Ley Farmhouse

Ley Farmhouse is a longhouse dating from the 16th century or earlier, with significant rebuilding occurring in the late 17th or early 18th century. It is constructed of granite rubble, with a thatched roof to the house and part-slated, part-corrugated iron roof to the shippon. A large stone chimneystack, originally serving a hall, is situated on the right-hand gable of the house, featuring a plain projecting stone cap just below the top. The original layout included a three-room plan with a through-passage, a hall, an inner room to the left, and a shippon to the right. The shippon is notable for lacking a stone partition wall between it and the passage, instead having a rough stud partition boarded on the passage side; a separate external door to the shippon is likely a 19th-century addition. The farmhouse is two windows wide on the front elevation, with 2-light wood casements containing 3 panes per light. A small doorway is located at the left-hand end of the ground storey, and both this and the ground-storey windows have projecting granite lintels with chamfered tops. A stone porch with a slated pent roof is situated at the junction of the house and shippon, incorporating a stone seat on the left side. A loading doorway with a plank door and old wrought-iron strap-hinges is positioned above the porch. An angled stone building, possibly a pigsty and covered with corrugated iron, adjoins the right-hand end of the shippon. Ventilation slits are absent from the front wall of the shippon but are present in the rear and gable walls. A section of the rear wall projects at a different angle, indicating the shippon was partially rebuilt and heightened. A loft door with old wrought-iron strap hinges is found at the left-hand end. Inside, the former hall has a fireplace, likely dating from the 16th century, with hollow-moulded granite jambs and lintel. A blocked oven sits to the left of the fireplace, with a shallow granite shelf in front. A rounded recess to the left of the fireplace may have once contained a staircase and is lit by a small window in the rear wall. The upper floor features chamfered beams without stops. The roof has simple trusses with collars pegged to the faces of the principal rafters; no common rafters are present, just heavy thatching spars. The back of the hall fireplace, facing the passage, has no architectural features. The shippon includes a well-made central drain of granite blocks, flanked by lines of stone defining feeding troughs, each with holes for tethering posts. Plain, heavy loft beams are also present, along with 20th-century roof timbers.