Middle Mackham Farmhouse

Middle Mackham Farmhouse is a detached house, originally a farmhouse, dating to the mid-17th century. It likely incorporates some late medieval roof timbers, and was partially rebuilt in the 1940s following bomb damage. The construction is of roughcast random rubble flint with some cob, with a gable-end corrugated-iron roof. The original plan was for a 3 or 4-room, through-passage house, though only the lower end and passage survive of the original layout, with the upper end being completely rebuilt after the Second World War. A smoke-blackened cruck truss survives adjacent to a large axial stone stack, along with blackened purlins. The remainder of the roof is also of jointed cruck construction, likely built around 1642 (as evidenced by a reused datestone marked 'RP 1642').

The original house comprised two rooms in the lower end, each heated by the axial stone stack, extending forward with a wing to the extreme right-hand room. A winder stair is located in a rear turret. The rebuilt upper-end stone end stack also carries the reused datestone. A brick shaft, likely replacing an earlier feature, is set back onto the passage.

The exterior presents an irregular 4-window front, with the 1940s reconstruction taller and featuring two half-dormers; all windows are of late 20th-century design. The doorway to the passage retains an ovolo-moulded lintel, though the jambs have been replaced. An original 3-light window with deeply chamfered mullions and surround remains on the inner face of the front wing’s front elevation, along with a similar window on the right-hand elevation of the wing. Later loft access is present to the front. The rear features entirely late-20th-century fenestration, while the first storey of the right-hand end of the main range has been encased in corrugated iron.

Inside, the passage features stone at the upper end, with an ovolo-moulded doorway leading to the former hall, and a service end with a doorway featuring a steeply cranked lintel and chamfered jambs. A plank and muntin screen likely survives beneath the modern plyboard flooring. The first service-end room has two chamfered, unstopped, and a boxed cross ceiling beam. The outer service room has a chamfered cross ceiling beam with run-out stops. Both fireplaces are blocked, extending a combined depth of approximately 17 feet. A contemporary fielded panel and planked door is also present. The newel stair, entered from the ground floor via a chamfered doorway with a steeply cranked lintel, retains its solid timber steps. At the head of the stairs, two doorways (similar to the ground floor example) lead into the upper rooms, divided by a newel attached to the lower blade of the roof truss. A fireplace with chamfered and stopped stone jambs, with the chamfer carried through the timber lintel, is found in the first service-room chamber. The roof structure comprises three jointed cruck trusses, exhibiting Alcock type F2 apex carpentry; the diagonal ridge-piece and rafters are largely intact, though they no longer support the present roof.