Blatchford Farmhouse

ASHTON LOWER ASHTON SX 88 SW 5/29 Blatchford Farmhouse GV II Farmhouse. C17 origins, thoroughly remodelled and extended in the C18 or C19. Whitewashed rendered stone rubble; slate roof (formerly thatched) hipped at ends; axial stack with brick shaft and front left corner shaft to main block, projecting rear lateral stack with bread oven to wing. Plan: L plan. The wing, parallel to the lane, is probably the earlier part of the house, single depth and 2 rooms wide with asingle-storey third room at the left end. The middle room, heated by the rear lateral stack with an adjacent winder stair appears to have served as a hall or parlour in the C17: the other rooms are plain with no visible evidence of an early date. The main block, at right angles to the rear of the right hand room faces the farmyard and is also single depth, 3 rooms wide with an unheated entrance hall to the left containing a late C19 stair, a heated room in the middle with a blocked fireplace and an axial passage to the rear linking the entrance to a former dairy at the right end. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3 window front with an internal porch with porch seats to left of centre and a C19 front door. 2-light C20 timber casements. The rear elevation of the wing, which backs on to the road, is blind with a large projecting stack and adjacent stair projection. The rear elevation of the main block has a small thatched rustic garden house and a C20 conservatory has been added in the angle between the main block and the wing. Interior: The middle room of the wing has an open fireplace with one ovolo-moulded granite jamb (the other jamb concealed), a timber lintel and C19 brick-lined bread oven. Timber winder stair adjacent to stack. High ceilings suggest that the roof and ground floor ceilings may have been raised. Roof: Not inspected but may be of interest.

Listing NGR: SX8438484240