Church House Inn

Church House Inn

A public house, originally the church house, dating from circa the mid to late 16th century. The building is constructed of whitewashed stone rubble with a slate roof, featuring asbestos slates at the rear. The roof is gabled at the right end and hipped at the left end, with a chamfered wall plate at the eaves. Rendered chimney stacks stand at both ends; the left end stack projects and has had its shaft removed. There are two rear lateral stacks and one front lateral stack, with the lateral stack at the centre rear being the original hall stack. The other two stacks date to the 19th century.

The plan consists of a two-storey, three-room layout with a large central hall heated by a rear lateral stack and smaller rooms at either end. These end rooms are separated from the hall by timber screens and heated by gable end stacks. The left-hand room is larger than the right-hand room. One or both projections at the rear of each end may originally have been stair turrets. The position of the original front entrance is uncertain, as there are blocked doorways at the centre, to the left of centre, and to the right. However, an original doorway to the left of the front may be in situ, providing access to the left end room.

The exterior presents two storeys with a regular but asymmetrical six-window range. The windows include 19th-century one, two, three and five-light casements with glazing bars, and a ground floor right early 19th-century 20-pane sash window. Timber lintels are used throughout; the ground floor lintels are chamfered and stopped, some with bar stops. At the centre is an inserted window in a blocked doorway with a moulded lintel. To the right is a 16th-century four-light moulded timber window frame with four-centred arch-headed lights, roll moulding, and roundels in the spandrels. A doorway has been inserted into the right-hand two lights, the left-hand mullion removed, and a 19th-century casement inserted in its place. The doorway at the far left of the front features a heavy timber lintel, chamfered and step-stopped, with an original timber doorframe having a chamfered rounded arch, though a 20th-century doorframe and door have been inserted inside. Across the entire front over the ground storey extends a pentice supported on cantilevered chamfered brackets with rounded ends, beneath which runs a slurred scantle slate lean-to roof covered by a stone drip course. An ornate wrought iron lampholder bracket adorns the left end of the front. At either end of the rear are small lean-to roof projections, possibly originally stair turrets. A truncated rear lateral stack at the centre has a rebuilt shaft. To the right of centre stands a 19th-century single-storey outbuilding with a hipped scantle slate roof and a 20th-century flat roof outshut in the space to the left.

The interior reveals significant period detail. The hall and end rooms feature chamfered cross beams with bar stops. The five hall beams have roll-moulded joists with butt stops. The left end room has square-section joists, while the right-hand end room's joists are concealed by a plaster ceiling. The partition at the right end is a plank and muntin screen with roll-moulded muntins on the hall side, with butt stops at high level possibly for a removed bench. The head beam is moulded and the chamfered sole plate survives. To the left of this screen is a flat-headed doorway with roll-moulded jambs and lintel stopped at the corners. Most of the screen at the left end has been removed, though the top rail and a rear section survive, featuring chamfered muntins and planks. A partition inserted into the left-hand room contains a reused roll-moulded timber three-light window with segmental-headed lights and spandrels bearing a nail-head border around ovals and balls. The rear of the hall contains a blocked fireplace. A straight flight of stairs with a chinoiserie-style balustrade also stands at the back of the hall. The hall has 20th-century partitions and bars inserted, as has the left-hand room.

The roof comprises 11 trusses, probably raised crucks with curved feet, most of which appear to be jointed crucks. Morticed slightly cambered collars support three tiers of threaded purlins; a threaded ridge piece may originally have existed but is now missing. None of the original rafters survive, and some collars have been replaced or additional ones added to reinforce the trusses.