The Sanctuary And Sunnybank

The Sanctuary and Sunnybank are two dwellings that were formerly a single farmhouse known as Underhill farmhouse. They date from the late 16th century and have undergone later alterations. The building features roughcast cob on stone footings and has a gabled-end thatched roof, with the rear wing being half-hipped. Originally, it was designed as a three-room house with a through-passage plan, where the service end is located to the right of the passage, accompanied by a rear parlour wing. A brick extension was added to the higher end in the late 19th century. The service end is heated by an external end stack, while the hall is heated by an external front lateral stack that has two set-offs on each side, along with a large front slated set-off. The inner room was originally unheated, and the end stack likely aligns with the brick extension. The building has two storeys and features a front with a four-window range, including two-light casement windows on the first floor beneath shallow eyebrow eaves, and a two-light casement window in each of the three ground floor rooms. The brick extension includes 19th and 20th-century casement windows. Inside, the parlour wing contains three chamfered axial ceiling beams with cyma reverse mouldings and run-out stops. There may be screens that survive beneath the current internal partitions. The upper crucks are visible in both the wing and the main range, although the roof space has not been examined.