Whitehall Farmhouse

Whitehall Farmhouse is a former farmhouse dating to the late 16th century or possibly earlier, with significant remodelling and extension in the mid-17th century. It is constructed of whitewashed rendered stone rubble and cob, with a slate roof (formerly thatched), gabled at the ends. It has two axial stacks to the main range and a further stack to the rear wing.

The house has an unusually complex plan. The main block consists of a single depth, three-room plan, with an unheated room at the left end and two heated rooms at the right end, one on either side of a passage containing a stair. A single-room plan wing adjoins the front at right angles, also unheated. A further single-room plan kitchen wing adjoins the rear right corner of the main range, with a rear lean-to projecting from the main range. The main range is likely the earliest part of the house and possibly has late medieval origins, likely remodelled in the late 16th century when the front wing (likely used as a dairy) might have been added. A substantial remodelling occurred in the early/mid-17th century, when the kitchen wing was added, and the left-hand room of the main range's two heated rooms was upgraded to a smart parlour. The rear lean-to is part of this remodelling, providing access from the kitchen to the unheated left-end room of the main range and creating an axial corridor on the first floor.

The front of the main range is asymmetrical, with three windows, and a gabled wing to the right. A slate porch hood shelters the front door, which is located to the right of the wing. A similar hood also covers a doorway on the wing's return. Two-light casement windows with glazing bars are found to the left of the wing; a similar casement occupies the first-floor gable end of the wing. A five-light ground-floor window is present on the right return of the wing.

Inside, numerous features of interest are present. The right-hand room of the main range has stop-chamfered cross beams with run-out stops. The centre room contains an early 17th-century decorated plaster ceiling with remains of a cornice and ornamental motifs. The front and rear kitchen wing have chamfered stopped cross beams. The kitchen wing has an open fireplace with a bread oven and what may be a curing chamber. There are good crank-arched timber doorframes on both the ground and first floors. The roof shows evidence of considerable replacement and remodelling including one probably 17th-century truss.