Birds Farmhouse

Birds Farmhouse

Farmhouse dating to the late 16th or early 17th century, with an extension added in 1734 (marked by a datestone). The building is constructed of stone rubble with a slate roof featuring crested ridge tiles, though it was formerly thatched. It has two axial chimneys and a shallow projecting right end stack, all with red brick shafts.

The house is sited parallel to the road, facing west. The original structure followed a three-room and through-passage plan, with the lower end (to the south) containing a probable parlour and the higher end (to the north) comprising a hall/kitchen and an unheated dairy. Both ends had their own stacks positioned unusually backing onto the passage. Variations in carpentry details on the ground floor suggest some rebuilding may have occurred. In 1734, an extra room—probably a second parlour—was added at the lower end, and the house was re-roofed at least as far as the hall/kitchen stack, though the late 16th or early 17th-century roof remains intact over the higher end only. A stair projection extends from the rear wall of the hall/kitchen; this projection has 19th-century brick quoins and appears to be a secondary addition.

The exterior shows two storeys. The front facing the road is asymmetrical with four windows and a approximately central 19th-century gabled porch with brick quoins, positioned at the through passage. A straight joint marks the 1734 addition at the right end, where a datestone appears on the rear wall. The first floor features two probably 19th-century gabled dormers to the left and one at the extreme right, with an earlier raking dormer to the right of the porch. There are three ground floor windows to the left of the porch and one to the right, all either 19th-century or 1980s timber casements; the 1980s casements are hardwood with glazing bars. The rear door to the passage has a timber lintel, and the rear stair projection displays bullnose red brick quoins.

The hall/kitchen contains three chamfered cross beams of different designs: one with a deep chamfer and two with shallower chamfers and stops. The fireplace is partly blocked but may preserve 16th or 17th-century jambs and lintel, with a rounded bread oven bulge. The through passage features a chamfered stopped half beam. The lower end room has a deeply chamfered stopped axial beam, stopped off against the chimney breast, indicating that stack and beam are contemporary. Its fireplace is partly blocked but may retain 16th or 17th-century jambs and lintel. The 1734 parlour is plain with no exposed carpentry, as is the higher end dairy.

The roof over the higher end preserves cruck trusses; the feet are plastered over but they are probably jointed crucks. Access to the roof apex is limited, but as surveyed in 1987, the roof timbers showed no smoke-blackening. The cruck roof originally extended at least across the passage and probably over the lower end, as evidenced by a stud of a purlin with a scarf joint projecting beyond the hall stack. The present roof over the lower end is an A-frame design with straight principals and an X apex, likely part of the 1734 phase.

This is a traditional farmhouse with its historic plan form intact and interior features of architectural interest. It has group value with Birds Cottage.