Anderton Farmhouse

Anderton Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century, with extensions added in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of lime-washed rubble walls, topped with a gable-ended asbestos slate roof. The original plan is somewhat unclear, with only one room remaining from the 17th century house, though it has later additions on either side. The original room includes a fireplace at one end, an original doorway beside it, and a newel stair projection to the rear. A 17th-century window on the opposite wall confirms it was originally an exterior wall. It’s possible the house initially comprised a single room with a gable-end entrance adjoining the chimney stack, but the quality of the features is unusually high for such a building. Another possibility is a two-room plan, perhaps with a central passage and the main (surviving) room to the left, heated by an axial stack backing onto the passage and a service room to the right, which was rebuilt in the 19th century. A parallel block was added to the rear in the early 20th century, and a one-room extension was built at the left-hand end of the original room in the late 20th century.

The front of the house is asymmetrical, with five windows. The original central section has a two-window facade of 19th-century casements on the first floor, featuring small panes and H-L hinges (three lights to the left and two lights to the right). Similar two-light 20th-century casements are below. A 19th-century two-story extension is at the right-hand end, with a two-window front of small-paned casements, and a lean-to brick porch with a 20th-century plank door.

The interior retains several 17th-century features of surprisingly good quality for a house of this size. In the original room are three chamfered cross beams with traces of hollow step stops, and a full set of joists with beaded edges. The fireplace has a wooden lintel that has been damaged and cut off. An original square-headed wooden doorframe, chamfered on the outside with mason's mitres, is beside the fireplace. On the opposite wall is a two-light, wood mullioned window with depressed 4-centred arched lights. A small room at the rear, with curved walls, likely housed a newel staircase. Two original roof trusses remain, consisting of substantial straight principals with threaded purlins and morticed apexes. The collars are halved onto the principals with dovetail joints; one collar is cambered and soffit chamfered and stopped, the other is a wany, rougher timber. The building's interest lies in its unusual plan and the high quality of the timber features, which is somewhat unexpected in this area.