The Elms and Pridham House

The Elms and Pridham House are a house, originally of circa mid to late 17th century origin, and later divided into two separate dwellings. The building is constructed of stone rubble, with slate hung on the front elevation, which may have been partly rebuilt. The roof is slate and asbestos slate, with hipped ends to the front range and gable ends to the two rear wings. Brick end stacks and a projecting stone rubble side lateral stack with a brick shaft are also present.

The original layout is unclear, but it likely featured a courtyard plan. The front range probably comprised a three-room and cross-passage plan, with the lower end on the right, heated by an end stack, a hall heated by a rear lateral stack (now blocked), and an inner room to the left heated by an end stack. A wing of one room to the rear right, dating to the mid to late 17th century, was heated by a side lateral stack, likely containing a kitchen on the ground floor and a principal chamber above with a barrel vaulted ceiling. A wing to the rear left is possibly also of 17th century origin, contributing to an overall ‘U’ shaped plan. The courtyard between these wings was likely enclosed in the 19th century with service rooms, and extended to two storeys in the mid-20th century.

The house was remodelled in the mid-18th century, when the front range was re-roofed and a staircase was inserted directly to the rear of the right-hand front room. In the late 19th or early 20th century, the eaves were raised, and in the mid to late 20th century, a two-storey porch on the front was rebuilt using reused circa 17th century granite Doric columns, and incorporating 20th-century 16-pane sashes and a slate roof. The front elevation has an asymmetrical four-window facade with a 19th-century six-panel door and 19th-century 12-pane hornless sashes, along with a late 19th-century tripartite sash to the far left. An exterior panelled door to Pridham House is in the left-hand side elevation, and a 20th century round-headed stair window is on the right.

Internally, The Elms retains remnants of the 18th-century remodelling, including a dog-leg staircase with a moulded rail and turned balusters, and the remains of 18th-century china cupboards in the right-hand room. Plastered ceilings and renewed chimney-pieces are also present; the hall fireplace is blocked. The rear wing on the right has a circa mid to late 17th-century barrel vaulted ceiling, partly renewed in the 19th century. Several late 18th-century four-panel raised and fielded panelled doors are also present. The roof structure above the front range was renewed in the 18th century with a late 19th-century superstructure. The rear wing on the right retains circa mid to late 17th-century trusses, halved lapped and pegged at the apices.