Lakehayes

Lakehayes is a former farmhouse that has been converted into a dwelling. It dates from the late 16th century to early 17th century and has undergone changes in the 19th and 20th centuries, including new windows and the addition of a stair outshut, as well as some rebuilding of the rear wall. The exterior features slobbered random rubble and flint with stone quoins. The roof has a double Roman tiled covering at the front and corrugated sheeting at the rear, with roughcast stacks at both gable ends.

The building has a two-cell plan with a cross passage, and a single-storey outshot at the rear and left side, where the staircase rises from the rear of the passage. It is two storeys high with five bays, mostly featuring 3-light windows of various dates. The front elevation includes a central 18th-century door and a raking buttress to the right.

Inside, the cross passage screens on the left have been renewed, but the right side retains its head beam and cill. The ground floor room to the right has chamfered beams with step and run-out stops, and an open fireplace with a chamfered lintel. The room to the left of the passage has a blocked fireplace. The roof structure, visible on the upper floor, consists of three jointed cruck trusses with trenched purlins and mortice and tenon jointed collars. One cruck has been reinforced with additional timbers, and another has a replacement collar.

Lakehayes is notable for its substantial integrity as a 17th-century building despite later alterations. It features significant historic fabric and plan form, retaining its roof structure and several interior fittings, including an open fireplace with a wooden bressumer and remnants of its screens passage. The building's unusually large number of window openings at the first floor suggests it may have originally served some industrial purpose requiring good lighting.