Orchard House

Orchard House is a farmhouse, originally two dwellings, likely dating from the late 16th century, with later alterations. It is constructed of coursed rubble with a gabled-end slate roof. Originally planned with a three-room, cross-passage layout and a lower end rear wing, the house retains several key features. External front lateral stack to the hall, external end stacks to the main rooms, and an internal gable end stack to the wing all possess brick shafts. The front elevation is dominated by a large external lateral stack featuring moulded set-offs at the base of the brick shaft and a string course at the eaves level, which follows a catslide roof covering a stair turret and landing which has a small two-light window. A 19th-century slated and glazed porch sits to the front, and to the right a pair of two-light casement windows appear on both floors. The right-hand elevation has two-light casement windows to each floor, left of the external end stack, which features paired set-offs below the shaft and a single set-off at the eaves level of the lower end wing, connected by a course of edged brick, potentially marking the location of a stair turret. A clear masonry joint denotes the division between the main range and the wing. The rear elevation showcases two four-light windows on the ground floor, closely spaced and sharing a partly missing hood mould with fifteen leaded panes per light and stanchions. A 19th-century two-light window and a four-light window with fifteen leaded panes per light, also under a hood mould, are positioned on the first floor. The wing has one ground floor window, presently boarded under a hood mould, and a blocked window above with no hood mould. Internally, the inner room exhibits chamfered cross beams, and the lower end features a deeply chamfered axial beam. The roof has not been inspected.