The Gill

The Gill is a mid-17th century farmhouse with a secondary rear range, an attached former byre now converted to a cottage, and a detached bank barn that is now attached to the southeast corner of a single-storey lean-to structure.

The buildings are constructed of local slatestone with rendered and painted walls to the house, and roofed with graduated Westmorland slate. The original farmhouse follows a two-unit plan comprising a firehouse and parlour, the latter formerly subdivided into a buttery. A secondary rear range extends to the rear, while the former byre is attached to the left. A single-storey lean-to structure is attached to the right, with the bank barn now connected to its southeast corner.

EXTERIOR

The farmhouse and attached former byre display mostly 21st century timber casement windows with flush slate lintels and slightly projecting sills. The symmetrical south elevation of the farmhouse is two storeys and three bays, with a boulder plinth beneath a pitched slate roof. A substantial chimney stack stands at the left end and a later, slighter chimney stack at the right end. The centrally placed entrance has a 21st century gabled porch, flanked by pairs of windows on either side, with three first-floor windows above. A slate drip course runs across the elevation. The attached two-storey, two-bay cottage (formerly a byre) stands under a pitched slate roof with traces of a boulder plinth. The blocked original byre entrance is now occupied by a window with windows to either side, featuring a continuous timber lintel and slate dripstone above. The right return has an attached single-storey lean-to with enlarged garage doors. The left return has an attached 21st century single-storey lean-to, with original window openings above featuring timber lintels and slate dripstones. The rear elevation of the former byre shows a blocked entrance opposing that of the front elevation and a window opening to the right, both with slate dripstones, with a single small window above containing a leaded glass frame. The rear elevation of the farmhouse is largely obscured by a gabled range with a chimneystack at its apex; an entrance lies at the right end with a single ground-floor and two first-floor window openings. To the left, the original rear wall shows evidence of a boulder plinth.

The bank barn is a rectangular structure set at right-angles to the farmhouse, with elongated quoins and a boulder plinth beneath a pitched roof with a 21st century wrestler ridge. A steeply angled ramp, rebuilt in the 21st century, to the south gable provides access to an enlarged original upper-floor entrance. Access to the underbyre is through an original doorway with a timber lintel at the right end, with a window to the left; a continuous drip mould runs above both. A modern inserted opening lies to the left with a rebuilt section of walling above. The rear elevation has a blocked opening with a timber lintel at ground-floor level.

INTERIOR

The farmhouse interior is unified by oak structural features and fixtures and fittings of 17th and 18th century date throughout. The main entrance, fitted with a 21st century double-thickness replacement door, opens into the firehouse, which is spanned by a substantial chamfered ceiling beam supporting rafters with stop chamfers. The inglenook at the west gable is lit from the south by a former fire window and features a substantial chamfered bressummer beam with chamfer stops, an inserted chimneybreast and fireplace. To the left of the inglenook there is a tall alcove containing a stone shelf with double-door oak cupboards featuring butterfly hinges. To the right of the inglenook is a full-height, narrow recess fitted with a crude plank and batten door, interpreted as a bread oven. To the right on the original rear wall is a small, square recess with a pair of salt drawers. The firehouse is separated from the parlour by a plank-and-muntin panelled screen; a square-headed opening to the parlour has a plank and batten door of three wide planks with strap hinges of roughly fleur-de-lis design and a simple wooden latch. The rear of this door bears a single apotropaic mark in the form of a daisy wheel. A similar door is located in the north end of the screen, which formerly opened to the buttery. The parlour and buttery are now a single space spanned by a substantial waney-edged, chamfered ceiling beam running from east to west and supporting similarly waney ceiling joists, mostly with prominent stop chamfers. Notches on the beam have been suggested as fixings for a former screen between the parlour and buttery. The rear range comprises a kitchen and utility room with modern fittings throughout. A blocked opening with a timber lintel exists in the original rear wall of the two-unit house, with original ceiling beams and 21st century rafters. The interior of the attached lean-to retains elements of historic roof structure.

An enclosed stair is inserted into the right end of the inglenook, entered through a plank door, and rises to the first floor with timber lower and upper steps, the remainder in stone with a replacement timber balustrade. The first floor has broad wooden floorboards and oak-panelled doors, some with upright handles featuring decorative ends. Elements of the original oak roof structure are visible as several substantial chamfered trusses. Oak-panelled partitions divide the original loft space into three rooms. The room immediately to the right of the stair shows burn marks on the inside of the timber panel adjacent to the door, and the location of the former smoke hood is visible within the gable wall; further remains of lath and plaster associated with the smoke hood are reportedly retained behind the wall immediately above the inserted stair. The rooms above the later rear range have modern fittings.

The interior of the former byre, now cottage, was not inspected in 2018.

The bank barn features a pegged timber roof structure composed of re-used adzed and waney timbers comprising a single triangular truss with double-purlins and a 21st century replacement ridge piece.