Chapelhill Farm

Chapelhill Farm

A farmhouse dating from circa 1560, extended in 1745 and substantially renovated in 1979. The building comprises a two-storey rectangular-plan main house formed from an altered tower house, with a slightly lower projecting gabled wing to the right. Single-storey byres and outbuildings form an L-plan courtyard to the side and rear, bounded to the east by single-storey cottages. The exterior is harled and lime-whitewashed rubble, with some breeze block reconstruction harled to match. Most windows have painted ashlar margins, and some original jambs retain rounded arrises. The roof is skew-gabled.

The principal north-west elevation shows, to the left, the two-storey, two-bay former tower house. A later lean-to semi-glazed porch has been added to the ground floor right in the re-entrant angle of the central gabled wing, with an entrance door to the left return. The central two-storey gabled wing features a bipartite window to the ground floor left and a single window to the right, matching a window on the first floor. A ground-floor entrance porch adjoins to the left return with a single window on the first floor; the right return is blind. To the right sits a single-storey former hayloft with attic space; later glazed windows replace the original door, and a modern barn adjoins to the right return and along the length of the rear of the west courtyard range.

The south-east elevation presents a blind gable-end rising into a gable-head stack. The south-west (rear) elevation shows the main house with two regularly placed bays on each floor, partially with a piended and flat-roofed porch extension now covering the ground-floor left bay and centre. To the left, the lower altered hayloft has a timber-boarded entrance door to the right and large paired bipartite windows within a single surround to the left and centre, with a pair of roof lights to the attic. To the left return, adjoining courtyard buildings continue the range. The north-east elevation is a blind gable-end of the farmhouse rising into a gable-head stack, with a pitched extension and piended hayloft adjoining at ground floor.

The single-storey courtyard range adjoining the left return of the former hayloft includes a lean-to to the extreme right with a central door and a two-pane cast-iron Carron light above, with a small brick stack rising from the original wallhead. Another door adjoins to the left, with a former door to the centre now infilled and painted to match the wall. A small window is positioned to the far left. The left return has a blind gable-end with a small central window aligned with the eaves; a much later barn adjoins to the rear of the range. To the east of the courtyard, a separate single-storey range has been altered to form holiday cottages.

Most windows are eight-pane timber sash and case; the former hayloft in the principal elevation has six-pane casement windows. The rear features six-pane windows with top hoppers and later plate glass windows, while Velux roof lights are fitted to lesser elevations. The pitched and piended grey slate roof has metal ridging, flashings and valleys. Gable-head stacks to the main house are harled with plain stone neck copes and plain white cans. The former hayloft has a small painted ashlar stack with an octagonal can, while farm buildings have brick stacks with plain cans. The principal elevation of the former tower house is finished with plain ashlar skews and small moulded putts.

The interior was refurbished in the late twentieth century and is currently in use as a farmhouse and bed and breakfast establishment.