Hill Farmhouse

Hill Farmhouse is probably of late 16th-century origin, although earlier fabric may be hidden within. It is constructed of roughcast rendered stone rubble and cob, with a bitumenized slate roof to the main range, a gable end to the right, and a corrugated iron roof to the lower end, hipped at the left end. The house has an axial stone rubble stack with a tapered cap serving the inner room, and a tall front lateral hall stack with offsets and a projecting bread oven with a rounded form and slate capping.

The original plan was a variant of a three-room and cross-passage design. The wide cross-passage was divided axially, creating small, unheated front and rear service rooms. Integral, lofted stables, with external access only, are present at the lower left end, and a hall, inner room, and a third service room (a salting-house) are situated to the right. The roof structure of the main range was replaced in the 20th century, obscuring the full development sequence. A significant solid wall partition between the hall and inner room suggests the latter might be an addition, while the service room at the right end seems to have been added in the 17th century. The lower end, including the cross-passage and stables, was rebuilt by the 18th century. The original location of the stairs is uncertain; a 19th-century staircase now rises along the rear wall of the inner room, while a steep stair ladder in the unheated rear room of the cross-passage was replaced in the 20th century.

The exterior has two storeys and a four-window arrangement. Most of the windows date to the early 20th century, consisting of two and three-light casements with four and six panes per light. One original 17th-century four-light mullion window is found on the ground floor of the service room at the right end. A 19th-century six-panelled door is located to the left of the hall stack, and a plank door provides access to the stables above which sits a loft door. The inner room has been built out as a shallow gabled bay.

The interior has undergone little alteration in the 20th century. A deep chamfered cross ceiling beam remains in the hall, along with a section of an oak hall bench reused as a fireplace lintel. A creamery niche is located to the left of the former hall bench. The relatively narrow inner room has a 19th-century chimney piece, likely concealing an earlier lintel. An axial chamfered ceiling beam with diagonal cut stops and a half beam towards the front suggests the former position of the front wall before the inner room was added. The salting room’s fittings are entirely intact, as are the stable's mangers, partitions, and loft floor. Hill Farmhouse is an interesting example of a long-house plan, with the lower end still used for livestock housing and the added service room beyond the inner room, a plan shared with Newland Farm House and Woods, both in West Anstey.