Church Farm

Church Farm is a two-phase farmhouse that was originally probably two separate houses, now amalgamated into one. The older section forms an L-shaped block comprising a front range with a projecting rear wing, these elements likely built as a single campaign. To the right of the front range stands an additional range, probably added some fifty years later, which functioned as a separate house until the 20th century and now contains the main entrance to the whole property.

The building is one and a half storeys throughout, except for the two-storey rear wing which rises to attic level. The structure is constructed of plastered and whitewashed rubble with a concrete tile roof replicating stone slates. Evidence of weathering on three chimneys indicates the roof was once thatched; the fourth chimney, which shows no such weathering, has been rebuilt in recent years.

The front elevation reveals its composite nature clearly. The left section (older house) displays a two-light and a three-light casement window with an eaves dormer above. The eaves project significantly, originally forming a pentice—a now scarce feature but once characteristic of houses in Monmouthshire and Breconshire. The original front doorway, now blocked, lies within what is currently a woodshed and would have led to a lobby entry. The present main entrance in the right section (younger addition) is sheltered by a lean-to porch and adjoins a small two-light casement with a gabled dormer above; a modern rooflight has been inserted. Two ridge chimneys sit on the older roof; the left-hand one is noticeably smaller, suggesting it heated only the upper room. The later section has a recently rebuilt chimney at the right end of its ridge. All external joinery dates to the 20th century, though some window openings remain unaltered. The rear elevation displays windows of varying sizes: a larger example lighting the rear of the hall, a smaller one with dripmould to the old dairy, and another lighting the upper room in the gable. Modern rooflights have been inserted into several roof slopes. The projecting rear wing features an old chimney at its gable end and a small single-storey lean-to.

The interior is complex, with much original work visible alongside evidence of modernisation and alteration. The older section originally comprised two cells on the ground floor, now open as a single room following recent removal of the plank and muntin screen. The original front door is blocked, the main fireplace has been reconstructed, and the unheated dairy has been incorporated into the main living room. The beamed ceiling carries chamfers with lambs tongue stops. The staircase to the upper floor rises to the left of the main stack and forks at the half-landing, serving both the front range and the rear wing; it is a stone winding stair with what appears to be an original doorway with cranked head at its base. The upper floor of the front range features a three-bay upper cruck roof halved and jointed at the apex, with chamfering on the principals and very large purlins. The rear wing contains two full floors with lower ceiling heights, followed by an attic accessed by a further winding stair around the end stack. This attic has a principal rafter roof halved and pegged at the apex with three tiers of purlins.

The later section of the house, accessed through the main front door, comprises a single room with a beamed ceiling displaying lambs tongue stops to the chamfers and an altered fireplace. The floor has been lowered by approximately 30 centimetres. An original stone stair winds around the stack to reach an upper room with an A-frame roof featuring well-finished principals, collar beams, and purlins; the apex is now ceiled.