Lower Allerton Farmhouse

Lower Allerton Farmhouse

Farmhouse, probably dating from the early 16th century, partly floored in the later 16th century, then entirely floored and remodelled in the 17th century when the stair tower, porch and rear wing were added. A rear outshut was added in the 19th century. The building is constructed of local limestone rubble; the lower side of the rear wing is of cob. The roof is steeply pitched with slate covering, gabled ends, and a catslide over the rear lean-to. Two early crested ridge tiles sit on the rear wing. Stone rubble chimneys include a brick shaft on the left gable and stack.

The plan follows a traditional three-room and through-passage arrangement, with the lower end to the right. Originally the building probably stood open to the roof from end to end, divided by low screens. In the later 16th century, a floor was inserted over the narrow inner room, creating a chamber that jutted into the open hall. The remainder of the house was probably floored in the 17th century when lateral stacks were built at the rear of the hall and lower room, and gable end stacks were added to serve chambers over the inner room and lower end. This remodelling likely included the porch built in front of the passage door and an unheated wing at the rear of the higher end, with a stair tower in the angle behind the hall.

The exterior presents two storeys with a regular but asymmetrical four-window range. First-floor windows are 19th-century three-light casements with horizontal glazing bars set in half dormers with slate-hung gables. Ground-floor casements are similar: the inner room to the left has two lights; the hall to the left of centre has four lights; and the lower end to the right has a 20th-century French window. A two-storey gabled porch positioned right of centre features a segmented stone arch doorway and a 19th-century two-light first-floor window. A blocked window on the porch side retains an old chamfered frame with a diagonally set mullion. The inner front door to the passage has an ovolo moulded and scroll-stopped wooden doorframe, a moulded plank door with wrought iron hinges, and a chamfered lintel with long scroll stops. The higher gable end to the left has a projecting stack with set-offs. The internal lower end stack has a recessed cap. The two projecting rear lateral stacks have set-offs and slate weatherings. The lower end stack is enclosed within the 19th-century rear outshut, which also surrounds the stair tower; the rendered gable half dormer appears on both lower and higher sides.

Internally, a plank and muntin screen separates the hall and narrow inner room, with chamfered muntins and high run-out stops, a wide doorway with shouldered head and diagonal stops (now blocked but retaining the old studded door), and a later doorway inserted to the side. Another plank and muntin screen divides the hall and passage, chamfered on the passage side only, with later doorways inserted. A wooden boarded partition between the passage and lower room may conceal an earlier screen but now contains an 18th-century fielded two-panel door. Two light scantling chamfered cross beams in the hall have no stops. At the higher end of the hall, the jetty beam, chamfered on the hall side only, carries a partition above. The blocked hall fireplace has a 19th-century wooden chimneypiece. The inner room fireplace is blocked. The lower end room has a 20th-century fireplace on the rear wall and a cupboard with fielded panels in the gable end wall. The rear doorway to the passage has the original round-headed chamfered door-frame. The stair tower behind the hall contains a late 19th-century dog-leg staircase with stick balusters.

The first floor retains two old plank doors with wrought iron hinges, a fielded four-panel door, and a fielded panel cupboard in the lower room. The roof space is inaccessible, but the principal rafters appear to be straight, resting on the wall plate, with wide purlins visible. The roofs over the porch and rear wing appear similar in construction.