Toxside Farm

Toxside Farm

A Grade B listed building dating from the early to mid-19th century, refronted in the later 19th century. This is a two-storey, three-bay rectangular plan farmhouse in pattern book style, with outbuildings forming recessed wings. The principal structure is built in tooled, coursed pink sandstone with droved dressings, featuring a base course, eaves course, chamfered reveals, long and short quoins, and crowstepped gables.

The south-east (principal) elevation is slightly asymmetrical. A gabled timber porch with elaborately pierced bargeboarding and a turned timber finial is supported on stop-chamfered timber columns, and opens through a two-leaf panelled timber door. To the right sits a canted window with a slate roof to its bay; to the left projects a tripartite window in a bay with columned mullions bearing floreate capitals and chevron detailing to the lintels. The first floor contains a four-pane window with raised margins at the centre, flanked by advanced gabled bays with segmental arched tripartite windows. The gables break the eaves and feature pierced bargeboards and turned timber finials; each gablehead is set with a stone eight-pointed star.

The north-east elevation is asymmetrical with four bays. A bipartite window occupies the penultimate bay to the right, with a window to the outer right and regular fenestration above in the bays. Gabled bays appear at the penultimate position to the left and at the outer left, with blind windows to the ground floor of each bay and a window to the penultimate bay's first floor; the outer left bay has a blind window at first-floor level.

The north-west elevation is obscured by outbuildings.

The south-west elevation is asymmetrical with three bays. Gabled bays occupy the centre and right positions, with blind windows to the ground floor of the centre and right bays and a window to the centre bay at first floor; the right bay has a blind window above. The left bay contains a bipartite window to the ground floor with a window to the first floor above.

Throughout, windows are predominantly two-pane timber sash-and-case type. The roof is grey slate with a lead ridge, topped by coped ashlar gableheads and ridge stacks; a coped brick stack to the rear features circular cans. Cast iron rainwater goods are fitted.

The interior was not seen at the time of survey in 1998.

The outbuildings date from the early to mid-19th century and comprise two main ranges.

The east range features an asymmetrical south-east elevation with three bays: two single-storey bays to the left, each with a blind window, and a gabled bay to the right with a blind tripartite window to the ground and first floors, a hoodmould to the first-floor opening, and a rectangular opening set in the gablehead. The north-east and north-west elevations are blank. The south-west elevation has a large central opening with two sliding boarded timber doors and infilled window openings to the first floor.

The west range is similarly asymmetrical on its south-east elevation, with three bays: two single-storey bays to the right, each with a blind window, and a gabled bay to the left featuring a tripartite window to the ground floor with a blind tripartite window and hoodmould above at first-floor level, and a rectangular opening in the gablehead. The north-east elevation contains chamfered segmental arched cart shed openings to the third bay from the left and the penultimate bay to the left, with irregular fenestration and door openings to the remainder and a blank right return. The north-west elevation is blank. The south-west elevation has a vertical opening to the centre of the first floor, a boarded opening to the left bay, and a window to the outer right bay; a single window to the right of the ground floor and a single-pane window to the left complete this elevation. The two ranges are joined by a single-storey block with a cart shed opening to the outer right and irregular fenestration and doors to the remainder.

A separate single-storey, single-bay rectangular outbuilding stands to the north of the house. It is built of random sandstone rubble with broached dressings, and features a boarded timber door and doorway with long and short dressings to the south-west elevation and a crowstepped gable to the south-east elevation. Its roof is grey slate with a lead ridge.

The property includes a looped ironwork gate to the west of the house, flanked by coped ashlar gatepiers with pyramidal caps and accompanying rubble walls with semi-circular coping. The remains of a sunken garden, set into the hillside to the south-east of the house, are also present.