Rill Farmhouse

Rill Farmhouse

A large farmhouse of 17th-century origins, substantially remodelled in 1790 for J Edwards, with 20th-century alterations. The building is constructed of local limestone rubble, with the 1790 phase originally rendered. It has a slate roof, hipped at the left end and at the end of the rear wing, with stacks featuring tall stone shafts.

The house is planned as a T-shape overall. The main block is single depth and three rooms wide, with an entrance passage containing the stair positioned between the two left-hand rooms. These rooms are heated from front lateral stacks. The right-hand kitchen is heated from a rear lateral stack. Partitions at the right end have been altered; there were formerly four rooms in this range. The present centre room is heated by a probably 17th-century lateral stack, while the matching left-hand stack is part of the 1790s improvements, which gave a symmetrical elevation to the main block at the left end. Front and rear service wings project at right-angles at the right end: the front wing is a former dairy, and the rear wing is heated and may have been a bakehouse with ovens since blocked in, or a laundry. Both wings have accommodation over.

The exterior is two storeys. The asymmetrical entrance front is largely blind except for one window bay. The centre front is flanked by projecting lateral stacks and gabled to the front with a 1790 eaves cornice to the left extending across the centre bay. A central front door has a timber doorcase and six-panel door with flush panels. The right-hand bay of the main block has one ground-floor and one first-floor 12-pane horned sash. The projecting dairy wing to the right has a two-window front, with a doorway featuring a timber lintel and one ground-floor three-light casement. Above is one first-floor two-light small-pane casement and one 16-pane sash. The four-window rear elevation to the main block has a doorcase with four-panel door, the upper panels fielded, and a fanlight with spoke glazing bars. This doorcase has deep brackets supporting a flat porch hood. The door is flanked by tripartite sashes, with a 12-pane sash in the centre flanked by 4-pane sashes. One 12-pane horned sash to the ground-floor left is said to replace a door. Four first-floor 12-pane sashes are present, two horned, the other two in reduced embrasures. Three hipped roof attic dormers are visible. The wing to the left has a lower roofline and an outer lateral stack with various casements including windows in the end wall. The right return of the main block is 2:1:1 in proportion, with the gable end wall of the main range flanked by the service wings. One, two- and three-light casements are present, along with a door to the laundry or bakehouse block, which is heated by a lateral stack, to the left.

The interior contains a fireplace to the right-hand lateral stack with a new lintel, whilst the left-hand lateral stack fireplace has its chimneypiece missing. A 1790 stair features a ramped handrail and stick balusters. Panelled doors and fine doorcases are notable features. Alterations include imported panelling, doors changed to windows, and altered partitions. The partition between the right-hand and centre room is made up of old shutters. A flag floor is present in the kitchen. The dairy retains slate shelves; the bakehouse or laundry has an open fireplace with a slightly chamfered lintel. The roofspace contains one 17th-century truss with the original pegged collar removed and replaced with a higher collar. The roof over the 1790 section has one truss with a halved collar and metal fixings.

A painting owned by previous owners shows a very smart late 17th-century house with end pavilions, which may represent a planned remodelling of Rill never executed.