Lower Shelvin Farmhouse

Lower Shelvin Farmhouse is a multi-phase farmhouse, probably dating from the late 15th to early 16th century with major improvements in the late 16th and 17th centuries. It was renovated in the late 19th century, when the service and kitchen end was completely rebuilt.

The older part consists of plastered local stone and flint rubble, while the late 19th-century section is exposed stone rubble with brick dressings. Stone rubble chimney stacks are topped with 19th and 20th-century brick. The roof is slate; the older section was formerly thatched.

The house follows a 4-room-and-through-passage plan, facing south-east. The service end at the south-west contains a kitchen with an axial stack backing onto a small unheated dairy. On the other side of the passage is the hall, which has an axial stack backing onto the passage. A stair turret projects to the rear of the hall. At the north-east end is a former parlour (now a workshop) with a gable-end stack. The service end kitchen and dairy were completely rebuilt in the late 19th century, but the rest of the building is well-preserved. The hall stack was probably inserted in the mid-to-late 16th century. The parlour was refurbished or added in the early 17th century. The hall and a former buttery or cellar were once separated by a partition, which has since been removed to enlarge the hall. The hall was floored over in the mid-17th century.

The building is 2 storeys. The irregular 5-window front comprises late 19th and 20th-century casements with glazing bars. At the ground floor right end (former parlour) is an early 17th-century Beerstone 4-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions and hoodmould. The passage front doorway is left of centre, containing a late 19th-century door behind a contemporary gabled porch. The main roof is gable-ended and steps down from the kitchen to the passage sections.

Internally, the service end is a complete late 19th-century rebuild. The hall fireplace is blocked but probably remains intact. The crossbeams in the hall are mid-17th century, chamfered with bar run-out stops, while half beams in the former buttery or cellar are chamfered with roll stops. The stair to the rear of the hall is mid-17th century, a straight flight with turned oak balusters. In the former parlour, the crossbeams are plastered over. There is a fine Beerstone ashlar fireplace with a Tudor arch head, moulded surround and carved fern-like spandrels.

The roof was not inspected during the survey, but the owner reports that the original roof structure survives and is believed to be some form of cruck construction, possibly with arch braces and windbraces. The owner also states that it is smoke-blackened from the original open hearth fire, suggesting the hall at least was open to the roof and heated by an open fire.

Lower Shelvin is a multi-phase farmhouse of consistently high quality. A full internal examination, including the roof, would likely clarify its early historic development.