Palace Farmhouse

House. The house largely dates to the late 17th century, with rebuilding taking place around the early 18th century on the right end. It is constructed of whitewashed rendered stone rubble, with a slate roof, gabled at the ends. There are gable end stacks, an axial stack, and a lateral stack on the rear wall. The original layout is unclear, but the main range is single-depth and three rooms wide. The left-hand room on the ground floor is of late 17th-century date and heated by a stack in the left gable end. It appears that in the early 18th century the house was rebuilt on the right end and re-roofed, creating a symmetrical front elevation. This new work included a substantial attic storey and a two-storey winder stair. Later additions include a front right wing at a right angle to the 17th-century part of the house, and a single-room plan addition to the rear right, with a lean-to roof. The front elevation has two storeys, with a one-and-two-window front. The right end is symmetrical with a 20th-century gabled porch canopy and a 19th-century door with arched lights and half-glazing. First-floor windows are three-light casements with two panes per light, while ground-floor windows (inserted since 1978) are two-light casements, also with two panes per light, replacing earlier 18th-century casements. A doorway and a two-light casement are located on the front elevation of the left-hand part of the house, which serves the stair. The ground-floor room on the left has stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, and exposed joists; a casement window has deeply-chamfered timber mullions. Some 18th-century joinery has survived in the right-hand end of the house. The roof structure is unusual, with large timbers resting in the stone walls. Two first-floor cross beams of uncertain date are suspended from 20th-century trusses in the attic at the left end of the house. A description from 1978 mentioned a three-light ovolo-moulded timber window with an original doorway adjoining, having a bead-moulded frame and boarded door, the window and doorway linked by a Beerstone hoodmould capped by slates, but these features were not present during a 1986 survey. There is group value with the remains of the listed Bishop's Palace.