Nant Farmhouse, with attached former cider mill

Nant Farmhouse, with Attached Former Cider Mill

An elaborate and historically interesting complex, the core of which is a 17th-century vernacular 2-unit, 2-storeyed house aligned north-south, sited on land sloping down from north to south. To its north end is a 1-unit extension; a 2-storeyed 18th-century cider mill continues from its south gable, and a taller 3-bay 19th-century house is attached at right-angles to the east side of the original house, facing south, with its west gable almost completely hiding it. In the north-east angle a single-storey outbuilding at right-angles to the rear of the 19th-century house is now linked to both ranges by a monopitched roof, covering a doorway at the junction which is now the main entrance to both parts.

The earlier house and the cider mill are built of sandstone rubble with blue slate roofs, except the east slope of the house which is now mostly corrugated sheet. The 19th-century house is rendered and has a blue slate roof. All external walls are painted white except the south gable of the cider mill which is unpainted, and its west side which has remains of whitewash. The chimneys are mostly red brick.

Seen from the lane, the principal architectural element is the 19th-century house, which has a symmetrical 3-window façade with a small gabled wooden porch in the centre and 12-pane sashed windows on both floors. Its south-west corner is slightly embraced by a very short outshut of the original house, which has a chimney just in front of the ridge at this point. The other element of this view is the east side of the cider mill, roofed to the same level as the original house but with slightly lower eaves, and longer than either of the domestic ranges. The first opening is a doorway with wooden lintel and board door, and to the left of this there are 3 windows on each floor, vertically aligned. Those at ground floor all have thin wooden lintels and fixed glazing but are slightly irregular in size and shape, while those above are all small square openings immediately below the eaves, furnished with wooden shutters.

The only exposed elevation of the 17th-century house and its north extension is the west, which is enclosed by a rectangular garden wall. A path through the centre of this garden leads directly to a former doorway with a thin wooden lintel, now reduced to a modern 2-light casement; to the right of this opening is a large oblong 4-light casement window with relatively modern joinery and glazing; and at the right-hand end of the ground floor is an extremely small slit-window lighting the staircase. At first floor there are 2 small 3-light casements, the joinery relatively modern but the openings probably original. The extension to the left has only a single 6-pane fixed window at about mid level, with a wooden lintel. There is a ridge chimney at the junction with this extension.

The junction of this domestic range with the cider mill is interesting, the wall of the house continuing to the right beyond the slit-window about half a metre under the roof of the cider mill (suggesting that the domestic range formerly continued further), from which point the wall of the cider mill breaks forward slightly. This has a blocked doorway near this end, with a thin wooden lintel but now reduced to a small window; a 9-pane fixed window to the right, with a similar lintel, and above this a 2-light unglazed wooden mullion window under the eaves; a large loading doorway with double board doors offset right of centre of the upper floor, and a doorway to the ground floor below the right-hand corner of this.

At the north end of the complex the gabled outbuilding is open on its west side, forming a covered way to the angle between the 2 domestic ranges, which is at a lower level and now roofed over, from which the main doorway leads into the house with a further step down.

The ground floor of the 17th-century house, now a single volume, has 2 lateral beams, that nearer the chimney breast at the south end chamfered on both sides with tongue stops, the other chamfered only on the inner side and with mortices in the soffit showing that there was formerly a plank-and-muntin partition here. The fireplace at the south end is now blocked but the chimney breast is approximately 3 metres wide. To the right of this a narrow doorway with a batten-and-board door opens onto a spiral stone staircase lit by a very small looplight in the west wall. To the left another doorway leads into a service room approximately 3 metres wide, now under the roof of the cider mill but perhaps representing a former cross-passage, which contains a bread oven. Beyond this room another doorway opens into the cider mill. This still contains an original circular stone "horse mill" at the north end, complete with a massive stone crushing wheel, and an original pomace press, apparently complete, with its circular stone base and massive oak frame with iron screw. In addition there is a large forge hearth at the south gable wall, with rubble jambs and a high-set oak lintel, and in the corner to the left an enormous leather bellows aimed through the side wall of the hearth. The upper floor has 4 principal-rafter roof trusses, with collars on 2 levels, and the windows on both sides have chamfered wooden mullions and internal shutters with strap hinges.