Pierces Farmhouse

Pierces Farmhouse is a late medieval farmhouse that underwent remodelling and an extension in the early or mid 17th century, with further alterations to the eaves and roof in the late 19th century. The exterior is colourwashed render over slatestone rubble, with a gabled slate roof and stacks finished in rendered brick. The original open hall plan was remodelled in the early or mid 17th century to create a three-unit layout with a through-passage to the left of the central hall. The farmhouse is two storeys high with a four-window front. A late 19th-century brick porch contains a four-panelled door with glazed upper panels. The windows are late 19th-century two and three-light casements with glazing bars, set within flat rendered arches. The rear of the building features a 17th-century stair turret flanked by 19th-century outshuts. Inside, plain, unchamfered beams border the passage, which is served by an early/mid 19th-century dog-leg staircase with winders leading to the rear. The central hall has a chamfered bressummer over the open fireplace, and ovolo-moulded beams to the right. The roof incorporates 19th-century trusses, and above the through-passage is a surviving portion of a late medieval raised cruck truss with a cambered collar, trenching for through purlins, and a ridge purlin set diagonally into a yoked apex. This cruck truss shows heavy smoke blackening, indicative of its use in a medieval open hall.