Lower Hill Farmhouse

Lower Hill Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the mid-to-late 17th century, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The house is constructed of mixed slatestone rubble, with some areas rendered, and has a grouted rag slate roof with axial ridge and gable end stacks. A section of the roof is covered with asbestos slate, and quartz stone forms the foot of the walls. Originally a three-room and through-passage plan, the passage was later closed by the insertion of a staircase. It features an axial hall stack backing onto the passage and a gable end stack heating the inner room. It is likely that the lower end of the house was originally unheated, with a stack being added in the 19th century. A two-storey, gabled projecting bay is integrated into the front, and there is a stair tower to the rear. A small, single-storey extension in the 20th century is located at the rear of the passage, which appears to have been widened. There is also a probable early 19th-century barn extension to the lower end.

The farmhouse has two storeys and four windows, all of which are 20th-century casements. The upper end, on the right of the passage, has three bays, the middle bay projecting forward and gabled, with a ground-floor plate glass window and a first-floor three-light, six-pane casement, both with slate dripmoulds. An end bay to the right has a ground-floor plate glass window with a granite lintel and a first-floor two-light, six-pane casement. The bay to the left has a ground-floor two-light, six-pane casement with a granite lintel and a ventilation breather above, formed from a single block of stone, which is now blocked. A 20th-century gabled porch on concrete piers is situated to the left, with a half-glazed door leading to the passage and a two-light casement above, with six panes to the left and two to the right. To the far left is a 20th-century French window and a two-light, six-pane casement under the eaves. A single-storey barn is attached to the left and is now used as living accommodation; its wall breaks forward slightly with a plain door. The right return has a glazed 20th-century door, while the left return has a rendered gable end with a two-light, six-pane casement and a timber lintel, the roof being hipped. The rear of the house includes a small single light at ground floor level on the left and a stair tower built of the same material as the main house, with a roof extension and a 20th-century single light. A single-storey 20th-century bathroom addition is centrally located, possibly concealing the site of the original rear passage door. The barn has a ragged joint to the main house and displays a chamfered granite lintel reset over a two-light, six-pane casement, as well as a 20th-century stack on the rear slope of the roof.

Inside, the wide central passage has a rebuilt winder staircase to the rear. The rear of an oven extends into the passage on the right, with a step down to the left and up to the right. The hall to the right of the passage has a fireplace with a flat granite lintel, raised in the 20th century along with a cloam oven, and a recess in the upper right corner, possibly a smoking chamber. A plank and battened door with strap hinges leads to the end room on the right, and a stone floor remains partially visible. The lower room to the left of the passage features a 19th-century fireplace with a cambered hood, and a smoking chamber to the left. The first-floor walls are battered, and the roof has been largely rebuilt, with one row of purlins along the rear slope. One truss retains principal rafters, collars, and queen posts.