The Gables

The Gables is a farmhouse, now a house, dating back to around 1620, originally built by Ellis Else and incorporating a late 16th century open hall house. It was altered in 1648 and 1685, and remodelled with a rear wing added around 1848. The building is constructed of ironstone with limestone dressings, featuring plain tile and Welsh slate roofs. It has coped gables with kneelers, single grouped ridge, single gable, and single side wall stacks. The overall plan is E-shaped, with two storeys plus garrets and four bays. The front elevation has stone mullioned casements with hood moulds. The north side features a symmetrical front to the right, with a central, crenellated mid-19th century porch containing a Tudor arched doorway. This is flanked by single three-light casements. Beyond are slightly projecting gabled wings, each with a three-light casement. Above are two cross-eaves, three-light gabled dormers, flanked by single three-light casements in the wings. Further above, each wing has a two-light garret casement. A datestone inscribed ‘W E 1685’ sits above the left wing. To the left of the main front is a two-storey service wing with a full-width lean-to porch, with a three-light casement and a panelled door. Adjacent are a single-storey 19th century washhouse and coal store, having a ridge stack and an off-centre door flanked by single casements. The rear elevation includes a 19th century two-storey wing with a canted bay window and a tripartite sash above. A reset datestone inscribed '1620 EE' is set into the gable. Other features include a half-glazed door with flanking lights, a tripartite sash window, two cross-eaves dormers with stepped-head tripartite sashes, a door, a casement, and two 19th century Yorkshire sashes with wooden lintels. A 19th century margin light casement and a blocked garret casement are also present. Inside, a central stairwell contains an early 19th century oak staircase leading to a balustraded gallery with a coved ceiling and Gothic plasterwork. The house retains a noteworthy early 16th century smoke-blackened roof structure with cambered tie beams and cambered collars to all rafters in the central area, alongside a later 17th century principal rafter roof with single purlins in the remainder of the building.