Pale Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating from the late 16th or early 17th century, with later alterations. The farmhouse is constructed of cob, with a stone plinth, rendered and under a gabled-end slate roof. It comprises a main range of four rooms and a through passage, including a parlour with an associated front wing, a hall to the left of the passage, and two lower-end rooms with a large lower-end front wing. There are external stacks on the left-hand end, a truncated lateral stack to the left-hand wing, an axial stack serving the Hall fireplace backing onto the passage, and an end (front) stack to the lower-end wing. The front elevation has brick shafts to all stacks, and a deeply-recessed entrance is positioned to the right of a stair turret and to the left of the lower-end wing, featuring a panelled door with left-hand hinges. A rear entrance is opposite. Most windows are 20th-century metal-framed casements, except for one hornless sash window at first floor level to the left of the entrance, with eight panes per sash. The rear elevation has scattered 20th-century metal-framed casement windows. Internally, a later front corridor has been inserted into the main range. Otherwise, partitions (except for the stone stack backing onto the passage) are 16th or early 17th century plank and muntin screens. Three screens remain; that dividing the two lower-end rooms has indistinct decorative painting on the left-hand side, mainly of floral designs, but also including a shield and a depiction of a ladder. The outlines of the painting are now black, but were formerly red. The muntins and bressumers are chamfered. The screen between the Hall and Parlour has ovolo mouldings on the parlour side, and the door has elaborate stops – a combination of a scroll stop, bases associated with early 16th century church screens, and an ogee motif – along with cyma-recta mouldings. The Hall side of the screen has scroll stops approximately 18 inches above the ground, indicating a former dais. The door surround between the passage and hall has chamfers and is very wide. All rooms contain chamfered beams and original joists. The parlour fireplace has cyma-recta mouldings to the stone jambs. The hall fireplace is concealed, though a large lintel is visible. Above the hall and passage, there were formerly two fireplaces served by the same stack; one survives with chamfered stone jambs, while the other is concealed but supported by visible corbelling in the through-passage. A front (end) fireplace to the lower-end wing is concealed, but large, heavily blackened smoking chambers open to the roof are located on either side. A left-hand side oven (formerly projecting externally) has been dismantled. The roof of the main range has seven bays, with four 16th or early 17th century principals, trenched, morticed and side-pegged at the apex; two of these (over the lower end) are upper crucks. All timbers are clean. The left-hand wing has one slender crossed, morticed and pegged principal, and remains of a blocked, formerly leaded two-light window in the gable wall. The lower-end wing has two principals, similar to that in the other wing.