Lower Buttersend Farmhouse

Lower Buttersend Farmhouse is a timber-framed farmhouse, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, with additions and alterations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It has a stone plinth and comprises a main block and a cross wing, with a porch set into the angle. The main block features a red brick front, English garden wall bond brickwork on the end section in English bond, and a stone slate roof. The cross wing has random rubble stone walls with ashlar dressings, and a tiled roof.

The main block has a double-chamfered flat-headed doorway on the left side, alongside French doors. A tall, three-light mullioned window is located to the right, with reserved hollow chamfer. Above, a two-light mullioned window sits above the porch, with three windows to the cross wing, all with flat heads and hollow chamfers. The windows are offset slightly towards the middle. Recessed chamfered lancets are found in the gables: a single-light window to the cross wing, and a lancet above the porch. Parapet gables rise to cross-gablet apices. A plain brick chimney, with an irregular plan, is located in the centre of the cross wing, while a large brick chimney sits behind the porch in the main wing, featuring a diamond-set flue. A door in the main wing has been blocked to form a small window; a wider window is to the right, with a smaller one to the left of mid-20th century casements, all set within segmental arches with stone keystones. A late 20th-century door and porch are on the left side. A vertical joint is visible in the brickwork. A first-floor timber window with iron opening lights is situated on the right of the main wing, with a two-light window to the left. A brick chimney is located centrally to the rear. A single-bay, back-projecting timber-framed wing is present, with brick nogging and straight braces to the wallplate.

Internally, the porch contains a heavy, double-chamfered doorframe with a three-centered head. The ground-floor main block has heavy chamfered ceiling beams, and solid-tread stairs descend to a cellar under the left end. The back wall of the main block is timber-framed. In the cross wing, three narrow sections of wall paintings, likely from the early 17th century, are found near the ceiling – one above a window and one above a former fireplace. These feature muted red, yellow, and grey tones, with traces of lettering and scrolls. The main wing has exposed ceiling joists with a slight chamfer in one room, and quartered ceiling beams in the next, along with solid-tread stairs leading to a loft. The roof trusses are tie-beam, collar and angle strut construction, with two pairs of butt purlins. The main wing has five bays, excluding the chimney, with a closed truss, and four bays to the cross wing. The porch roof timbers are from the mid-to-late 19th century. Historic records suggest the property began as a timber-framed house, with the cross wing added or rebuilt in stone in the early 17th century. The front wall of the main block was rebuilt in brick during the late 19th or early 20th century.