Hannel Farm

Hannel Farm

A 16th-century vernacular lobby-entry dwelling with cruck frame, raised in height during the 17th century and altered during the 19th and 20th centuries.

The house is built from sandstone with an internal timber frame incorporating two crucks, beneath a stone slate roof. The adjacent outbuildings are also constructed of stone with some brick, and slate roofs.

The house is oriented north-east to south-west, with a cowshed projecting from the north end towards the south-east. A pig sty stands to the north-east.

The house is entered on its north-west elevation, with the door at the north end and four regularly-spaced casement windows. These replaced the original mullioned windows, possibly in the 18th or 19th century. The bottom right window retains remnants of stonework showing the shape of the original window. A clear change in the stonework between ground and first floor level marks the height of the original building, with the larger and more regular stones at first floor level showing the additional height added in the 17th century. The roof is of stone slates. The main house is flanked on the south end by a small stone stable, and at the north end by the cow house extension, also in stone with two doors and a lean-to extension in breeze block. Both stone extensions have tile roofs. The gable end at the south end of the house has a blocked mullion window, and the line of the original roof can be seen in the stonework.

To the rear, the elevation has a number of surviving 16th and 17th-century windows with stone surrounds and mullions. The windows are irregular and include a blocked window at first floor level with one central mullion surviving and two further mullions which have been truncated. A two-light window at ground right marks the position of the hearth within. The other windows all show evidence of their original shapes, and the ground floor windows have flat hoodmoulds. The cow house has an opening at its far end and a brick extension with a metal sheet roof. On its north elevation it has a row of windows. The cow house is of lesser interest.

The main entrance to the house opens into a small lobby, with a door to the right giving access to the main room. This room contains a cast iron range in the hearth, with a tall surround and timber mantel. There are cupboards to the left. The ceiling is supported on chamfered and stopped timber beams, probably dating from the creation of the upper floor in the 17th century. The central wall has two doors: that to the left in a 16th-century moulded surround with cambered head, giving access to the stairs with the base of one of the crucks exposed behind, and a 20th-century door to the right to the room beyond. This room has a stone flagged floor and chamfered beams which may be original beams that supported a loft. There are stone slabs around the room from its use as a dairy, including one with the surviving base of a cheese press. The area under the stair is enclosed by timber boarding forming an under-stair cupboard, with a door frame of re-used timbers.

The upper floor is divided into two rooms. The north room has sections of one of the cruck blades exposed, with a cut-off cruck spur on one of the blades. The stack from the hearth below rises through this room. The south room has a cast iron fire grate.

The south-west outbuilding retains a stone sett floor and small stable with timber feeding trough. The cow house has concrete stalls which are not of interest; the roof retains two queen-post trusses with a later replacement roof above these. The pig sty to the north is of stone at ground floor level with a brick storey added on top, thought to be a hen house. There are two arches in the outer walls of the sty for pouring feed through.