Home Farm at Talacre Abbey

Home Farm at Talacre Abbey is a substantial U-shaped two-storey coach house block of considerable architectural interest. The main elevations are of snecked dressed stone, while the rear is of rubble stone with tooled dressings and quoins. The building is roofed in graded slate behind coped gables.

The front elevation faces south and has a low cross wall attached to the outer wings, enclosing a yard. The wall incorporates a central gateway with polygonal piers topped by bell-shaped caps, and the flanking walls have moulded saddleback copings. The coach house occupies the central range and features six doorways forming an arcade with depressed round heads, all with double boarded doors. The central pair of doors sits within a projecting gable with a wooden cupola to the ridge. Reduced ridge stacks are positioned to the right and left. The upper storey contains three two-light mullioned windows with small-pane glazing and hood moulds.

The north wing (right-hand) has two-light mullioned windows with hood moulds, largely renewed in their earlier openings. The lower storey has five windows and a boarded door with overlight at the left end. The upper storey has three windows, of which the right-hand window retains original small-pane glazing in one light. A brick ridge stack is at the left end, and at the right end are two raked roof vents with pigeon holes.

The south wing (left-hand) has undergone more alteration. At its right end, in the angle with the central range, is a lintelled doorway to a ramped through passage. To its left are a two-light mullioned window, a boarded door under a hood mould, a two-light window with an added lean-to on its left side, a doorway inserted beneath the hood of an original window, and an enlarged window to its left (constituting a dwelling formerly known as Garden House). The upper storey has an added flat-roofed half dormer and windows to centre and right without their original mullions. The gable end of the south wing has an added conservatory at lower right and a two-light casement in the upper storey within an original opening with hood mould.

The gable end of the north wing features a three-light window in the lower storey with wooden mullions, small-pane glazing and a stone lintel. The upper storey has a two-light mullioned window with small-pane glazing and hood mould.

The north elevation of the north wing has mainly lintelled openings and a stack rising from the eaves left of centre. At the left end is a blind window, to the right of which is a half-glazed panelled door with small-pane overlight, followed by an added lean-to. Further right are two windows with replaced two-light casements, between which is a doorway with boarded door. The upper storey has windows beneath the eaves right and left of centre, both infilled with brick, and smaller outer windows, of which the left-hand one is blind.

The ground falls away at the rear of the block, and the rear of the central range incorporates a basement. Openings to the rear elevation are mainly under large stone lintels. A central projecting gabled bay has a depressed round arch to the basement. In the lower storey is a two-light window with small-pane iron-frame glazing and a boarded loft door, above which are three stepped pigeon holes. The flanking two-window elevations have shorter windows in the upper storey, some retaining two-light iron-frame glazing while others are replaced. Doors and windows are missing from all the basement openings. The left-hand side has two outer doorways with two windows between. The right-hand side has a wide arched doorway similar to the central bay, and a window and lintelled doorway at the right end.

A similar basement doorway is in the south return wall of the central range, above which the range is two-window, blind to the left side and with small-pane glazing lower right. The south wall of the south wing has a doorway to the ramped through passage at the left end. In the upper storey are three stepped windows to the left side, of which the outer windows are blind, above which is a round metal vent with conical cap. The right side of the wing incorporates the rear of the former Garden Cottage. This has an added brick stack rising from the eaves, to the right of which are blind lintelled windows in both storeys. A four-pane sash is lower right, while to the left is a window with inserted two-light casement and an upper storey window heightened to become a flat-roofed half dormer.

The basement comprises two groin-vaulted bays.