Lower Trostra

Lower Trostra is a house dating back to several periods, with builds evident in the 17th, 18th, and 20th centuries. The house is constructed of local sandstone rubble, with a section of rear wall in brick; however, all external surfaces are rendered in varying styles including roughcast, smooth, and pebbledash. The roof is covered in Welsh slate. The building is L-shaped and comprises three distinct builds.

The main elevation features a three-bay, single-depth range, with the earliest build positioned on the right. The central bay contains the main entrance, now partially concealed on the ground floor by a modern hardwood conservatory. All windows are modern casements. The right-hand bay is flanked by raking buttresses and incorporates a small plank door. The steeply pitched roof is punctuated by three ridge stacks, the central one being original. The left gable has a small first-floor window, while the right gable is blind. The rear elevation displays a symmetrical arrangement of two windows and two doors on the ground floor, repeated above with four windows, all with modern casements. A small, modern pentice is attached to the right-hand door and window. Render on the first bay on the left is rough, the remainder of the elevation is smooth.

A rear wing incorporates a window and a door, both modern, beneath a continuous pentice that is reconstructed but retains four ancient beam ends that are visible as they pass through the wall. The roof sits low over this section and includes a roof-light and a gable chimney built of blue engineering brick. A staircase leads to the granary door on the gable end, and the rear elevation of the wing displays three ground-floor and one first-floor window, all with modern casements.

The interior was extensively modernised around 1984 but retains notable original features. The main entrance leads into a cross-passage, featuring chamfered stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. The original build, accessed through a gable door, contains a living room with chamfered beams, large roll-and-ogee stops, an altered fireplace, and a firestair. A further room is now accessed from the exterior. A doorway with a moulded surround and four-centred head provides access to the second build; this doorway is likely reset and may have originally served as the front door across the passage. This room also retains chamfered beams with ogee stops, though it is more heavily altered. The kitchen in the rear wing, probably originally two rooms, features a multi-beam ceiling designed to support the granary. Four beams pass through the wall to support the pentice. Upstairs features are largely obscured. The original build incorporates two cruck trusses, with the feet visible within the rooms. The roof space reveals that the roof was reconstructed above the cruck trusses, which have been packed with pieces of soot-blackened timber. Indications of soot blackening are also present within the cruck blades. The purlins and rafters are all part of a later re-roofing. The second build has a principal rafter roof with three A-frames and both through and staggered purlins.