St Michael'S House

St Michael's House is a rectory that has been converted into a sheltered home. It likely dates from the 15th century, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building features cement roughcast over very thick stone walls and is topped with a graduated greenslate roof, which has 19th-century coped gables and kneelers, along with original cement-roughcast chimney stacks.

The house is two storeys high and consists of two bays with flanking gabled wings, forming a hall with cross wings. The central recessed section has a two-bay design with a 19th-century panelled and glazed door set in an original pointed chamfered arch, complete with a hoodmould, although it has undergone significant restoration in the 20th century. The windows in the hall and wings are styled like 17th-century stone mullions, featuring two, three, and four lights, some of which have had their mullions removed. All windows have moulded sills and dripmoulds.

An unusual feature of the right wing is a projecting upper-floor left return wall supported by corbels. Both wings are equipped with large stepped external chimney stacks. The left wing's return wall has 20th-century windows in plain reveals, while the rear extensions contain large 20th-century windows. Inside the right wing, a former external pointed-arched doorway has recently been uncovered, resembling the entrance doorway, which, along with the consistent thickness of the walls, suggests that the hall and wings were built as a single structure. There is a blocked inglenook in the ground-floor room on the right and a rear staircase in the style of the 17th century. This building is an extremely interesting and rare example of a hall-house, which is more commonly found in the southern part of Cumbria. The former stable to the right, now used as a warden's house, is not of interest.