Lower Cliston Farmhouse

Lower Cliston Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from around the early 17th century, with later alterations from around the mid-19th century. An outbuilding extension likely dates from the early to mid-19th century. The farmhouse is constructed of rendered local slate rubble, with a rendered front and ends, and has a Welsh slate roof with gabled ends and crested ridge tiles. Rendered shafts mark the gable and rear lateral stacks.

Originally a three-room plan, the house faces south. The kitchen is located on the west end, distinguished by a gable stack. The hall features a projecting lateral stack to the rear, while the upper room on the right has a gable end stack. A doorway from the front leads into a 19th or 20th-century internal lobby. It is possible that an original cross or through passage once existed, which would have made the lower room unusually small. The mid-19th century remodelling included the insertion of a staircase connecting the hall and the upper right-hand room. The outbuilding at the lower left end was likely added during this remodelling, or slightly beforehand.

The south front is asymmetrical with four windows over two storeys. It has late 19th and 20th-century two-light casements with glazing bars. There are two doorways, one on either side of the centre, with 20th-century glazed doors. The left-hand doorway is accompanied by a 20th-century open porch with a lean-to slate roof and a stone rubble side wall, while the right-hand doorway has a later 19th-century open porch. The rear elevation features a large projecting lateral stack in the centre and a substantial rendered shaft with a set-off. It also has 19th and 20th-century casements.

The outbuilding to the lower left is also constructed of stone rubble and has a lower, scantle slate roof with a hipped end. A slight recession on the left-hand side of the front wall accommodates a small, single-storey lean-to with a corrugated iron roof. A loft doorway is located at the rear.

Inside, the ceiling beams have been plastered over, except for the exposed waney joists in the kitchen. The kitchen has a fireplace with a wooden lintel, a chamfered lintel above, and a cupboard with 19th-century panelled doors. The hall contains a Victorian cast iron gate and a simple wooden chimney piece with a bracketed shelf. A straight staircase with a simple mid-19th-century balustrade — featuring simple balusters and turned newels — is located on the landing. The roof space was not inspected, but the first floor rooms have high ceilings with straight principal rafters visible.