Higher Wellisford

Higher Wellisford is a farmhouse, now a dwelling, dating back to the 16th century. The lower end was rebuilt in the 17th century, with the addition of a south-west wing and a south-east kitchen wing. Walls flanking the original lateral stack were rebuilt flush, and the first-floor end bay on the left has been rebuilt and largely refenestrated in the 20th century. The exterior is a mix of roughcast and render over rubble, with painted brick on the first floor of the left end bay, all topped by slate roofs. Brick stacks are located on the gable ends, and one remains to the left of the entrance. A further stack is at the south-east gable end. The building has a U-shaped plan facing north, situated on ground that rises to the east and falls steeply to the west. Originally a three-cell plan with a cross passage, it includes a stair turret opening into the hall, in the angle with the south-east kitchen wing.

The facade is irregular, with the centre and the two right-hand end bays projecting forward. Fenestration is a mix of late 19th and 20th-century styles. A 19th-century four-centred arch doorway sits in the third bay from the right, with a Tudor-style door featuring decorative hinges, reportedly from Langford Budville School.

The interior includes a chamfered plank and muntin screen, set on a concrete plinth, to the left of the cross passage, bearing carpenters marks. There’s a peaked doorframe cut to a square head, projecting joists above the screen into the hall, and two moulded beams. The hall fireplace has chamfered stone jambs, the right-hand jamb featuring a small opening, formerly a window before the front wall was rebuilt. There’s a peaked doorframe to the inner room (now a kitchen), complete with a four-panel compartment ceiling and moulded beams. The stair turret has been rebuilt and now forms part of a corridor leading to the former kitchen, with remnants of a bacon curing chamber incorporated into the stairs next to the fireplace. The lower end features restored plasterwork garlands. The upper storey was not visible during inspection. A jointed cruck truss is present, one said to have been brought in from the east gable end, with evidence of a single truss in the rear wall of the lower end room. The house’s evolution is difficult to definitively determine due to extensive rebuilding over time. It has been suggested that the screen’s position may have been altered eastward when the modern staircase was inserted into the cross passage.