Broadford

Broadford is a house dating back to the 15th century, with significant alterations and extensions in the mid-16th, mid-17th, and early 18th centuries. The house is timber-framed, with some exposed framing to the rear left. The front and left return elevations are roughcast, the right return is tile-hung on a brick ground floor, and the rear features red brick extensions on a sandstone base. The roof is covered in plain tiles. Originally a hall house, likely of Wealden type, the house has been considerably extended over time.

The front elevation presents a 17th-century appearance, with two storeys and an attic, built on a plinth with a jetty supported by brackets. The right end bay is at a lower level, with a dragon beam supporting the left return elevation, which is characteristic of the original hall house. The gabled roof has stacks to the rear left and right end, along with three projecting gables. The right gable is lower and smaller, featuring a moulded, slightly projecting bresumer. The centre and left gables are larger and later, with a single jettied bresummer adorned with rosettes. Each gable has a bullseye window. Two-storey canted bays flank the left and right sides, featuring wooden casements on both floors, with arched transoms. Two identical casements are on the first floor centrally, while the ground floor has two 18th-century Gothick casements with ogee-arched and cusped details. A gabled porch with ornate bargeboards and an arched niche containing a moulded, panelled door is centrally positioned.

The left return has a full-height canted bay with Gothick ogee-arched windows, and exposed close-studded framing beyond. The right return shows three distinct phases of construction. A gabled two-story range to the left features a modillion eaves cornice and two cross windows. The central two-story and attic range has a stepped roof, originally hipped, with a gablet to the right, a stack cluster to the left, two flat-roofed dormers, and two cross windows. A red brick 18th-century block sits to the right of two stories, with an attic and basement, set on a plinth with a plat band and a half-hipped roof. There are two gabled dormers and a rear stack. A bullseye window is situated to the left, and three glazing bar sashes are on both the first floor and ground floor, along with a basement opening to the right. The central left entrance has a six-panelled door within a pilastered surround and a segmental pediment. Outshots and a projecting single-story stable/outhouse range, now garages, extend to the right.

Inside, a mid-16th century stone hall fireplace features caryatids, profile roundels, and the Austen family crest. Work of the same date is found on an upper floor fireplace with a carved tablet depicting male and female figures and profile roundels. A carved overmantel dating to approximately 1760 exists in the Drawing Room. A stone and brick inglenook fireplace is in the Dining Room, alongside 17th-century wooden overmantels elsewhere. Oak wainscoting, painted wooden panelling, and a main stair of approximately 1700—with turned balusters over two flights—are also present. Broadford served as the seat of the Austen family from at least the 16th century and their wealth was derived from cloth manufacture, with significant contributions from Francis Austen (died 1687).