Payne'S Farmhouse

Payne’s Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century, likely with replacement windows from the early 20th century. It is constructed of random rubble stone with quoins, Ham stone dressings, and a cement plinth. The roof is double Roman tiled with coped verges and brick stacks to the gable ends and to the left of the cross passage. The building presents an unusual variation on the three-cell and cross passage plan, with contemporary shallow extensions to the upper and lower ends, forming two rooms on either side of the hall and cross passage.

The two-storey, two-bay front has first-floor wooden casements and ground-floor stone mullioned windows. To the left of the entrance is a three-light hollow chamfered stone mullioned window with a hood mould. A similar four-light window, also with a hood mould, is situated to the right. The front door is set within a chamfered peaked door frame, now under a later hood mould, with studded planks fronting what may be an earlier, possibly 17th-century, door. A chamfered peaked door frame is also present at the rear entrance.

Inside, the kitchen to the left of the cross passage retains a moulded lintel, possibly reused, along with evidence of a curing chamber and bread oven. The hall has a steeply chamfered compartment ceiling, a chamfered lintel to the fireplace, and a dog-leg staircase with turned balusters rising against the rear wall. The upper end lacks distinctive features, except for a narrow wooden-framed light in the re-entrant angle, a first-floor built-in raised and fielded panelled cupboard, and evidence of a jointed cruck roof. The plan is similar to that of Weavers Farmhouse in Wrantage.