Farmsteading, Cruxfield House

Cruxfield House is a farmsteading comprising a substantial 18th-century house with early 19th-century additions and further significant Jacobean-style additions and reworking, along with associated outbuildings.

The main house is a 2-storey, 3-bay rectangular-plan building with full-height gabled wings at the rear forming a near T-plan configuration. A lower 2-storey, 3-bay wing with a shallow-bowed elevation recedes to the right of the front. A single-storey L-plan range adjoins to the outer right. Further rear additions include a 2-storey, single-bay shallow-bowed wing linking a 2-storey, single-bay outer block, and a single-storey gabled porch in the kitchen courtyard. The walls are predominantly of lightly coursed render with some harling and heavily pointed sandstone rubble, featuring sandstone ashlar dressings. Narrow quoin strips, flush margins, and projecting cills are evident throughout. The roofline is distinguished by decorative crowsteps with alternating straight and arched steps, and some castellated parapets. Chimneys are of corniced sandstone and rendered construction with paired and triple polygonal flues and octagonal cans.

The south-east (entrance) elevation features the main block with a deep-set timber-panelled door at ground level in the outer right bay, surmounted by a 4-pane fanlight and a pilastered and corniced doorpiece with a raised blocking course. The central bay contains windows at both floors, with an octagonal finial surmounting a crowstepped gablehead. A lower 3-bay shallow-bowed block recesses to the right, with single windows in all bays at both floors. The single-storey L-plan wing to the outer right has a window at centre and a boarded timber door to the left, with another window centred in a gabled bay projecting to the outer right.

The south-west (side) elevation presents a full-height gabled block to the outer right with windows centred at both floors and a blind rectangular opening aligned in the finialled gablehead. A lower shallow-bowed wing recedes to the left with windows centred at both floors. A 2-storey block advanced to the left displays narrow windows with stepped hoodmoulds centred at both floors and a castellated parapet. A 2-storey wing recessed to the outer left has a bipartite window at ground level and a window to the right above.

The north-west (rear) elevation shows a blind elevation to a 2-storey M-gabled projection at centre, with a timber door in a single-storey gabled porch recessed to the left and a 2-storey block set behind. A single-storey range adjoins to the outer left with a boarded timber door and flanking windows. A lower 2-storey wing recesses to the outer right with a castellated parapet shown as a facade.

The north-east (side) elevation has the main block recessed to the outer left with a large stair window at centre and a blind rectangular opening aligned in the gablehead. A blind elevation fronts the bowed range adjoined to the right. An L-plan range projects to the front with a 2-leaf boarded timber door to the outer left and timber doors in two bays to the right, with a window in the bay to the outer right. A 2-storey wing recesses to the outer right with a gabled porch at centre, a window at ground in the bay to the left, a bipartite window off-set to the left above, a bipartite window at ground in the bay to the outer right, and a window aligned at 1st floor.

Windows throughout predominantly feature 12-pane glazing in small- and lying-pane styles within timber sash-and-case frames, though some modern windows appear at the rear. Grey slate roofs are finished with crowstepped skews and cast-iron rainwater goods.

The interior contains a timber-panelled hall with an upper section comprising regularly spaced pilasters beneath intersecting keystoned arches and a carved foliate cornice. A main dog-leg stair features timber treads, decorative iron uprights, and a timber handrail, alongside a plainer service stair with timber uprights and handrail. The main reception rooms display decorative plaster cornices and coombed ceilings with original fireplaces. The bowed rooms have plain cornices. Throughout, timber-panelled doors (many with architraved surrounds), timber-panelled shutters, boarded timber floors, and thick walls are characteristic. Service ropes and bells remain in place.

Cruxfield Cottage is a single-storey U-plan range with a porch addition recessed to one side and a lean-to greenhouse at the rear. The exterior is of heavily-pointed sandstone rubble (harled in part) with sandstone dressings. The west wing's east (courtyard) elevation is 2-bayed with a 2-leaf boarded timber door to the right (with a 2-pane fanlight) and a single window to the left. The south (front) elevation features a pointed-arched window centred in a gablehead with decorative crowsteps and a tapering sandstone finial. The north wing's south (courtyard) elevation comprises 4 bays with a modern lean-to greenhouse off-set to the left of centre, a boarded timber door to the left, and windows in the remaining three bays to the right. The north (rear) elevation has a window off-set to the left of centre and a boarded timber door to the right, with a timber addition to the outer right. A lean-to porch with flat-roofed addition recesses to the outer left. The east wing's west (courtyard) elevation is centred by a lean-to greenhouse at ground level. Its east (side) elevation has a piended wing to the right with a window to the left of centre and a later porch adjoined to the left, alongside a lower gabled wing to the outer left with two windows to the left of the porch. The south (front) elevation again features a pointed-arched window centred in a gablehead. Windows throughout the cottage include timber sash-and-case and casement types, with diamond-paned glazing to the pointed-arched windows in gableheads and small rooflights. Grey slate roofs are laid with a corrugated-iron roof to a later addition, and cast-iron rainwater goods are present. A corniced brick apex stack with circular cans rises through. The interior was not accessed in 1998.

The site also includes several ancillary structures. A former stable block to the north-east is a single-storey rectangular-plan building of harl-pointed rubble with tooled cream sandstone dressings and boarded timber stable doors, under a grey slate piended roof with small rooflights. A former coach house to the north-west is a single-storey rectangular-plan block of tooled cream sandstone rubble with tooled dressings, its former cart openings to the front infilled with 2-leaf boarded timber doors, and a grey slate piended roof. A single-storey shed to the north features a square-headed opening to the front, a blind rear elevation, and a corrugated-iron piended roof. A further single-storey mono-pitched block to the front has boarded timber doors. A store to the east of the house is a single-storey, single-bay square-plan structure of harl-pointed rubble topped with a corrugated-iron pyramidal roof surmounted by a ball finial. The interiors of all ancillary structures were not accessed in 1998.