Down Farmhouse

Down Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century or earlier, which was remodeled and extended in the early 18th century and altered in the 20th century. It is constructed of roughcast stone rubble and features an asbestos tile roof with a half-hipped right end, a hipped left end, and red clay ridge tiles. The building has one end stack and two lateral stacks with rendered shafts and louvred yellow clay pots.

Originally, the house had a three-room and through or cross passage plan, with the lower right end room heated by an end stack, and the hall and inner left room heated by lateral stacks at the back. In the early 18th century, the house was remodeled; a straight staircase was added to the passage, creating a lobby entrance. The lower end, which may have originally been unheated, became the parlour, while the inner left room was converted into the kitchen. An outshut behind the inner room is likely an 18th-century addition, and the partition between the hall and inner room has been moved to enlarge the inner room.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical five-window southwest front. It features late 20th-century aluminium casements in earlier window openings, which are smaller on the first floor. There is a doorway to the right of centre with a rendered lean-to porch, which was formerly open-fronted but now has a plastic door and a 20th-century glazed inner door. A small stone rubble outshut is located at the left end of the porch, topped with a lean-to corrugated iron roof. At the rear, there is a large projecting and gabled lateral stack at the centre, along with an internal lateral stack and a lean-to outshut on the right. To the left of the central stack, there are two late 20th-century aluminium casements on the first floor.

Inside, most of the internal features are covered, and much of the joinery has been replaced. A straight staircase from the early 19th century is located in the former passage and features moulded handrails, newels, and double dog-gates with scrolled finials on the stiles, as well as fielded bottom panels and stick balusters in the top panels. The hall and inner room have closely spaced stop-chamfered joists and no main beams. The roof includes collars that are halved, lapped, and pegged to a straight principal made of elm.