Cross Ash Farmhouse

Cross Ash Farmhouse is a large farmhouse, likely designed by Thomas Wakeman, probably dating from the 18th century. The building is constructed of coursed rubble with a slate roof, with fishscaling on the front slope. The main range is rectangular, oriented north-east to south-west and facing northwest, with a service wing attached to the rear of the north-east end.

The front facade is long and two stories, composed symmetrically with a striking feature of a pair of large, projecting gabled bays flanking a recessed central doorway. These bays are designed in a Tudor style, incorporating elements reminiscent of timber-framed construction in stone. At ground floor, each bay has squared corner pilasters with Norman-style cushion capitals, and a mullioned window with a hoodmould and three round-headed lights with small-paned glazing. The upper floor is slightly jettied with stone corbels mimicking the ends of joists, and has a prominent, canted oriel window with transomed Tudor-arched lights, the mullions carried up as small “battlements” to the parapet. All windows are currently painted white. Small loop-lights are in each gable, and the roof verges oversail. A fancifully-fretted fascia spans the narrow space between the gabled bays, covering a flat roof above the inner doorway, which is Tudor-arched; the outer bays are blind. Chimney stacks rise from the roof ridge to the left and right of the gables, each with four clustered shafts, some diagonal and others square.

The rear wall, thought to be older than the front, is three stories high and features several small, irregularly disposed segmental-headed windows with altered glazing; a tall, narrow round-headed stairwindow centrally; and two very small square windows beneath the eaves of the south-west side, with wooden surrounds, saddle bars, and apparently unglazed. A small, modern lean-to is attached to the rear of the south-west end. The service wing, attached to the rear of the north-east end, comprises a four-window range of two lower stories, with a lean-to verandah covering two-thirds of its ground floor. The upper floor windows are oblong with segmental heads and regularly disposed, with altered glazing.

The occupier reported that the interior contains old beams, but it was not inspected during the re-survey in February 2000.