Middleton House

The house is built of roughly rendered and coursed rubble with a Welsh slate roof, the rear extension is almost flat roofed and its covering, possibly felt, cannot be seen. Two storey and garret single depth plan with modern rear extension behind the left hand half only. The main elevation has, from the left, a sash window with 3 over 6 panes with pointed heads in the upper sashes. This window is in the original front door position and lights the cross passage. Then comes a tripartite window with 1 + 3 + 1 over 2 + 6 + 2 panes as before. Then the front door with six fielded panels in a moulded architrave. This falsely appears to be a lobby entry up against the main stack, but it has actually been inserted into the original parlour wall in the C18. Finally a canted bay with 6 over 9 pane sashes flanking 5 + 5 French casements; this lights the C18 drawing room. The upper floor has a 4 over 8 pane sash, a paired 3 over 6 one and two more 4 over 8 pane ones all as before. The fact that none are placed over the features below clearly indicates a pre-Georgian origin for the house. Steeply pitched roof with three ridge stacks, on either gable and behind the front door. The north gable has a modern 3 + 3 casement on the ground floor and a small 2 + 2 casement in the garret; the south gable is blind. The foundation of the original north gable wall survives as a retaining wall to the lawn. The rear elevation has a canted bay on the left as before with a 4 over 8 pane sash above, roof light. The rest of the elevation is covered by the projecting wing which has more early C19 type windows. The ground floor has a 3 x 3 casement, then a 3 x 2 casement, then a 6 + 6 casement and a plain door. The upper floor has a 4 over 8 pane sash which is probably reused from the old rear wall and two 6 + 6 casements. Roof light and kitchen stack in the rear slope of the main roof.

The ground floor of the original house has the cross-passage, now the kitchen. This has a chamfered spine beam with double bar and ogee stops, and chamfered joists, all with bar and ogee stops. The kitchen uses the flue from the fireplace in the previous, now demolished kitchen which backed onto the cross-passage. The parlour, now the dining room, has roll moulded beams and a fireplace with firestair. The drawing room is in the C18 addition which also includes the main staircase. The upper rooms reveal the roof structure, heavy principals with collars in the C17 part. These are troughed for heavy purlins, now gone, and this may suggest an original stone slate roof. The C18 part has much lighter principals, collars and purlins.