Lower Alsworthy Farmhouse

Lower Alsworthy Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating back to the 16th century, with a possible longhouse layout on the site of an earlier medieval dwelling. A north-east wing was added in the 18th century, coinciding with an interior renovation. The roof was replaced in the 18th and 19th centuries, with the roof over the east end of the north-east wing raised in the late 19th or early 20th century, and the south end wall partially rebuilt. A 20th-century addition sits at the rear.

The farmhouse is built of random rubble local stone, with the left return (south) partially roughcast. The roofs are covered in large stone slates, with a shallower pitch over the end bay section of the north-east wing facade. A hipped left return (south) has a brick stack, and a 19th-century brick stack is located to the right of the entrance and at the east wing gable end - originally external, but now partially embedded in a projecting section of wall.

The building is two storeys high, with a 4:1:1 bay arrangement. The first floor of the main block has two-light sliding sash windows. The re-entrant angle of the wing retains original window openings, and there’s a late 20th-century window to the stair. A large two-light casement is positioned below the eaves on the right side, and a 20th-century window is visible on the right side and in the end bays of the main block. A sash window with a single vertical glazing bar is situated to the right of the wide door frame. The front door is a six-panel design with narrow rectangular upper panels filled with glass.

Inside, a load-bearing wall is located to the left of the through passage. The lower end contains remnants of a large open fireplace and a recess in the gable end. To the right of the through passage is a large fireplace blocked by a modern grate. A roughly chamfered beam bears minimal stops and adze marks, and there are remnants of a moulded 18th-century cornice in the north-east corner of the room, as well as above a cupboard recess fitted with 18th-century doors. The north wall is particularly thick, with steps leading up to the wing where early 18th-century panelling remains against the east wall. A modern chimneypiece and a good bolection moulded architrave to a doorframe are present on the room side. The upper floor exhibits numerous changes in level, but otherwise lacks features apart from the bases of the roof trusses.

The roof incorporates three pairs of collarbeam trusses with curved collars visible to the north of the central stack, dating probably to the 18th or 19th centuries. Evidence suggests an earlier roof truss was chopped off alongside the central truss. The beam in the centre room was likely inserted when the room was plastered in the 18th century.

Historically, the farm belonged to Torre Abbey and may warrant further archaeological investigation.