Hemstead

A farmhouse, now a house, dating from the 17th century, with an earlier section to the left, and featuring a late 18th-century facade and alterations from the 1930s. The house is timber-framed with a front elevation constructed of red and grey brick in a Flemish-type bond. The roof is shingled, having originally been plain tile. The building follows a lobby-entry plan, comprising three, or possibly five, timber-framed bays, including a central stack bay. An earlier bay is situated to the left. The house has two storeys and an attic, set upon a red and grey brick plinth. A hipped roof, with the right hip returning to the rear and incorporating a gablet, is present. A brick ridge stack is located to the right of the centre. There is one small hipped dormer window. The fenestration is irregular, with three three-light metal casement windows from the 1930s; two to the left and one to the right of the stack. A blocked window is located under the stack. Segmental heads are found on the ground-floor windows. A half-glazed door sits beneath the stack, protected by a flat, corniced hood and a broad, trellised porch. A red and grey brick lean-to extends to the right. A two-storey late 18th-century rear return wing is situated to the right, with a hipped roof to the rear. A rear lean-to is present to the left, extended to two storeys in the 1930s. A scratch date of 1773 is visible by the front door. Internally, the left-end bay is jettied to the right (now internally), featuring joists of relatively small dimensions. The remainder of the ground floor has a slightly lower ceiling. Chamfered cross beams and tenoned axial beams are visible in two (or four) bays flanking the stack on each floor. Brick fireplaces with wooden bressumers are present. Brick infilling is visible within the first-floor rear wall (now internal).