Over Hall

Over Hall is a house dating from 1687, with possible origins in the early 17th century, and featuring mid-19th century additions and alterations. The construction is of pebbledashed rubble with a slate roof. The facade presents a central two-bay section flanked by a one-bay cross-wing to the right and a one-bay 19th-century tower to the left. A single-storey gabled porch sits between the two central bays. Windows are rebated and chamfered with mullions; to the left of the porch, there are windows of four and one light, and to the right a window of five lights. First-floor windows are of three and four lights. A drip course runs above the ground floor and over the porch. The cross-wing features a one-light ground-floor window and a two-light first-floor window. The tower, with a pyramid roof concealed behind an embattled parapet, has six-light, chamfered mullioned and transomed windows. The porch has an outer, chamfered doorway with a restored Tudor-arched head, above which is a re-cut plaque inscribed 'CM 1687'. The inner doorway is moulded. Internally, the floor of the central room was removed in the 19th century, creating an open hall with a gallery. The left-hand wall has a wide, cyma-moulded fireplace with a segmental arch, displaying masons' marks on the voussoirs. This is flanked by moulded doorways with basket arches. The open roof incorporates a central truss of late 17th-century type, featuring a tie beam, raking queen struts, and a short king post rising from a high collar, braced to the ridge. The right-hand wall reveals the Tudor-arched head of a blocked fireplace, formerly at first-floor level and now supported on corbels. A moulded doorway, similar to those on the left-hand wall, leads into the cross wing. Surviving features include fixed panelled benches around three walls, indicative of its original character. A dog-leg staircase is located behind the tower, to the left of the house, with a closed string, turned balusters, and a moulded handrail. A toll board is set into one flight of the staircase. The cross-wing retains ceiling beams with deep chamfers characteristic of the early 17th century, and a straight flight of stone steps with 17th-century turned balusters and handrail. A wide fireplace with chamfered jambs, moulded imposts, and a cyma-moulded segmental arch with keystone is found in the rear wall.