Middle Mill Farmhouse

Middle Mill Farmhouse

This is a farmhouse built in the early 17th century, aggrandised around 1730, and extended in the 19th century. It is constructed of roughcast render with concrete tiled roofs.

The house is U-shaped in plan, comprising a main range aligned north to south with cross wings at each end. The left-hand (southern) cross wing shares the same architectural detailing and steeply pitched roof as the principal elevation, suggesting the farmhouse was originally L-shaped before a cross wing was added to the right-hand end in the 19th century.

The principal (east) elevation is of two storeys plus attics, with a five-bay façade in which the central bay projects forward. The central projecting bay contains a raised and fielded wooden door of eight panels with an eight-light cambered head fanlight and a flat wooden porch hood supported on wooden brackets. On either side of the doorway are segmental-headed 12-light sashes with plain stone surrounds and corbelled sill brackets. A plat band separates the ground and first floors. The first floor contains five segmental-headed 12-light sashes with plain stone surrounds and corbelled sill brackets.

The rear elevation of the left-hand cross wing has a plat band between the ground and first floors, with a segmental-headed 12-light sash with corbelled sill brackets on the ground floor and a segmental-headed nine-light sash with radial bars and corbelled sill brackets above. The attic storey, which was used for cheese drying, contains an eight-light round window that replaced an earlier louvered window.

The south elevation has three irregularly spaced window openings, possibly created in the late 19th or 20th century, fitted with late-20th century uPVC glazing. The west elevation of the right-hand cross wing also contains uPVC glazing. The main range has paired stone chimneystacks with moulded cornices at the end gables; the left-hand cross wing has a brick gable stack and the right-hand cross wing has a truncated end stack of brick.

The interior was not inspected but is understood to retain Queen Anne panelling and a fireplace in Doric order on the ground floor, a contemporary staircase, and Jacobean panelling in one bedroom.

The farmhouse stands within a substantial irregular plot of 1.23 hectares and appears to comprise at least three distinct building phases. The earliest phase dates from the early 17th century and comprises an L-shaped range with the main range aligned north to south and a cross wing at the left-hand end. During the early 18th century the farmhouse was aggrandised with a new frontage, alterations to the cross wing, and remodelling of the interior. In the 19th century a second cross wing was added to the right-hand end to create the present U-shaped plan.