The Hill

The Hill is a farmhouse dating from the early to mid-19th century, with the left wing being slightly earlier. The front is rendered with lined ashlar, above an ashlar plinth, and painted English garden wall bond brickwork. The main block has a slate roof in diminishing courses, while a single-storey wing on the yard front features a tiled roof.

The main block is a three-bay structure, two rooms deep, with two storeys. To its left is a two-bay, two-and-a-half-storey wing, and a single-storey, single-bay section extends beyond. A stone-paved terrace, raised in steps to the front of the main block, leads to a porch with a six-panel front door; the lower two panels are flush, the top panel fielded, topped with a rectangular cast-iron fanlight. Fluted Roman Doric pilasters flank the door, with fluting on the top two-thirds of the pillars, and a hipped, pyramid roof. Large sixteen-pane sash windows are positioned on either side of the door, each with a five-voussoir lintel and raised keystone. Three smaller, similar windows are located on the first floor. A plain frieze, projecting moulded cornice, and a plain shallow parapet run along the top. Parapet gables, a simple roofline, and gable chimneys on each end of the ridge are connected by a parapet with a horizontal top.

A lower wing is set back to the left, featuring a half-glazed door under a rubbed brick arch, with a small window alongside. A two-light casement window is also present, with a rubbed brick arch. A rear single-storey extension’s wall is set back on the left. On the first floor, a single-light casement window is situated next to a horizontal casement window, both under cambered brick arches. Dentil eaves and a parapet gable with a ridge chimney are present. The rear of the main block, facing the yard, has a boarded door up three stone steps, leading to an open-end, flat-roofed brick porch. Early 20th-century eight-pane sash windows are on either side, under cambered brick arches; below, a boarded door with a cambered brick arch and grating gives access to cellar steps.

The first floor rear features irregularly spaced sixteen-pane sashes, with a tall, normal sash window in the centre for the staircase, all under cambered brick arches. The roof mirrors the front elevation. A flush wing is visible to the right, marked by a vertical joint in the brickwork. It includes a four-pane casement with a rubbed brick arch, a four-pane casement under a cambered brick arch (replacing a former door, with stone block frame remains below), and a two-light casement with a similar head. A further two three-light mullion and transom windows are located on the first floor, also under cambered brick arches, with dentil eaves. A three-light casement serves as a dormer against the main block, finished with a flat roof. A roof similar to the front is present. A single-storey wing, slightly set back on the right, has an iron casement window and a 20th-century door, with a gable chimney.

Internally, there are six-panel doors with a planted bead simulating fielding, panelled shutters to the front ground floor, and a moulded plaster cornice in the front rooms. First-floor fireplaces feature reeded surrounds with corner paterae; the fireplace on the front right and rear left have reeded pilasters. The rear right fireplace is constructed of grey marble with reeded pilasters, all with cast-iron grates.