No 2 The Abbey

No. 2 The Abbey is a prebendal house that is now privately occupied. It dates from the late 17th century, with an early 18th-century rear extension and alterations and additions made in 1888 by CJ Ferguson. The building is constructed of red sandstone ashlar on a chamfered plinth, featuring raised quoins. It has graduated greenslate roofs with coped gables, and the left side has ashlar and brick chimney stacks, while the right side features 18th-century brick chimney stacks. The rear extensions are made of handmade bricks.

The house is two storeys high and has five bays with a double span layout. The central entry/stair plan includes top-lit panelled double doors set in a quoined surround with a key frieze and cornice hood. The sash windows, which have glazing bars, are in stone surrounds and were originally 17th-century cross mullioned. The left 19th-century brick extension features two-light windows with glazing bars in fluted stone surrounds. The rear stair originally projected from the single span and is made of quoined sandstone, featuring a large round-arched sash window in stone reveals under a hoodmould. The flanking extensions have created a double span, meaning the stair no longer projects; these extensions include irregular sash windows with glazing bars, some in 18th-century reveals and others as 19th-century insertions.

The interior has been extensively altered in the late 18th or early 19th century, featuring panelled doors in panelled reveals and internal panelled shutters. There are moulded plaster ceiling cornices and black and white marble tiles in the hall. The stair arch consists of two rounded arches on a central pillar, and the wooden stair, also late 18th or early 19th century, has turned newel posts, squared balusters, and a moulded handrail. Some moulded stone fire surrounds may date from the early 18th century. The Carlisle Journal from January 4, 1889, records the work done by CJ Ferguson, and plans for these alterations are held in the Cumbria County Record Office.