Langley Barton

Langley Barton is a farmhouse of early 17th-century origin, substantially remodelled in that period and further altered in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of stone rubble with a slate roof, hipped at the ends.

The house follows an approximate L-plan, comprising a south-facing main range four rooms wide, with a north-east wing and a second wing adjoining it on the west, surrounded by outshuts and additions. The main range has three rear lateral chimneys enclosed by later outshuts; the north-east wing has an end stack (shaft truncated) and a lateral stack on its inner west return. A 17th-century stair rises between the north-east wing and the main range, while a late 19th or early 20th-century stair rises in one of the rear projections.

The house appears to have been substantially rebuilt, though its early 17th-century origins are evident internally. A concealed date of 1624 survives on the fireplace of the third room from the left (west), which may have been the early 17th-century hall, with the present entrance corresponding to a 17th-century cross-passage entrance. The north-east wing was likely a parlour wing with a first-floor chamber featuring a wagon roof. A 17th-century fireplace in situ in a garden wall about 1.5 metres from the east end of the main range indicates the house has been truncated. The quoins at this east end incorporate re-used moulded stones, and much internal carpentry is also re-used timber. The east end likely represents the early 17th-century higher end with a hall and inner room parlour, with a parlour wing at right angles. The putative lower end rooms to the west of the entrance include one retaining a fireplace with slates set on edge, unlikely to have functioned as a kitchen.

The exterior presents a circa early 19th-century re-fronted south elevation, approximately symmetrical with two storeys and five bays. The central bay features a circa early 19th-century porch with timber columns and a 19th-century half-glazed front door, above which are the arms of the Pollard family. Nineteenth-century doors occupy the extreme left and right: the left with a glazed overlight, the right half-glazed. Flanking the central door are two tripartite 19th-century sashes with 12 panes to the centre lights and 4 panes to the outer lights. Five first-floor 12-pane sashes complete the fenestration, all with painted flat brick arches featuring keyblocks. The north-east wing displays laced masonry courses on its east side.

Internally, the main range rooms have high ceilings with no evidence of early exposed carpentry. Chimney-pieces to the lateral stacks have been partially or completely rebuilt with replaced lintels. In the third room from the left, the original ovolo-moulded jambs survive in situ, matching those of the fireplace in the garden wall. A relieving arch has been dismantled and rebuilt within the existing fireplace.

Seventeenth-century carpentry includes a staircase with moulded handrail and a mixture of bobbin-turned and turned balusters. A 17th-century panelled door on the first floor retains cockshead hinges. Other first-floor doors include 18th-century two-panel doors, some with original hinges, and two with 17th-century doorframes.

The roof of the main range comprises pegged 'A' frames with halved collars, showing evidence of re-used timbers. The wagon roof over the north-east wing is covered by a modern ceiling below and is said to retain fragments of old plaster.

The remains of a service courtyard survive to the north. The Pollard family is said to have occupied Langley from 1303 to 1732.