Messuage Farmhouse

Messuage Farmhouse is a former farmhouse with a mid-14th century section on the right and a series of in-line additions from the mid-16th, 18th, and 19th centuries, creating a long range. The building features part timber framing, with the 18th and 19th-century sections constructed in brick, all covered with textured render applied in 1986. The roof is pantiled. The mid-14th century section is one and a half storeys high, while the rest of the farmhouse is two storeys. The main part has three windows: late 19th-century six-paned sashes on the left and right, a 19th-century small-paned former shop window in the center, and above it, a four-paned sash window. The one and a half storey section includes another six-paned sash window and a small two-light casement. There are two stacks with plain red brick shafts, both located in the two-storey section, with the older stack on the right. The rear has two mid-20th-century doors.

Inside, the mid-14th century section includes the upper bay and part of the lower bay of a former open hall. The open truss features an arched-braced cambered tie beam, with the center portion cut away, supporting octagonal queen-posts that are broach-stopped to a square base. The base and head of the posts have a single bold roll-moulding. The braces to the collar and arcade plates are intact and nailed in place. The roof has heavily sooted coupled rafters, representing an early example of a queen-post roof. The widely spaced 14th-century studding is evident, with the upper end wall featuring a heavier central stud and a pair of reverse-curved braces to the tie beam. The rear wallplate shows a stop-splayed scarf joint, while the arcade plates have edge-halved scarfs. There is evidence of a doorway into the former parlour end. The right gable end has plain studding, possibly from the early 17th century, with an inserted floor supported on a ledge of re-used moulded timber. The two-bay mid-16th century section includes one narrow bay containing the stack and evidence of a former lobby entry doorway. Both floors have chamfered-joist ceilings and notable heavy studding with signs of original windows. A good 16th-century moulded door is present on the upper floor, and the roof has a single row of butt purlins with cranked wind braces.