Abbey Farm House

Abbey Farm House, likely built around 1420 by John Stourton II, is a significant hall house of considerable importance. Constructed probably for Jenkyn Stourton II, it is built of ham stone with worked ashlar dressings and stone slated roofs. Originally Preston Great Farm (the name "Abbey" arose as a 19th-century misnomer), the house is oriented on a North/South axis, with its main, West-facing elevation featuring a hall on the right-hand side. This hall has two two-light mullioned windows flanked by offset buttresses, and a restored dais window on the extreme right. Adjacent to the hall is a two-story porch with a two-centred entrance arch set in a roll-moulded square frame, featuring a blank shield and foliage within the spandrels. The porch interior has a vaulted ceiling with ridge and diagonal ribs and stone benches with iron hinges. To the left of the porch is a two-story section with mullioned windows on both levels; some of these windows are original from the 15th century, while others date to the 19th century. Some doorways and windows in this portion have been blocked. At the North end of this block is a wide wall with wide coping, carrying a fine 15th-century octagonal chimney, each side having a panel with a trefoil head; a second tier of this chimney was damaged by a bomb in 1940. Further North is another two-story building, likely a former fodder store, which is lower than the main block and accessed via external steps. A single-story addition of the 19th century projects westward from the main block. The interior, although not fully inspected, reveals work from several periods. The hall, measuring 12.2 x 6.5 meters, had its roof lowered in the 1840s when the South chimney and upper part of the dais window were removed. It was restored in the 1920s following a fire, with the introduction of new materials, restoration of the chimney and dais window, and the addition of an intermediate floor. The North block has been significantly altered, revealing glimpses of earlier details. The modern buildings on the East side completely obscure the original East elevation.