Buck'S Mill Farmhouse

Buck’s Mill Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from around the mid-to-late 17th century, although it may incorporate elements of an earlier house. Minor alterations were made in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. The walls are colourwashed, rendered cob on stone footings, and the roof is slate (previously thatched), with gables at each end. A projecting stack of stone rubble is located at the left end, and an axial stack features an ashlar stone shaft with drippedges.

The house is situated in a valley bottom, with its rear elevation directly facing the road. It consists of a single depth main range, facing south, originally comprising two rooms, with a baffle entry positioned against the chimney-breast of the axial stack. The arrangement is a parlour on the right (east) and a kitchen on the left, with outshuts to the left and right. The kitchen’s stack incorporates a bread oven projecting into the outshut and may be a later, 18th-century addition. A winder stair rises to the rear of the axial stack, while a probably 18th-century stair is located against the north wall of the kitchen. A section of plank and muntin screen between the baffle entry and the kitchen suggests a possible late medieval origin involving a former cross or through passage, although this is unconfirmed. The outshuts are later additions; the left-hand outshut, currently a workshop, was formerly a dairy with access from the kitchen, while the right-hand outshut is used for storage and has external access.

The south front is asymmetrical, with two windows on the first floor and four on the ground floor. A central, 20th-century timber front door is half-glazed with glazed panels to either side. Four ground floor sashes, mostly 19th century but with one 20th-century replacement, have margin panes. Two first-floor 2-light sashes, dating from the 19th or early 20th century, have glazing bars. A bee bole is located on the front between the two left-hand windows. The left return has a small opening with a tile sill in the left gable end, possibly an owl hole. The rear elevation features four first-floor and three ground floor windows, mostly 20th-century timber casements with glazing bars, except for a 2-light casement lighting the kitchen that is likely 18th or 19th century and includes glazing bars and iron stanchions. The right-end (east) outshut has a tiled roof.

Inside, both ground floor rooms have chamfered crossbeams with step stops. The parlour has a 20th-century chimney-piece, which likely conceals earlier features. The kitchen has a small fireplace with a chamfered lintel and a section of plank and muntin screen as the partition to the internal porch. The winder stair has oak treads and risers; the steps leading to the room above the kitchen from the winder stair may be secondary. One 18th century 2-panel door remains on the first floor, along with good survival of old plaster. The roof’s apex was not inspected during the survey, but while trusses are described as cruck, the visible, plastered-over principal rafters appear to be straight. The farmhouse is a largely unspoiled traditional building with group value in conjunction with the old mill building to the south-east.