Crabadon Court

Crabadon Court is a house dating from the late 16th or early 17th century, with alterations dating from probably the 18th century and circa early to mid 19th and 20th centuries. It is built of slate or shale rubble with a chamfered slate plinth at the front and a slate dripcourse immediately above. The first floor at the rear is slate hung with old scantle and ragslates. The roof is of asbestos slate, half hipped at the right hand end and hipped at the left end. The roof at the left end has been lowered and is lower pitched with a lower ridge, with a gable and roof to the porch. There is a slate rubble aerial stack to the left of centre with slate drips and a rendered cap. The right hand end stack has a later rendered shaft, the rear lateral stack is rendered with a large offset and later rendered shaft, and there is another 20th century lateral stack at the back of the lower end.

The building is a long, single-depth rectangular range with the higher end to the right. A central wide cross-passage contains a two-storey porch at the front. Two approximately equal-sized rooms lie to the right of the passage, the first appearing to have been unheated, and the second room at the right end has a gable end stack. A larger room to the left of the passage is heated from a rear lateral fireplace. The lower end to the left appears to have been rebuilt, probably in the 18th century when the roof line was lowered across that section. In the early to mid 19th century, the interior was remodelled and a new staircase was inserted into the passage. 20th century alterations probably include the insertion of a partition into the room to the right of the staircase to form a cloakroom at the back, and the widening of the doorway between the passage and the right hand room to extend the stairhall. The two rooms to the left of the passage are said to have been one large room before a partition was inserted in the 20th century. The extreme left end was divided into a pantry, lavatory and a side entrance lobby.

The exterior is two storeys and asymmetrical. There is a three-window range to the left and two over three windows to the right, with the first floor windows not aligned over the ground floor windows. A large gabled two-storey porch is positioned to the right of centre. The windows are circa mid 19th century three-light casements with glazing bars. The ground floor window to the left of centre is a large mid 19th century four-light casement with glazing bars and a hoodmould. The ground floor windows to the right are all sashes, two of which are 20th century, one with an original slate hoodmould above, and the right hand one a mid 19th century twelve-pane sash with four-pane side lights. The large gabled porch to the right of centre has a fine chamfered slate round arch doorway with imposts. The first floor is slightly jettied out on a chamfered slate course with a string course below, reversing the plinth which continues around the base of the porch. The first floor porch window is slightly to the left of centre and has a slate hoodmould and a mid 19th century two-light casement with glazings. At the back of the porch to the right is a later slate mounting block. Inside the porch are old timber benches on either side and an inner doorway with a fine oak doorframe with true mitres and double ovolo moulding with part of hourglass steps and small bird-like figures carved above. The original door is made of horizontal planks at the back and vertical planks at the front with applied moulded style and rails forming twelve small panels, with original decorated wrought iron strap hinges and a wooden cased lock in working order. The timber lintel above is ovolo moulded but hacked as a key for plaster. An old mate flag floor lies inside the porch.

The rear elevation is asymmetrical with various 19th and 20th century casements and a 20th century sash to the left in a large blocked opening with a slate hoodmould. At the centre over the ground floor is a scantle slate pentice roof, open fronted with a stone wall to the left side and later glazed to the right, forming a conservatory. To the right of the pentice is the large rear lateral stack. There is a small, circa 19th century, single-storey lean-to outshut at the right hand gable end with a scantle slate roof.

Internally, the ground floor room to the right of centre has a large rear lateral fireplace with slate rubble jambs and a replaced wooden lintel. The right hand end room has a 20th century chimneypiece on the gable end wall flanked by mitres with 20th century architraves. The ground floor rooms have early to mid 19th century six-panel doors. At the back of the passage is a circa 1840 staircase with a closed string, stuck balusters and a moulded handrail ramped up to turned newels. The front floor rooms to the left of centre and centre have back-to-back fireplaces, while the right hand end room has a gable end fireplace, all with chamfered slate lintels and stone jambs with hearths of pitched slate, two of which have been cemented over. There are 18th century fielded two-panel doors on the first floor.

The roof structure comprises three trusses over the right hand end with principal rafters having straight feet, mortices for a threaded ridge-piece and purlins, and straight collars which are notched and lap-jointed. The purlins, ridge-piece and most of the rafters have been replaced. The later roof trusses over the left hand end may be 18th century, with collars halved, lapped and pegged to the faces of the principals which have morticed apexes; the rafters, purlins and ridge-piece are entirely replaced. The solid masonry cross-wall to the left of the passage rises the full height of the house to the roof apex, but the remains of the solid wall to the right of the passage and the next cross-wall to the right rise only to first floor level.