Warwick Farmhouse

Warwick Farmhouse is a former farmhouse, likely dating back to the 15th century. It began as a hall house and was expanded and altered over the centuries, with significant changes in the 16th and 17th centuries, and further alterations in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building is timber framed and largely clad in limestone rubble, with a thatched roof. It originally comprised three bays – a hall and a possible solar bay – and was extended by a further bay in the early 17th century.

The building has one and a half and two storeys. A southern bay, set back from the main line, reveals exposed timber framing. Doorways are located on opposing sides of the former passage, with a boarded door to the north and a part-glazed door to the south. Windows are mainly 20th century timber casements, of two and three lights, set within 18th and 19th century chamfered openings. Two axial stacks are present, one dating to the 17th century, another to the late 16th and 19th centuries, with an internal stack in the roadside gable.

Inside, the former solar bay has an early 20th century tiled grate and flanking alcove cupboards dating to the 18th and later centuries. In the upper bay of the hall, there is a stop-chamfered bressumer and a longitudinal beam with run-out stops. A 19th century basket grate and timber surround are also present. The lower bay features stairs set transversely across the passage. The 17th century bay to the south includes a stack inserted into the third bay. The upper floor showcases a robust, roughly hewn cruck truss between the first and second bays, with a short king post and trenched purlins, along with a possible former window opening on the south elevation. A further arched braced collar truss with clasped purlins is also present. The third bay formerly had a half-hipped roof with evidence of a former louvre. The fourth bay exhibits exposed box framing with angle braces.

The roof is noteworthy, with a smoke-blackened hall roof retaining remarkable survival of plant species, including dethorned blackberry stem ties, and a medieval basal thatch. The roof is described as one of the most important thatched roofs in England and one of only around 200 buildings in England retaining the original base coat of medieval thatch.