Pentruse, Farm Building About 15 Metres North North West Of Pentruse Farmhouse

This is a mid-19th century shippon, with a later 19th-century hen-house and dovecot extension, situated about 15 metres north-north-west of Pentruse Farmhouse. The building is constructed of dressed shale rubble with a rag slate roof, featuring gabled ends. The hen-house/dovecot section has a higher roofline and black glazed ridge tiles.

The plan is rectangular, with the original shippon to the left. This section includes doorways at the rear facing the farmyard, and external stone steps leading to a loft entrance on the front. A hen-house/dovecot was added to the right-hand north end later in the 19th century.

The two-storey front features a flight of stone steps leading to a loft doorway. A small 9-pane horizontally pivoted window is located to the left on the first floor, and a row of pigeon holes is positioned under the eaves. The hen-house/dovecot is a square tower with a gabled front. A tall, round-headed window with lapped panes and boarded doors is set into the gable; above this runs a row of pigeon holes with slate ledges. A cambered brick arch frames the ground-floor doorway of the hen-house, and two pigeon holes are in the gable at the rear. Rear elevations of the shippon feature shippon doorways with cambered brick arches facing the farmyard, as well as a similar doorway in the south end wall. A straight masonry joint marks the juncture between the original shippon and the extension.

During a brief inspection, the interior of the hen-house/dovecot revealed four tiers of nesting boxes on all walls, supported by wooden lintels and brick jambs. The joists may originally have served as perches. The interior of the shippon and loft was not inspected.

The building forms part of a small, planned 19th-century farmstead, encompassing approximately 50 acres. Other buildings within the farmstead, including the farmhouse and kitchen garden walls, are distinct from this structure.