Hole Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Constructed in the 16th century with alterations around the mid-17th century and further extensions in the 17th or 18th century. The walls are a mix of plastered cob and rubble, and the roof is thatched, half-hipped at the left end and hipped to the right. The original layout comprised three rooms, with a lobby entrance positioned in front of a hall stack. This stack divides the hall from a lower room to the right. The hall stack appears to be a later addition to what seems to be a primitive open hall, potentially explaining the lobby entrance instead of a through-passage, although the sloping ground at the rear may also have been a factor. The inner room was originally open to the roof, but the roof structure over the lower end has been replaced, making its form uncertain. A stable was added in the 17th or 18th century, with a loft above.

The exterior presents an asymmetrical four-window frontage. Late 20th-century, small-paned two-light casement windows are set within small openings on the first floor, while earlier 20th-century two- and three-light casements are positioned below. A 20th-century panelled door is located centrally and approached by stone steps. A stable is situated at the right end, featuring a small window to the left of the doorway and a loading hatch above, accessible by 20th-century wooden steps. Outshuts are placed against each end, with the left-hand one being larger. The rear of the house has a recessed central section built of stone rubble.

Inside, the hall features a large open fireplace with a 19th-century mantel concealing an old wooden lintel. The ceiling has been renewed. The inner room contains closely-spaced chamfered cross beams. The original smoke-blackened roof remains over the hall and inner room, exhibiting four straight, relatively lightweight principal rafters and threaded purlins, with the collars appearing to be set into trusses. Despite the modest nature of the features, the farmhouse survives as one of the most traditional and unaltered farmhouses in the area, representing either a very late open hall house or a simple, primitive structure, and is an unusual survival.