Dam Side House With Forecourt Railings And Gates And Attached Barn To Right

Dam Side House is a building dating from 1815, with remnants of an earlier house from 1681. An attached barn, likely from the late 18th century, completes the property. The house is constructed of rubble walls, whitewashed and with gritstone dressings, topped with graduated stone slate roofs. Iron railings are also part of the composition.

The house itself is of two storeys and two bays, with a slightly recessed earlier bay to the left. The main entrance features a six-panel door, the top two panels glazed, set within an ashlar surround and bearing the inscription "W.D.B 1815" on a corniced lintel. Flanking the door are 20-pane sash windows on both the ground and first floors, set in projecting, sawn stone surrounds. The recessed bay to the left has a four-panel door, the lower half repaired, in a surround with sawn stone jambs and a large lintel featuring a recessed panel and the lettering "LB 1681" in relief. This bay also has windows to the ground and first floors, matching the main range. Other external details include stone gutter brackets, shaped kneelers, gable copings, corniced ashlar end stacks, and stacks appearing between the left and centre bays.

Inside, the main entrance opens onto a narrow hall leading to a fine staircase of two straight flights, characterised by finely turned column balusters on a vase-shaped knop. A rear bedroom to the right contains a pair of cupboard beds of 17th-century origin, seemingly repaired and reset in the early 19th century. Each cupboard has double doors with hinges and a decorative grille above; the left cupboard retains its bed with mattress and a panelled ceiling.

The front of the property is enclosed by a low rubble wall with a ridged coping and closely spaced wavy iron railings, topped with pointed finials. The gate piers are made of sawn sandstone, and the gate features zig-zag and circular detailing below the dogbar and wavy rails above.

The attached barn projects forward to the right of the house, featuring four bays. The first, second, and fourth bays project under a continuous cat-slide roof, creating a recessed entrance porch for the third bay. Board doors with strap hinges lead to the cart entrance; a second door is on the left side of the porch. A loading door sits above, and a further door is located on the right of the porch; each has plain lintels and jambs. A blocked byre door is far left, with an inserted square window and flat hood. Small square pitching doors are set to the first floor, to the left and right of the porch, with chamfered jambs. The right return of the barn displays a byre door with tie-stone jambs, a loading door in a quoined surround, and external steps.