Lower White Castle Farmhouse

This is a late 17th century farmhouse, built in a Renaissance style. The farmhouse is constructed of painted rubble stone, with a hipped slate roof that curves outwards at the eaves. Tall 20th-century brick chimney stacks are situated at each end of the house. The front (east) elevation has a gabled dormer window in the centre of the roof slope. The windows have flat tops and painted stone sills. The first floor has three 19th-century windows with 10 panes divided by 10 panes of glass, opening as casements. At ground level, a central entrance doorway is sheltered by a gabled canopy, and a plank and batten door provides access. Flanking the entrance are casement windows with 12 panes divided by 12 panes of glass, each with a stone dripstone. A rear wing projects at a right angle to the left-hand side. The south elevation of the wing has a central entrance doorway with a 20th-century gabled stone porch. To the right of the porch is a small 2-pane window, then a casement window with 8 panes divided by 8 panes of glass, and to the left of the porch, another casement with 8 panes divided by 8 panes of glass. The first floor has similar corresponding windows, and to the right, an 8-pane window serving as a stair window. The attic has two 20th-century rooflights. An attached single-storey gabled extension, housing a kitchen and service room, is set into the end wall (left-hand side) of the wing. This extension features a 4-pane divided by 4-pane window on the left and a 6-pane divided by 6-pane window in a cambered opening to the right, beneath a slate roof with a small 20th-century rooflight.

Inside, the house is laid out in three distinct areas: a central hall and parlour at the front, and a stairwell and third room in the rear wing. The front door opens directly into the large hall, which contains chamfered ceiling beams with scroll stops and a stone fireplace lintel with a flat head. A boarded door at the back of the hall leads to a passage, with a small parlour to the left and a rear stairhall beyond. The late 17th-century dog-leg staircase rises in four flights and includes a closed string, inserted plain balusters, and a shaped rail. The square newel posts are adorned with beads at the angles and have plain caps. A stair cupboard contains a fine 17th-century oak plank and batten door with the initials ‘J P E’ carved into it. The third room in the rear wing also has chamfered beams and scroll stops. The first-floor bedrooms feature 17th-century boarded doors with strap hinges. The steeply pitched attic roof includes collar trusses and one row of purlins.