Southwood Manor House

Southwood Manor House

Farmhouse, dating to circa late 16th or early 17th century, with remodelling and extension probably in the later 17th century, followed by alterations in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

The building is constructed of local slate rubble, with the front and rear walls of the cross-wing rendered. The roof is covered with asbestos tiles and has gabled ends; the cross-wing is hipped. Stone rubble chimney stacks feature slate weathering, with a lower gable end stack and an axial cross-wing stack.

The original house followed a plan of 2 or 3 rooms. The large lower end room to the right (north) contains a substantial gable end fireplace with an oven and a newel staircase leading to a heated chamber above. A putative central cross or through passage, divided from the lower end by a full-height wall, has a blocked doorway at the rear; evidence for a front doorway is unclear. To the left (south) of the passage, the cross-wing projecting at the front may represent a 17th-century alteration of the original hall. The large stack at the rear with an oven possibly served as the hall's rear lateral stack. Within the lower right angle of the cross-wing lies what appears to have been a stair turret. The small unheated room behind the cross-wing, with a chamber above, and two outshuts behind the lower end, are probably late 17th or 18th-century additions. In circa late 19th century, the cross-wing was subdivided, providing a stairwell on its lower right side and an entrance lobby at the front. In the 20th century, an outshut was added at the rear between the cross-wing and lower end outshuts, and a partition has recently been inserted into the cross-passage.

Externally, the building is 2 storeys and asymmetrical. The east front presents a 1:2 window arrangement with a projecting hipped roof cross-wing to the left bearing 20th-century sashes on ground and first floors, a 20th-century glazed door to the right, and a square stair turret to the right in the angle with the main range. The main range to the right has two small late 19th-century first floor sashes and, on the ground floor, a 20th-century casement to the left and right; that to the right is larger. A partly blocked opening with slate hoodmould and chamfered timber lintel is present. A doorway sits at the centre of the main range.

The rear (west) elevation features a catslide roof over a low outshut to the left with small window openings, and a hipped roof wing to the right with a 20th-century casement and a 20th-century outshut in the space between the wing and the lower outshut. The right-hand (north) side of the cross-wing has a projecting oven and a 19th-century 3-light first floor casement window. The lower right-hand (north) end displays a weathered string course at first floor level and a first floor window to the right of the stack, with slate hoodmould.

A front garden area wall adjoins the front (east) of the south cross-wing, dating to circa 19th century. It is constructed of slate rubble with a pair of square gate-piers bearing rustic caps.

The interior of the lower north end features chamfered closely-spaced cross-beams (joists) with ogee stops, dressed stone jambs, and a stone bread oven on the left-hand side beneath the newel stairs to the chamber above. The chamber also contains a fireplace with a chamfered timber lintel bearing straight cut stops. The lower end chamber ceiling is supported on closely spaced chamfered cross beams. The higher south end cross-wing contains a chamfered axial beam with stops and a large axial fireplace at the rear of the main room, featuring a chamfered timber lintel with an oven in the left-hand corner. The roof over the lower north end comprises straight principal rafters with halved lapped and pegged collar, with portions on the back of the principals.