Hale Farmhouse

Hale Farmhouse is a house of probable origins from the 15th century, rebuilt in the 17th century, and extended during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is constructed of uncoursed rubble, pointed with Bridgewater tile and covered by Welsh slate roofs. The building was likely originally a longhouse, altered in the 17th century into a three-cell, single-depth cross passage house, with inserted floors and a stack. A north-east wing was added, probably in the 18th century (before 1791), and the house was extended westward around 1800 (after 1791) with a higher roof line. The house is two storeys throughout, though the original section was clearly single-storey in origin. The main (south) front has five bays, the first bay being the extension of around 1800, with a 16-pane sash over a French casement. The second bay has a three-light casement, larger on the ground floor. The third bay features a two-light casement above an 18th-century six-panel door leading to the cross passage. The fourth bay matches the second. The fifth bay has eight-pane sashes. Brick stacks are located at either end of the first bay and back onto the cross passage between bays three and four, acting as the inserted hall stack. There is a further set-back bay at the west end, originally agricultural, on the falling ground with 16-pane sashes on both floors. The north front incorporates random two-light casements and a pointed arch window in the blocked cross passage entry. All windows have modern joinery.

The interior hall features an inserted beamed ceiling resting on the internal jetty of the original solar. Two canted arched doorways lead to the inner room. A probable early 16th-century hall fireplace is present, with a plain chamfered timber lintel on plain chamfered stone jambs with half pyramidal stops. Two canted arched doorways lead to the wing, likely reset. Ancient plank doors open to the loft and to the under stair in the corner. The cross passage has a beamed ceiling on large chamfered cross beams. The inner room displays a beamed ceiling showing changes and bedrock in the floor and wall, along with ancient, wide floorboards above a large fireplace in the original west gable wall. Further features may be concealed behind plaster. The roof has been replaced with 19th-century king post trusses, with some thatch retained beneath the tiles. Ref. Reports by E H D Williams and F Neale 1988.