Description

SD 9867 CONISTONE WITH KILNSEY KILNSEY ROAD
(south side)
Conistone

24/62 Topham's Farmhouse

10.9.54

GV II

Farmhouse. Dated 1630, with C18 additions and restoration c1980. Coursed
limestone rubble, gritstone dressings, graduated stone slate roof. 2
storeys, 4 first-floor windows to 3-bay lobby entry plan original house;
added bay to left, and rear outshut bay 1. The C17 house has quoins and a
C20 glazed door in chamfered quoined surround with shallow triangular
doorhead between bays 2 and 3; the large lintel has a recessed panel with
raised lettering, "1630 ? G.H.". C20 porch not of special interest.
Blocked doorway far right. Fenestration of 1630 house has recessed
chamfered windows to original openings. Ground floor, bay 1 -probably a
former 2-light window, the mullion removed, hood mould over; bay 2- 4, now
2 lights with hoodmould and lowered sill, bay 3 similar. First floor:
below eaves windows of 2,3 and 3 lights, the mullions removed; inserted
bathroom window between bays 2 and 3. Large stack to ridge above door and
far right. Added bay to left: glazed door right with single stone right
jamb; and external stone stair to left provides a flat hood to the ground
floor door, supported by a massive corbel. The top slab of the stair is
concrete, the first-floor door glazed, with restored jambs and sill. Rear
(to road): main range - chamfered fire window bay 2 and remains of a
similar window far right; C20 openings to remainder. The outshut, right,
has a 2-light recessed chamfered mullion window in the left return.
Interior: the central room has a fine fireplace with 3-part stone arch
composed of a central keystone and flanking single blocks incised in
imitation of voussoirs; the arch and jambs have cyma mouldings to the
chamfer. Large chamfered cross beam and joists, those linked to the
chimney breast replaced. The inner room to right has a smaller fireplace
with chamfered corbelled jambs and a simple shallow triangular arched
lintel. Spine beam with stepped run-out stops, the joists set into
horizontal timbers or wall-beams, some resting on corbels. First floor:
the principal roof-truss is above the central room cross beam and is of
king-post construction, the tie beam supported by short principals carried
on moulded corbels projecting from the inner face of the wall. There is a
small fireplace backing onto the stack in bay 3, with sawn stone surround.
One of the earliest dated buildings in the area. The plan of central hall,
parlour and services is a typical medieval house plan and the added
outshut/dairy (lined with stone shelves) and outbuilding with hayloft or
granary over, reflects C18 changes in farming. The initial H may be for
Hewitt or Horner, two families who bought land in the village in the late
C16 (Raistrick p.49) the name Topham's may have become attached to the
buildings when William Higglesworth left a house in the village to Robert
Topham (of his mother's family) in 1768. North Yorkshire Buildings Group ,
Report No. 568, 1979 A. Raistrick, Old Yorkshire Dales, 1971 p.49

Listing NGR: SD9807367463

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26583913

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)