a later outshut. It was re-fronted with brick in the late 18th or early 19th century.

The building is L-shaped in plan, aligned east to west and facing south. It originally comprised a four-bay open hall house with a cross passage, to which a lean-to outshut was added later. The roof is steeply pitched and covered with clay pantiles. The timber-framed walls are fronted with red brick or rendered.

The two-storey south elevation features an axial red brick chimneystack and displays three window bays containing timber-framed side-hung casements. These appear to be of two phases of replacement, probably from the late 19th and 20th centuries. The ground floor casements are each of 6 lights and the first-floor casements of 4 lights. The main entrance is positioned between the central and right bay and has a shallow timber porch with a camber-arched opening over a red brick plinth, a pamment threshold, a panelled outer door with glazed top panels, and a half-glazed inner door. The south, east and north elevations are faced with red brick laid in monk bond (2 stretchers and a header), concealing the earlier timber framing. The east gable has a large ground floor window and blocked segmental-arched and window openings. The west gable is rendered and features a central flat-arched door opening with a hoodmould containing timber-framed glazed doors. Both east and west gables have painted timber bargeboards. The rear north elevation is partly rendered and has a lean-to outshut to the east half, extended with a rear lean-to porch in the 20th century. The outshut has a pantile roof covering, red brick walls laid in monk bond, and a single dormer on the north slope where it meets the lean-to.

The interior plan form is that of a four-bay open hall house with three cells on plan and a cross passage between the central and east cells. A front door on the south elevation has an opposing doorway on the north wall of the dining room. The partition wall separating the central cell and service wing (now the kitchen) has been removed, as evidenced by a row of empty sockets on the downside of a beam which is chamfered on its west side only. The dining room occupies the central cell and retains exposed timber joists (many of which appear to have been replaced and stop short of the chimneystack), a deeply chamfered beam, a substantial inglenook fireplace on the west wall with a chamfered bressummer, a pantry (possibly the former location of a stair) to the north side of the fireplace, exposed timber framing on the north wall incorporating a blocked window opening, and a four-centred timber archway opposite the front door leading to the outshut. The living room at the west end retains exposed ceiling joists (though they stop short of the chimneystack) and a chamfered bressummer to the fireplace. Both rooms retain a pamment floor and late 18th or early 19th century moulded architraves to their windows, along with late 20th century concrete hearths. Through the arched doorway on the north wall of the dining room, the outshut retains exposed timber framing on its south wall (the former south elevation of the house before the outshut was added), an exposed beam, and a variety of timber battened-and-ledged and panelled doors. The floor has a 20th century quarry tile covering and a straight stair ascends west along the south wall to the first-floor corridor.

At first floor level, a corridor was introduced along the north side, off which are three bedrooms to the east, south and west, adhering to the open hall plan form. Exposed timber framing survives along the north wall of the corridor; the wall plate is cut where the stair and dormer window were later introduced, and the door opening to the east bedroom cuts through the tie beam and downward brace. The east room retains a blocked window opening on its north wall with three timber diamond mullions in square-cut jambs, and exposed tie-beams on the east and west walls. The central and west rooms have an exposed tie-beam, diagonal braces and studs on their east and west walls respectively, and both rooms retain wide floorboards. In the west room, the north wall retains exposed timber framing, including a potential blocked window opening. Throughout the house, a high proportion of timber battened and ledged doors survive.

Access to the roof space was limited during inspection in July 2024. It appears to retain a high proportion of its historic queen-post roof structure, including trusses, rafters and purlins, with historic timbers appearing blackened. Later replacements and structural additions have been made where necessary.