Over Prestacott

Over Prestacott is a farmhouse dating to the late 17th or early 18th century, with alterations in the 19th century. The house is built of rendered cob on stone rubble footings, with an asbestos slate roof gabled at the ends, originally thatched. A large rendered stack rises from the ridge, with a brick chimney shaft, and a 19th-century brick chimney is at the right gable end. The original design likely comprised two rooms and a through passage, with the hall stack backing onto the passage and the lower end room probably originally unheated, later receiving a stack in the 19th century. It is possible that an inner room once existed, suggesting a plan of three rooms and a through passage. A single-storey lean-to on the rear left side, now a kitchen, is likely from the 19th century. The front facade is asymmetrical, featuring three windows and a 20th-century gabled porch. The first-floor window above the porch is a two-light 19th-century casement window with nine panes per light; the remaining windows are three-light 19th-century casements, also with nine panes per light, and all include internal iron stanchions. The original passage is intact, and the hall fireplace has 19th-century timber jambs and a lintel, with local tradition suggesting an earlier lintel lies concealed beneath. The roof was replaced with asbestos slate over the original trusses, which were shortened during the process.