Townend Farmhouse, Cumbria

National Trust.
Townend is a rare and remarkably intact survival of the house of a family of yeoman farmers. The house largely dates from the seventeenth century, with limewashed walls, mullioned windows and a slate roof topped with six round chimneys. Just across the lane, dating from the same period as the house but built on a much grander scale, is the farm’s stone and slate galleried barn, with a ramp up to the granary floor and the date 1666 carved on one of the lintels.
The Browne family who lived here for over four centuries were sheep farmers, and seem to have gradually risen in society through careful management of their affairs. The contents were preserved by the last George Browne, an antiquarian and woodcarver, some of whose intricate carving remains in the house.
Much of the attraction of Townend lies in its contents, which reflect the Browne’s life and interests over several generations. There is a little library, with fiction, angling and farming periodicals, and a wealth of heavy oak furniture. Various old-fashioned rooms remain much as they were. There was a real fire burning in the kitchen on the day I visited.
The small garden has been re-created as it was in the Edwardian era.
Well worth a visit if you are in the area. It takes an hour or two to go round and see everything. Parking is some distance from the farmhouse.