West Killatown Farmhouse

West Killatown Farmhouse

A farmhouse, now converted to a house. The building probably originated in the early 17th century, with significant additions and alterations dating from the late 17th century and 18th century, followed by changes in the 19th and 20th centuries. The walls are built of slatestone rubble with granite dressings, partly finished with slate-hanging. The roof is of slurred slate with handmade crested ridge tiles, hipped to the right and with a gable end to the left. A gable end stack with a brick shaft stands to the left, and there is a rear lateral hall stack with a rubble shaft, slate weathering, and shaped top.

Plan and Development

The house developed in three main phases. Originally it had a two-room plan with a central through passage. The hall or kitchen occupied the left side, heated by the rear lateral stack, with a central passage and a lower end room to the right. This lower end room may have originally been heated by a gable end stack, where the roof is hipped and evidence of subsequent rebuilding is possible, though it may always have been unheated.

In the late 17th century, a hall bay was constructed to the rear, to the left of the stack, and an inner room was added to the higher left end. Probably during the 18th century, an unheated lean-to dairy was added to the front of the hall, positioned in the angle to the porch at the front of the passage. The 19th century saw the lower end room converted for use as a cider room with an apple loft above. Also probably in the 19th century, a barn was added to the rear of the lower end, and a lean-to, originally open-fronted, was constructed to the rear of the passage. The original position of the stair is unclear but likely lies where the existing stair stands, to the front of the hall.

The present west front would originally have been the rear of the house; the main approach would historically have been from the east, now accessed from the west.

Exterior

The house presents as two storeys. The west front is an asymmetrical range of three windows, all 20th-century replacements. To the right, the lower end has a wall that breaks forward slightly, possibly indicating rebuilding of the original structure, with a three-light casement at ground floor and a two-light casement at first floor. A stone porch with a pitched roof contains an inner three-centred arched doorway in granite, hollow-chamfered, with pintles remaining from an earlier door (the current door is 20th-century). A two-light casement sits above. To the left stands the dairy lean-to of single storey, with 20th-century windows to each side and a 20th-century window at ground floor to the left. A straight joint marks the division with the inner room to the left, which has a three-light casement at ground and first floors. The left end wall is blind. The right end is rendered at ground floor and slate-hung at first floor, with three-light casements at both levels. Stepped forward to the right is a two-storey barn with a slate roof with ridge tiles and gable ends; this has a narrow opening at ground floor with a granite lintel and a two-light casement with timber lintel at first floor. The gable end has double doors, and the inner side has a door with strap hinges and a granite lintel.

At the rear of the passage stands a single storey lean-to, originally open-fronted, with a granite monolith pier remaining at each side and a wall of late 20th-century date infilled between the piers. A two-light casement sits to the left of the door and another to the left end. The rear passage doorway matches the front doorway, also retaining pintles. At first floor, two two-light casements are visible. To the right is the external hall stack, with an oven projecting at the base inside the lean-to. To the right lies the gabled hall bay of the late 17th century; this has a three-light granite window at ground floor, chamfered on the outside and hollow-chamfered within, with three-pane casements, one with L-hinges. A similar two-light granite casement sits at first floor. The inner room to the right has a chamfered granite three-light casement at ground floor and a two-light six-pane casement at first floor.

Interior

The passage provides access to the lower end room at the same floor level, much remodelled in the 19th and 20th centuries. One step up to the left leads to the hall, which has a slate floor and ceiling. The rear lateral stack contains a fireplace with a heavy plain granite lintel, a granite monolith jamb to the left, and a rubble jamb to the right. An ash pit lies to the left and an oven to the right. A recess to the right contains a 20th-century window within the lean-to. The left side of the flue has a granite niche with a wooden sill, possibly a spice cupboard. The hall bay window is hollow-chamfered internally. To the front of the hall is a 19th-century stair with a ramped and moulded string on the wall, possibly occupying the site of an earlier staircase. A wide opening leads into the former dairy, which also has a slate floor. A masonry wall approximately one metre thick separates the inner room, which contains a small gable end fireplace with a plain granite lintel. In the chamber above the hall is a fireplace set at the side of the flue, with a flat granite lintel.

Roof

The roof is not fully accessible, but appears consistent in construction throughout. The feet of the principals are visible at first floor. The roof probably dates to the early 18th century and features principal rafters halved and crossed at the apex and pegged, with diagonal ridge purlins.