Description

ASHWATER
SX 49 NW
4/10 West Down Farmhouse and barn
- adjoining at south
II
Farmhouse and adjoining barn. C17 farmhouse, barn circa early C19. Whitewashed
plastered cob on stone rubble footings, the barn unplastered cob. The house has an
asbestos slate roof formerly thatched, hipped at the right end, gabled at the left
end, a large stone axial stack heating the hall and a probably C19 stone stack at the
right gable end. The barn has a corrugated iron roof hipped at the left end. The
original C17 plan was a 3 room and through passage house with the hall stack backing
on to the passage and a probably unheated inner room, the lower end a barn. A former
rear outshut, probably added in the C18 or C19, was taken down to a flat-roofed rear
extension in the C20. A long beam inserted under the eaves in the centre of the
front elevation and a change in the plane of the front suggests that there has been
some rebuilding, possibly after a partial collapse of the front wall. 2 storeys.
Asymmetrical 4-window front to the farmhouse with the front door leading into the
passage at the left under a long timber lintel. Three 3-light ground floor
casements, the window to the right of the front door has 4 panes per light, the
others 3 panes per light. The first floor windows high under the eaves are 2-light
casements with glazing bars, the third window from the right is set down below a long
beam built into the front wall. The barn adjoining at the left end has a loft
entrance to the right and a door to the left.
Interior The passage survives with exposed joists and a blocked opening into the
lower end. The front of the passage has a slate floor, the rear, which is used as a
storage room has a cobbled floor. The hall has a massive C17 fireplace with a cloam
oven with 1 granite and 1 squared stone jamb and a timber lintel with a chamfer and
ogee stops. The rear of the stack, visible in the passage, is constructed of neat
courses of squared masonry with lacing courses of smaller pieces. 2 chamfered cross
beams to the hall, the stops may be concealed behind the wall plaster. The hall has
a keeping place on the front wall. The inner room has a C20 fireplace and 1
chamfered cross beam. large straight principal rafters visible in the first floor
rooms are probably C17, apex of roof not inspected.

Listing NGR: SX4036299317

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26398629

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

• 
  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)