Bay Ness Old Farmhouse

Bay Ness Old Farmhouse is likely from the third quarter of the 17th century, with 18th-century and later additions. The original part is built of roughly-tooled, large-sized sandstone with a plinth. It has pantiled roofs, with stone ridge tiles, copings, and kneelers, although some modern concrete tiles are on one wing. Brick stacks are present, with one rendered. The building is in an “L” shape, created by a projecting wing to the right.

The farmhouse faces west into the farmyard and is partially built into a hillside. It is a single storey with an attic on the right, comprising three bays, with the right bay partially hidden by the projecting wing. A stable door sits within a widened opening under a chamfered lintel with decorative false stones, situated between the two left bays. A 20th-century lean-to, constructed using old materials, extends from the centre bay and contains a boarded door with a small window to the left. A three-light chamfered stone-mullioned window with a cill, lintel and internal splay is in the left bay, with a similar window in the second bay concealed by the lean-to. The roof is steeply pitched, with a 20th-century raking dormer on the right and a rendered stack at the right end.

The 18th-century wing was added in two phases and features a fixed light at the joining point with the original house, a blocked door and a modern window on its inner return. A small cellar window is visible below, along with a ridge stack and a modern dormer. A coal and boiler house was added at the end. The right return has modern casements, one inserted into a narrow, chamfered gable-end doorway. A blocked two-light mullioned window is on the rear.

Internally, the two left bays have been converted into a barn, open to the roof, likely when the wing was added. Very long, curved principal rafters rest on ties and are linked by pegs, with spurs supporting common rafters which rest on the outer edge of the walls; there is no wall plate. The right bay, now used as a dairy, has a ceiling of large, chamfered beams and wide, chamfered joists. The 18th-century parlour retains its original beams and fireplace; a further room was added shortly after. The section converted to the barn was not originally heated and is now separated by a brick wall.