Court Prior Farmhouse

Court Prior Farmhouse is likely 17th century or earlier, with significant remodelling and extension around the early 19th century. The farmhouse is constructed of colourwashed shale rubble with a slate roof and gabled ends. It features projecting gable end stacks, one with a rendered shaft and a rear lateral stack rising from a catslide roof, topped with a tapered cap, slate dripcourse, and a later shaft above.

The original layout consisted of three rooms at the front, with a passage between the left and center rooms and another between the center and right rooms. The left and right-hand end rooms each have gable stacks, while the center room has a lateral stack at the rear. An integral rear outshut runs the length of the house, with the staircase positioned centrally within the outshut. A single-room stable with a loft above is attached to the left end of the main range, incorporated into the main living areas. A 20th-century outshut is located at the rear, behind the earlier extensions.

The current configuration reflects extensive early 19th-century alterations and additions to an earlier structure. The center room is possibly the hall of the original house. The left-hand passage may represent the original through passage, while the right-hand passage was added during the 19th-century enlargement.

The external facade is two stories high and features a regular, if not symmetrical, five-window front. The windows are predominantly early to mid-19th century sashes, with 16 panes on the first floor and smaller 12-pane sashes on the ground floor. All windows have cambered arches. A 20th-century glazed door sits within a passage doorway to the left of center. A fine early 19th-century wooden doorcase, complete with fluted pilasters, frieze, a triangular pediment decorated with floral motifs and dentil cornice, and a 6-panel door, is located to the right of center. A later 19th-century glazed porch with margin panes provides access. The former stable has a lower roof line, a 20th-century garden door, a loft window, and a loft doorway in the gable end. Small 19th and 20th-century casements are at the rear.

Inside, the left-hand room retains remnants of a late 17th or early 18th-century plaster cornice and an early 18th-century field panelled door. The center room’s rear lateral stack has been blocked off with a 20th-century fireplace, and the ceiling’s cross-bearers have been plastered over. Much of the 19th-century joinery is still present, including panelled doors. An early to mid-19th-century open-well staircase with square newels and stick balusters can be found in the rear outshut behind the lateral stack. The roof space was not inspected, and the feet of the principals are not visible from the first-floor rooms.