Balgrove'S Farmhouse And Adloining Walls To North West And South West

A late 17th-century farmhouse, substantially enlarged in 1901, faces south with a shallow "U" plan. The building is constructed of brick in Flemish bond, resting on a red sandstone rubble plinth with limestone dressings, and has a slate roof and brick stacks dating to around 1900. It is two storeys plus an attic over a basement, with a cruciform window design featuring semi-circular heads to most windows – though two first-floor windows flanking the central doorway lack this feature, possibly indicating a blocked window opening. There are two-light openings in the gable ends and leaded two-light openings in the basement, leading to steps to the front door. Two almost full-height, semi-circular projections, capped with slate and featuring two-light openings, are positioned to flank the central three bays, giving the appearance of stair turrets. These openings, along with some first-floor windows, have been blocked and painted to resemble glazed openings, and one ground-floor window has been extended downwards. Ashlar string courses divide the storeys and run below the semi-circular window heads, acting as eaves coping between the gables. A moulded cornice sits above the central doorway, which is accessed via a flight of eight steps, and now has a 20th-century partially glazed double door. The left return features ground floor windows with blocked semi-circular heads. A flat-roofed brick addition was constructed on the north front in the early 20th century. The right return incorporates a stableblock, likely built between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but containing a large fireplace and oven, and potentially featuring recased remains of an earlier detached kitchen.

The interior predominantly reflects the 1901 alterations, but the west wing contains a late 17th-century room with bolection moulded panelling, painted to simulate walnut and decorated with a plaster leaf frieze. A small, late 17th-century staircase with flat pierced balusters rises to the attics, and is likely a back staircase. The functionality of the facade's turrets as staircases is unclear, as they are shallow; the south-east turret is blocked, whilst the south-west one is open from the basement. A late 17th-century brick wall, approximately 1.5 meters high with coping, extends 5 meters from the north front and 3 meters from the south side of the west wing. This represents one of the earliest brick houses in the county and demonstrates an ambitious design for a farmhouse.