Lower Dutson Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Built around the early 17th century. The house is constructed of rendered stone rubble and cob, with an asbestos slate roof to the left-hand range and rag slate to the right-hand range. Both ranges have hipped ends, and a shallow projection extends to the right of centre on the right-hand range. Axial stacks with moulded caps are made of stone rubble.

The layout of the house is complex after 20th-century remodeling, and its original form remains uncertain. As it stands, it comprises a four-room plan with the ground sloping downwards to the left. There’s a lobby entrance positioned to the left of centre, and it is possible the original entrance was lower, leading into a through passage. The left-hand end originally served as an unheated lower range, while the hall to the right was heated by an axial stack backing onto the passage. The shallow projection on the higher side could have been a hall bay or a stair turret. An axial stack in the cross wall of the higher right-hand side heated the room beyond the hall, which may be an extension. Alternatively, the original entrance may have been above the current one, with the lower end heated by an axial stack and the hall heated by a stack in the higher cross wall. A third possibility suggests the projection was a two-storey porch.

The exterior is two storeys high and features a long, asymmetrical five-window front with 20th-century PVC windows. The entrance, with a heavy plank door, is located to the left of centre. The left-hand range has three PVC windows of varying sizes on each floor. To the right of the entrance is a 20th-century window, followed by a hipped two-story projection with PVC windows on both floors. It includes a blocked entrance on the left and an original small, timber-framed, medieval or post-medieval one-light window with a pointed head and chamfered frame. A corresponding window below has been blocked up. Further to the right of the projection are a blind window, a plank door, and an inserted 20th-century window.

Internally, the ceiling beams have been replaced and the fireplaces altered in the 20th century. The roof structure was replaced in the 20th century and was not inspected.