Building record LRM 028 - Old Park Farmhouse

A complete timber-framed house of the late-16th century. Its main range reflects the standard three-cell layout of its period with a central hall entered by a cross-passage and flanked by a single service room on the west and a high end chimney on the east heating both the hall and parlour. Of particular interest is the presence of a contemporary or slightly later rear wing containing the hall and parlour of an additional 'unit house'. References to 'inset houses' of this kind are numerous in contemporary willd and inventories but surviving examples are very uncommon, especially on sites of husbandman rather than Yeoman or gentry status. The modern external appearance is from an unsympathetic refurbishment in the mid-20th century, this appearance is simply a veneer and there is reason to believe that much more originaal fabric survives within the walls than is currently exposed - including complete ceilings that retain undulation old lath-and-plaster. The original building rose to only 1.5 stireys and its wall were later raised in height by just under a metre. This may have occurred in the 18th or 19th centuries, but the present rafters are modern.