Cragg Hall Farm

Cragg Hall Farm is a farmhouse probably dating to the late 17th century, with significant adaptations and alterations made throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. It stands as a notable example of the North York Moors vernacular tradition of longhouse construction.

The building is constructed of sandstone, mainly laid to courses, with a pan tile roof and brick stacks. Its plan derives from the longhouse tradition and is now referred to as a 'false longhouse'—a type built with separate entrances for people and animals rather than adapted from medieval examples where the byre entrance was originally from the cross passage.

The structure comprises one and a half storeys to the west forming the house with a washhouse at the western end, and a single storey to the east containing the cross passage and gable entry byre. The house part contains two cells, each with its own stairs to rooms above. Blocked doorways reveal that the upper rooms of the house, washhouse and cross passage attic were formerly interconnected.

The north façade shows a two-bay house with horizontal sliding sashes at first floor. The ground floor has a horizontal sliding sash to the right and a three-over-three vertical sliding sash to the left, with a small fixed light fire window to the far left. The left gable wall features stone flagged coping and the main stack, with a second stack at centre serving the inner room. A horizontal building break occurs at ground floor lintel height with slightly better quality masonry above. A single-bay outbuilding to the right has a single reduced ground floor window and stone flagged coping to the left gable wall with a low brick stack. The cross passage is covered by a single storey outshut with a single window, and the byre to the left has a stone buttress and stone flagged coping to its gable.

The south façade shows the house part with only one opening: a single small fixed light for the inner room. At the foot of the inner room stairs is a low blocked doorway. To its left is the doorway to the washhouse with a small outshut to its left. Entry to the house is via the cross passage to the right of the house; the external door to the cross passage is 20th century. To the right is a small four-light window. Vertical building breaks separate the cross passage from both the byre and house. The building break between the house and washhouse is less clear. No apparent horizontal building break to the house corresponds to that on the north façade.

The east gable end (byre) has a stable door to the left of the centreline and an unglazed attic window at centre. The west gable end (washhouse) shows a small blocked window at attic level to the left of the central stack and a small 20th-century fixed light set in a blocked doorway to an outshut on the right, with a building break between outshut and washhouse.

The interior cross passage has a concrete floor with exposed ceiling joists, of which at least one appears riven, supporting broad planks with rolled edge moulding. Planked doors lead to both the outshut and house, with the house door using narrow planks with bevelled edges.

The fore room has a stone flagged floor and exposed ceiling joists, with alternate joists riven and sawn, the sawn joists being chamfered. Broad floorboards above feature rolled edge detail. Similar broad planks with rolled edge detail are used for the screen between the hearth and the door to the cross passage, and for the timber partition with doors for the staircase. A hearth with small cast iron range is present, along with a salt box to the left.

The inner parlour has a raised timber floor with exposed ceiling joists, some roughly chamfered, supporting narrow floorboards with rolled edge mouldings. The timber partition for the staircase uses narrow planks with bevelled edge, similar to those used for the door between the cross passage and fore room. The door between inner parlour and the foot of the fore room stairs is also planked but uses narrow planks with rolled edge moulding.

The washhouse contains a brick and concrete surround for a solid fuelled copper built in front of an earlier hearth. The byre has a cobble floor with remains of timber stalls.

The farm exemplifies the continuation of North York Moors vernacular tradition. Construction of yeomen farmsteads following and developing the medieval longhouse tradition continued on the North York Moors until about the mid-18th century. From the late 17th century, existing and new longhouses developed piecemeal, improving accommodation standards for farmers and increasing separation from animals. Longhouse farmsteads were frequently adapted as farmers' needs and wealth changed. House parts were often raised and extended, outbuildings could come into domestic occupation or revert to auxiliary use, and accommodation was frequently subdivided to provide for widows or joint heirs (as North York Moors yeomen frequently did not employ primogeniture inheritance), then recombined at a later date.

The series of modifications at Cragg Hall Farm remain identifiable through various building breaks in the masonry, blocked openings and styles of internal timberwork, eloquently demonstrating the evolutionary nature of longhouses through the 17th to 19th centuries. This succession of alterations demonstrates how adaptable the longhouse tradition was to changing tastes and circumstances, making Cragg Hall Farm of particular special architectural and historical interest.