Sheephouse Farmhouse

Sheephouse Farmhouse is a farmhouse, now a house, with origins in the 17th century. It was extended in the 19th century, with a further wing added in 1894, and has undergone considerable modifications in the 20th century. The construction is of limestone rubble, with some coursed and squared stone in the late 19th-century addition, and stone slate roofs.

The original block runs north-south, and a cross wing, with a half-hipped gable, was probably added shortly afterwards, to form an “L” shape. A small, single-room unit was added in the late 19th century, and more recently two flat-roofed additions have been built. The overall evolution of the plan is not entirely clear.

The west front, facing the river valley, has, on the left, two 17th-century two-light casement windows with hoods. There is a coped gable with kneeler stones and a small square stack above a plaque bearing a date. To the right is a half-hipped gable containing a two-light and three-light 20th-century stone casement window, and a return has a two-light window of the same style. The right wing has three two-light casements to the upper floor, the window above the doorway having an 18th-century ovolo-mould, followed by a similar 19th-century window, and a 20th-century chamfered mullion window. At ground level are a 19th-century two-light ovolo-mould window and a 20th-century chamfered mullion window, all with hoods. A four-centred arch with a stopped chamfer leads to a 19th-century part-glazed door under a flat stone hood on stone brackets. The return, on the right, has four 20th-century chamfer-mould casements, a coped gable, and a small truncated square stack. The roof of the oldest part is slightly higher than the rest, and slopes to a small hip. The main entrance is now through a 20th-century door in a later infill block on the north-east corner.

Inside, the interior has been substantially modified, but features a good 17th-century four-centred stone fireplace surround with a moulded mantel shelf in the southernmost bedroom. There is also a two-light wood mullioned gable window within the roof space at the junction of the "L", and intersecting chamfered and stopped beams at ground floor level in the south room, which also has a large open fireplace with stone cheeks and a later timber bressumer. A second, smaller fireplace is in the cross wing with solid stone cheeks.

Despite the many modifications, including replacement windows and unsympathetic pointing to the stonework, the farmhouse still retains the core of a historic structure.