Halsteads

Halsteads is a house, originally a farmhouse, dating back to around 1670, with alterations made in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. The construction is of rendered squared rubble with stone dressings, and it has a stone slate roof. Originally L-shaped, it has a left-hand extension from the early 18th century and a right-hand extension from the early 19th century. The house has two storeys and seven bays. The central four bays represent the original 1670 design. The former central entrance has been altered into a window, although the strainer remains. An early 19th-century entrance is on the left, with engaged pilasters and a half-glazed door. A Doric porch, featuring columns, an entablature, and a pediment, is likely from the early 19th century, but was reportedly added in the early 20th century. Two ground floor windows on the left have been altered in the mid-19th century into 'Tudor' style two-light, chamfered mullioned windows with wooden round arches, mullions, spandrels, slate dripstones, two-pane casements, and fixed lights. A straight joint marks the boundary of the early 18th-century extension to the left. The three ground floor windows and five upper floor windows to the right are of a similar design. A mid-18th-century attic window is a two-light, flat-faced mullioned casement and fixed light. Two bays on the far right project and are taller and represent an early 19th-century extension, with two two-light windows on each storey, hoodmoulds, and sash windows with glazing bars. A left-hand weather wall is present on the gable, and there are gable end stacks. Stacks are located to the left and right of centre, at the former 1670 left-hand and right-hand gables, now junctions with the 18th and 19th-century extensions. Inside, the central front room includes a fireplace from around 1800, probably reusing a decorated mantel from around 1700. There are two mid-18th-century keyed segmental arches with fluted pilasters and six-panel doors leading into the rear kitchen wing. The early 18th-century dog-leg staircase has a closed string, turned balusters, and a grip handrail. Roof trusses within the 1670 section have curved principals, collars, and two have King blocks and curved braces, with trenched purlins, all dating from around 1670. The 1670 entrance surround is now incorporated into an outshut at the rear of a cottage located west of Halsteads.