The Dairy

The Dairy, now used as offices, is a building constructed around 1765. It features limestone ashlar and coursed limestone rubble with slate roofs and a stone ridge stack. The structure has a three-unit plan and consists of one storey with three bays. Its design includes a tripartite composition with a tall central pedimented archway flanked by lower wings, each with one bay, lean-to roofs, and half-pediments at the front. The wings contain 18-pane sash windows with stone lintels. The central section projects slightly and is accessed by two stone steps. It has an elliptical-arched opening with a screen of two Roman Doric columns and pilasters at either end. The columns have high bases, strong entasis, and a full entablature with a triglyph frieze that reaches to the springing of the arch. The central doorway to the dairy is set within a recess and features a panelled part-glazed door with a stone lintel, flanked by narrow one-light windows with similar lintels. Above the door is a horizontal oval window. A moulded impost band runs across the wings, marking the base of the half-pediments. The rear elevation is made of rubble stone, with the wings projecting to frame a timber trellis-work verandah. There is a central door to the dairy and a horizontal oval window above it. Inside, the central room boasts a high plaster groin-vaulted ceiling.