The Abbey Dairy House

The Abbey Dairy House is a monastic gatehouse, now a private house, dating to the late 14th century. It was altered and extended in the 17th century to the rear and in the 19th century to the north. The building is constructed of ashlar stone with an ashlar buttress at the left-hand corner and on the end wall. The 4-centred gateway has been blocked with rubble masonry. The roofs are slate with stone gable copings, and renewed stone stacks are present at the left and right-hand gables.

Originally a two-storey building, it was later converted to three storeys. The fenestration is irregular, with a total of four windows. The former gateway bay has two 3-light wooden casements in its blocking, with wooden cills. Above this is a 2-light stone mullion window with a trefoil ogee head and a label. To the right of the gateway is a former pedestrian entrance, now the front door, featuring straight-chamfered jambs, a 4-centred head, and a relieving arch. The front door is an oak plank door with three strap hinges. A 2-light window at the top level has trefoil-ogee heads and a label. An opening, originally lighting the porter’s lodge, has a single glass pane and a 20th-century grille. Above and to the right is a long, rectangular opening with a 4-centred head.

The rear of the original gatehouse was extended to the west in the 17th century, using matching materials. The upper part of the northern buttress has been removed, with a straight joint visible with the base of the buttress. The gable-end of this wing includes a 20th-century picture window, a 20th-century 2-light casement, and a recessed panel. The north gable-end of the gatehouse was extended north in the 19th century, using grey squared rubble-stone with a slate roof. A brick stack is located at the right-hand gable.

One window with 2-light wooden casements and keyed stone lintels, with wooden cills, is visible on the north gable. A plank (oak) front door with three strap hinges is located at the ground floor left-hand side.

Internally, ground floor rooms were created in the 17th century, featuring straight-chamfered beams. A 17th-century stack was inserted. The upper room above the gate passage (the original height of the gate passage) has large ceiling beams with run-out stops. A 17th-century stack was inserted into the porter’s lodge. A recent conversion revealed a rear arch of the gatehouse, displaying two straight-chamfers and a sunk quadrant that dies into the jambs.