Fairstead Farmhouse

Fairstead Farmhouse, now divided into two dwellings, was largely rebuilt in the early 17th century, likely on the foundations of a house dating back to the early 16th century. It was restored between 1983 and 1985. The farmhouse is timber-framed with roughcast rendering, and has a slated roof. It consists of a long, single range of four rooms, with a jetty extending to the south, supported by plain brackets, and one bracket carved with leaf and flower motifs in the spandrel. A buttress-shaft and part of a moulded bressummer are visible within the porch. The windows are 19th-century casements with a single horizontal bar to each light. A mid-17th century gabled porch, originally with a doorway, is set to the east, leading into what was a cross-passage. To the west is a 19th-century doorway with a moulded architrave, a four-panel door, and a narrow overlight. There are two gabled dormers in the roof. A late 17th-century brick stack is against the west gable end, and a 19th-century brick addition extends to the east, along with an 18th-century rear (north) lean-to. Internally, all four ground-floor rooms have axial bridging beams and flat, chamfered joists. There is some plain 17th-century first-floor studding. The porch contains one blocked mullioned window of eight lights and evidence of another in the gable end; the original entrance was on the east side. The roof over the west half of the range is made up of reused timbers, evidently from a narrower building, as evidenced by scarf joints at the lower ends of the principal rafters. The roof is structured in 4 1/2 bays, with two rows of butt purlins and collars carrying oblong king-posts to a ridge piece. One truss has long curved collar braces meeting at the centre. Evidence suggests the presence of cross partitions at one time, which have since been removed — the partition that currently exists is not related to the original roof structure. The upper floor and roof of the east half of the range were not inspected.