Lower Green Farmhouse

Lower Green Farmhouse

A 16th-century vernacular farmhouse extended and altered during the 17th century, with further modifications in subsequent centuries.

The house is oak-framed and stands on a brick plinth. The external walls feature wattle-and-daub infill between close studs. The roof is covered in plain tiles with two brick chimney stacks.

The building has an L-shaped footprint facing east, with rear projections at the north end. Its original three-cell plan remains visible, though overlaid by a lobby entrance between the parlour and hall, and a second front door into the kitchen surviving from the historic subdivision of the house.

The long principal elevation facing east displays two principal storeys and a plain tiled roof hipped at the north-eastern corner. Two chimneys break through the roof: one beneath the ridge line at the south end and one through the ridge above the northern entrance. Scored render conceals the timber frame and the building's six structural bays. Two 19th-century gabled timber porches are present—the southernmost has a metal roof and a four-panelled door, whilst the northernmost has a tiled roof and a partly glazed door, possibly early 19th century in origin. The fenestration comprises irregularly placed timber casement windows with three each on the ground and first storeys. The two northernmost ground-floor windows use slender glazing bars typical of the early 19th century.

The north elevation displays several phases of close-studded timber framing over two storeys with a pitched roof hipped at the east end. The timbers are scarred with nail holes indicating the former presence of laths and render. A long mullioned window inserted in the late 16th or early 17th century at ground floor is now blocked. The sill of an original first-floor window remains beneath a widened opening for a 19th-century three-light casement. Alterations to the frame at the east end suggest an earlier structure may have been added and removed.

The west elevation of the gabled extensions continues the close studding on all storeys including the attic. The roofs of the gables meet in a valley and terminate in uncarved barge boards. The floor plate of the northern gable is lower than its neighbour. Vernacular mullioned windows are placed roughly centrally on each storey of both gables.

The southern return elevation of the gables has close studding at first floor and rendered wall surface at ground. A six-light timber window is at ground floor with a simple wooden doorcase. The first-floor plate has notches at its base and has been subject to alteration. The close-studded framing at first floor is original except for a centrally placed timber casement window inserted later.

The west elevation of the principal range has two storeys beneath a pitched roof, continuing the close studding found elsewhere. Vernacular mullioned windows are positioned in one corner of each structural bay on both storeys. A fire-damaged entrance marks the former cross passage.

The gabled south elevation has no windows and displays no timber framing. The ground floor is walled in red bricks laid in Flemish bond, with a plain rendered wall above.

The roof structure is well preserved. The four southern bays of the principal range contain plain crown posts and wind-braced clasped purlins, with some 19th-century graffiti recorded. The two parallel east-west roofs of the cross wings are of different phases with common rafters and collars. The northernmost cross wing contains clear carpenters marks across most timbers. At the north-east corner, the hipped roof appears to belong to a separate phase and may coincide with the removal of an east-facing jetty.

High-quality historic flooring materials are found throughout the house, with many rooms and attics containing very wide oak boards. Ground-floor rooms use either pamment or brick flooring.

At first floor, the room above the parlour retains a partial decorative scheme of wall painting showing a patterned frieze on three walls and floral motifs beneath. The same room features a small early-19th-century cast iron hobgrate in a plain surround. Three sections of re-sited small-field panelling occur between the two southernmost rooms.

At ground floor, the parlour walls are almost entirely clad in early- to mid-17th-century small-field oak panelling, including around a chamfered structural beam now completely concealed. The panelling fits the precise proportions of the room and shows areas missing where windows were historically present. Some areas appear reconfigured where alterations were made and where an Art Nouveau fireplace with pine surround has been inserted. Adjoining the parlour to the east is a utility room with a WC accessed under a staircase, entered through a 16th-century arch. The south wall of the utility room contains a blocked mullion window. The former dairy/kitchen at the south end contains significant historic features including a 19th-century pump above a well-hatch, hooks set into ceiling beams, a 19th-century copper, and a large 17th-century fireplace with bread oven. The chimney bressummer features numerous apotropaic taper burns and daisy wheels.

None of the three staircases remaining in the house are original, though they may date from the late 18th or early 19th century.