Lees Rest

Lees Rest is a large farmhouse, likely dating back to the 18th century, and probably incorporating earlier elements, with significant restoration work undertaken in the 1950s. The building is constructed of coursed squared rubble with ashlar dressings and a stone slate roof. It follows an E-plan, incorporating what were originally farm buildings to the right, which are now part of the house. The farmhouse has two storeys and a six-window front. A projecting gabled porch to the left of centre features a 20th-century door and windows within its side walls. There are four-light 20th-century stone mullioned windows to the right and left, each protected by a drip mould. Similar three-light casements are found in projecting end wings, with those on the right having timber lintels. Smaller mullioned windows are present on the first floor. A substantial external stone chimney sits on the side of the left wing, while ridge chimneys are located to the left of the main range and on the right wing. Inside, a fireplace with a Tudor-arched lintel is found in a ground-floor room on the left side. Re-set panelling is visible in the former agricultural range to the right, and some exposed roof timbers, including a queen-post truss, are present. Historical records indicate that a late 16th-century hunting lodge on the site was apparently demolished shortly after 1720, but a farmhouse was already standing there by 1768.