Brook Farm

Brook Farm is a house, formerly a farmhouse, that likely dates from the late 15th century or early 16th century. It was originally a hall house with a two-bay open hall. In the 17th century, a chimneystack and a ceiling were added to the open hall, with some 18th-century additions and mid-20th-century refurbishment. The building is timber-framed, featuring both plastered and painted brick infill, with the end bay to the northwest having a painted brick ground floor and a tile-hung first floor. It has a steeply pitched hipped tiled roof with gablets and a slightly off-central brick chimneystack. The house has one storey and attics, with irregular fenestration of mid-20th-century wooden casement windows that include leaded lights.

On the exterior, the northeastern front displays an exposed timber frame with curved tension braces and two gabled dormers. There are three ground floor casement windows and a penticed porch opposite the chimneystack. The southwestern front features three gabled dormers and a central lean-to.

Inside, there is an internal jetty projecting from the southeastern bay into the former open hall, where the higher inserted 17th-century ceiling is clearly visible. The former partition wall at the end of the open hall retains its timbers, including arched braces, although the infilling has been removed. The cambered bressumer of the 17th-century inserted chimneystack remains, but the brickwork of the fireplace was renewed in the mid-20th century. The upper floor has exposed wall framing and internal partitions with curved braces and large tie beams. The roof structure has not been seen.

Overall, Brook Farm is a good quality late medieval timber-framed former hall house, originally featuring a two-bay open hall and an uncommon internal jetty.