Whiterose Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Built in the early to mid-16th century, with later 16th and 17th century alterations and extensions circa 1980. The original structure is plastered cob on rubble footings, with stone stacks and 19th century brick tops. It was originally a three-room-and-through-passage house facing south, with an inner room at the right (east) end. A circa 1980 extension was added to the service room on the left end. There is an end stack to the service room and an axial stack backing onto the former passage. The farmhouse is now two storeys high, with a three-window front (excluding the circa 1980 extension) featuring late 19th and 20th century casement windows. The thatch lifts over first-floor dormers. A 19th century door towards the right end is a secondary entrance to the inner room, obscuring the original passage door. The roof is half-hipped at the right end and gable-ended to the left above a shingle-clad extension.

The rear elevation includes a 17th century projecting, semi-circular stair turret with a hipped, conical roof, serving the hall towards the left end. This turret features an oak two-light window with a chamfered mullion. A late 17th to early 18th century, square stair turret projects from the service room on the right end.

The interior is described as good. Remains of a 16th century oak plank-and-muntin screen are on the low side of the passage, featuring chamfered muntins with cut-diagonal stops. A similar screen at the upper end of the hall has chamfered muntins with roll stops, high enough to accommodate a bench. Traces of late 16th century painted figures, recognisable as saints, remain on the planks of these screens, representing ancient colour. The hall fireplace from the mid to late 16th century has an unusual massive oak hood corbel on the left side. Its oak lintel is chamfered with pyramid stops and includes an 18th or 19th century bread oven on the right side. The inner room contains a mid to late 16th century axial beam resting on a large jowl-headed post against the rear of the passage, chamfered with pyramid stops. This room was apparently used as a dairy in the 19th century. The four-bay roof is carried on side-pegged, jointed cruck trusses; the roofspace is inaccessible, but smoke-blackening is visible over the hall. There's evidence of what may be an original large-framed closed truss over the lower passage screen, alongside a secondary flooring of the passage and a first-floor low oak plank-and-muntin screen flush with the back of the fireplace.

The service room was floored in the early to mid 17th century, with a chamfered and scroll-stopped axial beam. The rubble fireplace with a massive chamfered oak lintel and a brick side oven may have been reduced in width. A winder stair is located to the right. The hall was also floored in the early to mid 17th century using a chamfered and scroll-stopped beam, and a newel stair turret was added to the rear. The door to this turret is chamfered with scroll stops, and the newel rises around the cruck foot. This is an unusually small but well-preserved, multi-phase farmhouse.