Venn Farmhouse Including Garden Walls To South

Farmhouse. It probably dates back to the 16th or 17th century, but was largely rebuilt in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and altered again in the mid-19th century, when the staircase was replaced and a rear block was added. The front of the house is plastered rubble stone, with exposed red sandstone and mudstone rubble, some brick dressings, rubble stacks with plastered brick chimney shafts, and a slate roof. The house has a double-depth plan, with three rooms and the main staircase in the front range, and smaller rooms in a parallel rear range. The main rooms in the front range have projecting gable end stacks, and a rear stack to the central room is set between the two ranges. The rear range has a lower, parallel roof, with a cross roof at the west end. There are two stories. The front has five windows of the early to end 19th century, with 16-pane sashes on the ground floor and 9-pane sashes on the first floor. The central three windows are slightly recessed. The door is right of centre and has panelled reveals and a large doorcase with Tuscan pilasters and an entablature. It appears the front was formerly balanced by a second doorway. A projecting modillion eaves cornice is carried on pairs of shaped brackets. The rear has casement windows in segmental arches, and the projecting stack on the west end has an oven projection. Inside, there are numerous features from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, but the staircase is late 19th century, and much of the rear block appears to have been added in the late 19th century. A granite datestone inscribed "1708" is included in the rear of the rear block’s fireplace, but no features earlier than the late 18th or early 19th century are visible. The roof was not inspected. High plastered rubble walls extend southwards from each end of the front to enclose the front garden. Halfway along each side, these walls include round-headed arches to large semi-circular alcoves with trelliswork fronts, incorporating pointed archways.