Mennabroom Farmhouse

Mennabroom Farmhouse

A farmhouse built in the late 16th to early 17th century, with extensions added in the mid 17th century and further later additions including some 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed of granite rubble with granite dressings, and has a bitumenised slate roof with ridge tiles and gable ends.

The farmhouse was originally planned as a three-room dwelling with a through passage. The lower end room, now demolished, was positioned to the right with the passage, hall to the left (heated by a rear lateral stack), and an inner room at the far left (heated by a gable end stack). The position of any early stair is no longer clear. In the mid 17th century, the front elevation was significantly extended: the passage was extended forwards, a stone newel stair tower was added to the front of the hall, and a hall bay extension was constructed. These works created a small unheated pantry or dairy beneath the stairs, accessible from the passage. A single-storey porch lean-to was added to the front of the inner room, with a side door and direct access to the extended hall bay. A stable with loft above was added to the left end, probably in the late 18th or early 19th century; this remained unheated. A further single-storey lean-to was probably added to the front of the stable in the late 19th or early 20th century, adjoining the mid 17th-century porch. The lower end room was demolished, likely in the mid to late 19th century, with some rebuilding of the end wall. The stable was only converted to a kitchen in the mid 20th century; there is no evidence of 19th-century cooking use of the hall fireplace, though the passage is said to have served as a kitchen.

The exterior is of two storeys with an asymmetrical four-window front. The passage doorway is positioned at the right end, retaining a chamfered granite lintel with roughly hewn granite jambs, though the original opening now contains a modern two-light casement with another above at first-floor level. To the left are two staggered single lights with granite lintels: the lower light illuminates the pantry and the upper light the stair tower. The hall bay has a small gable at first-floor level, with a two-light chamfered granite casement with hoodmould at ground level and a two-light casement above. The porch lean-to has a door and modern window; above at first floor the wall steps back to the original building line with a two-light casement beneath a small gable. The straight joint to the stable is concealed by the later lean-to, which features a wide modern window and corrugated plastic roof; a two-light casement and door are visible internally. The right gable end is partly rendered at upper level, with a two-light casement at ground floor and a three-light casement at first floor. The left end is built into the sloping ground, with a modern window in the gable end, formerly a loading door for the stable loft. At the rear, the passage doorway is positioned to the left, framed in granite with an inner segmental chamfered arch and flat granite lintel above, flanked by buttresses (added when the lower end was demolished). To the right of the rear lateral stack of the hall are two-light casements at ground and first-floor levels. The inner room's rear elevation has a large two-light casement at ground floor. A straight joint marks where the stable was added, with two modern windows inserted.

The interior of the passage retains a slate floor; the unextended section has a higher ceiling level with roughly hewn cross beams and a granite monolith supporting the rear lateral stack. The extended passage section contains the dairy or pantry with slate floor and shelves, separated by a granite lintel. A granite segmental-arched, chamfered doorway (with pintles surviving on the inner side) opens from the passage to the hall. The hall features a granite fireplace with a heavy chamfered flat lintel and roughly hewn jambs, possibly with a blocked niche to the right. The ceiling beams were replaced in the 20th century, except for one cambered and chamfered beam across the step up to the extended hall bay. The hall bay window is chamfered on the inside with pintles for shutters, and has a slate floor. The stone newel stair in the stair tower winds around an S-bend; four steps up and a 19th-century four-panelled door lead to the inner room, which is ceiled and has a 20th-century rebuilt end fireplace. At first floor is a small unheated chamber above the dairy and front passage, while the hall chamber is partitioned in 20th-century work.

The roof over the inner room is visible at first-floor level, displaying 19th-century principal rafters and one row of trenched purlins. The hall roof spans three bays with two remaining trusses (not chamfered), featuring principal rafters halved and pegged at the apex, one row of trenched purlins, and very cambered collars pegged to the faces of the principal rafters with three pegs each.