Old Bailey Farmhouse

Old Bailey Farmhouse is a former farmhouse with late medieval origins, substantially remodelled in the circa early/mid 17th century. The construction combines whitewashed rendered cob and stone rubble with a slate roof, which has two different levels and half-hipped ends. Axial stacks, with rendered shafts, are present on the front, while rear lateral stacks are located to the left and right.

The original plan comprised three rooms and a through passage, with the hall stack backing onto the passage and the lower end positioned to the right. A rear wing extends at right angles to the main range. The core of the house began as an open hall house, and sooted roof timbers from this period survive from the left end as far as the lower end of the hall. The roof was not thoroughly inspected in 1987, but the sooted timbers, beneath a later roof, do not extend over the right end of the house, suggesting possible removal or that the right end was always two stories high. There are two flights of stairs: one rises from the end of the passage to the first floor over the lower end, and a second rises against the wall of the hall. The carpentry on the ground floor suggests the house was floored and stacks added in the early/mid 17th century. The hall is not rectangular; its rear wall is at a slight angle and appears to be a thin partition, hinting at rebuilding when the wing was added. The fireplace in the lower end room is located in the rear left corner. A 20th-century single-storey glazed addition has been built onto the front of the inner room.

The exterior features an asymmetrical four-window front. A 20th-century timber front door provides access to the through passage, positioned to the right of centre, with another 20th-century door at the left end leading into the inner room. There's a flat-roofed, 20th-century glazed addition on the front, right. The windows are 2 and 3-light 20th-century casements.

Inside, the farmhouse has rich carpentry and joinery. A plank and muntin screen separates the lower end of the passage; the muntins are moulded on the passage side. A short section of plank and muntin screen exists on the higher side of the passage, with another plank and muntin screen between the passage and the inner room. The lower end room has a chamfered cross beam, a corner stack in the rear left corner, and an 18th-century corner cupboard built into the front right corner. The hall features a good 17th-century open fireplace with a chamfered lintel, bar stops, and plaster armorial bearings above the lintel, bearing the initials BIC and a date of 1-50 (the second numeral unclear). The inner room was not inspected, but is said to contain exposed carpentry. The thatched medieval roof over the left end and centre of the range is visible beneath the current roof; rafters, a diagonally-set ridge, and sooted thatch laid on rough wattle survive, although details of the main trusses were not seen due to access difficulties.