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Description
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The main part of the building is a rectangular block 17m long and varying in width from 7m (at the west end) to 7.5m
(at the east end). Attached to the east end is a structure c. 8 x 6. 5m.
The principal building has walls of uncoursed rubble, mostly made up of rounded pieces of a reddish local stone of
igneous origin; in some places, notably at the south-west corner, these would qualify as boulders rather than rubble.
Externally the north and west walls are largely harled; the south wall is little more than a heap of unmortared stone
externally, except for cemented areas around the openings. At the west end of the wall is a ragged buttress-like
projection, as if the wall had once continued further west; the present west wall has a rather more regular
'boulder plinth' than the remainder of the building. The eastern adjunct is of smaller rubble.
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Figure 1: Sketch survey of the site, Ryder 28/91 (click to enlarge)
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There are few external features of any antiquity. In the south wall are three windows (although with the internal
level being c. 1m lower than the external, their sills are now at ground level) which have external surrounds of cut
stone; their dressings look to be of late 18th or 19th century character, and have probably been re-set
(see the alternation of rebated and non-rebated blocks in two of the surrounds). In the west end is a plain loft
doorway with a timber lintel, and in the north wall a modern opening (possibly retaining the east jamb of an older
opening) with a sliding door; west of this are traces of a two blocked openings (the second showing only a section of
its timber lintel through the harling). The eastern adjunct has a doorway on the north with a 20th century brick
surround, and a central opening in the east end, with a modern concrete lintel.
Internally it can be seen that the side walls of the main building are generally 1.3 - 1.5m thick, reducing to about
half this thickness by an internal set-back about 2m above the present floor. The north wall is mostly plastered; to
the east of the modern door it can be seen to be of rather unusual construction, with an outer section 1.10m thick,
and an added inner 'leaf' of plaster and rubble a further 0.25m thick. Near the west end of the wall is a recess
formed by the rear splay of the blocked window, of which the timber lintel is just visible externally. Sawn-off joists mark the level of the former loft floor. The south wall of the building has extensive areas of patching in modern brick and breeze blocks. The three windows in the south wall are all set within older openings, all possibly doorways in their original form. The central retains its original splayed internal ,jambs, whilst the eastern window is set within an older opening that has been narrowed (oldish brickwork is visible in its original western jamb); immediately west of this a timber lintel points to an adjacent opening, now blocked.
The end walls of the building are only 0.5 - 0.6m thick, and each is provided with a large fireplace set in an
internal stack; that at the west end has stone jambs and a heavy timber lintel, with a stone stack tapering back
above loft floor level. The eastern fireplace has a tooled stone lintel and a stack of similar form to the other,
but of late 19th or early 20th century brick.
The present roof of the building is of pairs of rafters with collars, and is relatively recent.
The eastern adjunct has side walls around 0.5 in thick, but a cross wall towards its east end is 1.0m thick; this has
a blocked door (with old brickwork in its jambs) towards the north end, and an odd feature near the centre, only
visible on the east face, that could be a blocked slit. The roof of the adjunct is of the same character and date as
that over the main building.
To the south of the main building there appears to have been a walled field or enclosure, sub-rectangular in form and
c. 55m long. Its west wall (c. 1.2m wide, and consisting of rubble faced with small boulders) appears
to be aligned on a point slightly beyond the present west end of the building. Either of two gaps on the west,
one close to the building and one midway along the wall, might point to an original entrance position. A little
further away to the south-west an old mill dam on the stream forms a prominent earthwork.
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