Rokeby Old Hall

Rokeby Old Hall, originally Rokeby Farmhouse, is a farmhouse dating from the early 15th century, with enlargements in the 16th century and alterations in the 17th. It has an L-shape, with a service cross-wing to the left. The house is timber-framed and plastered. The rear of the cross-wing features an early 18th-century brick gable end with tumbling. The roof is pantiled to the front and plaintiled to the rear. It is two storeys high with an attic to the main range. Windows include two 16th-century cavetto mullioned windows, two 18th-century first-floor casement windows with square-leaded glass, and 19th and 20th-century casements. A plain axial stack has a rebuilt shaft. The rear of the house has two further 16th-century mullioned windows, and the cross-wing has a boarded half-door. A small, plastered stable block is situated behind the cross-wing. The core of the house is a former open hall raised over 1 metre in the 17th century. It contains good paired 15th-century service doorways with 2-centred arches, an arched-braced open truss originally with a crown post. The parlour and service ends were both rebuilt in the 16th century. The parlour features fine close studding and a cross-beamed ceiling. A quoined stucco fireplace with a depressed 4-centred arch is in the chamber above, and a further arched fireplace is in the attic, an unusual feature. Part of the upper floor structure of the cross-wing has been removed, but a good first-floor frame and intact queen-post roof remain. It is a good example of the 16th and 17th century development of a farmhouse from a medieval origin.