| Summary: | Southlands Farmhouse is probably 17C (maybe earlier in parts), modernised with an extension in the mid-late 19C. Local stone rubble with plastered front; stone rubble stacks topped with 19C and 20C brick; thatch roof to main block, slate roof to the extension. Plan: 3-room plan main block built down a hillslope and facing south. Uphill, at the left (west) end is a parlour with a gable-end stack. Entrance lobby and 19C stair between this parlour and the centre room. This centre room is the dining room. A projection to rear of it is said to contain the old stair and probably included a small buttery. The room has an axial stack backing onto the kitchen, the rignt (east) end room, which has a gable-end stack. A secondary service block projects at right angles in front of the right (kitchen) end and includes 2 unheated rooms (converted to a cottage in the 20C) and agricultural store with hayloft over at the end. Since no proper internal inspection was available at the time of this survey it is not possible to determine the early structural development of the house. Nevertheless it seems possible that the house began as some form of open hall house in the 16C and it is easy to interpret the layout of the main block as derived from a 3-room-and-through-passage model. It is now 2 storeys throughout. Exterior: 3-window front of 19C and 20C casements, most with glazing bars but the oldest 2 (on the first floor) contain rectangular panes of leaded glass. There is a symmetrical arrangement about the front doorway which is left of centre and contains a part-glazed late 19C door. The roof is gable-ended, so too is the service block roof. The service block contains 20C casements with glazing bars and a 20C door. Interior: no inspection was available at the time of this survey but the farmer reports that no carpentry is exposed on the ground floor and that the fireplaces are blocked by 19C and 20C grates. The joinery detail is all 19C and 20C. It would seem therefore that the interior is largely the result of the late 19C modernisation. Therefore a full internal inspection should be undertaken before any major modernisation work or alterations lest 16C or 17C features be damaged. The roof structure may provide evidence of late medieval origins. |
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