| Description | This laithe house was built c.1770 from hammer dressed stone, with dressed quoins, and a stone slate roof. It is two storeys high. The building consists of a five bay barn to the left of a two cell baffle entry house. It is wrongly marked as ‘Middle Farm’ on OS maps (English Heritage, 1985).
The house has a doorway with monolithic jambs, which has a cyma moulded surround that rises to form a false ogee lintel. There is a single light window above that has a similar surround with a false arched lintel. To either side on both floors there is a three light flat faced mullioned window, which has recessed mullions with an inner chamfer and chamfered surround. The house also has a central stack offset from the ridge. There is an extension to the house, to the right, which is in keeping and re uses the original coping and kneelers.
The barn has a segmental arched cart entry, with skewbacks and composite jambs. To the left, there is a mistal doorway with monolithic jambs and a chamfered surround. There is a coped gable with kneelers to the left. The left bay is now part of the house (English Heritage, 1985).
The interior of the housebody has a fireplace with monolithic jambs and a segmental arched bressumer with incised voussoirs, stop chamfered spine beams and floor joists with ogee stops. The parlour has a similar beamed ceiling.
It is recorded that John Wesley stayed here on several visits to the area between preaching in Bingley and Ilkley in 1776 (English Heritage, 1985). Formerly the window has an engraved piece of glass with a portrait of Wesley and an elegy to death dated 1776. This glass is now preserved in Eldwick Methodist Church.
An outbuilding has a re used datestone c.1777 and the house may be of similar date.
There are proposed plans and elevations for alterations to Toils Farm in the folder that were drawn up in 2001, suggesting that work has since taken place, although this is not known. |