Description

ST MELLION
SX 36 NE
8/204 Horsepool Farmhouse
II

Former farmhouse, C17 or earlier, with later extensions and renovations.
MATERIALS: Constructed largely of rendered cob and rubble stone with a thatched roof, two slate roofed, lean-to porches on the south side and a weatherboarded timber porch to the north.
PLAN: An irregular plan. A low single cell range is at the east end with a stack to the eastern gable. It was extended to the west. The central portion is set back; originally a wide cross passage it is now an entrance lobby with porch. There is a further room to the west with a stack to the former western gable and a protruding semicircular winder stairwell to the north or rear. In the late-C20, an additional two-storey extension was added to the far west, with a single storey porch to the north.
EXTERIOR: The south, or farmyard elevation, has an asymmetrical appearance with two roof heights, two lean-to porches and irregular fenestration with C20 timber windows of various sizes. The main entrance is through the westernmost porch, formerly open, now with wide C20 timber plank doors. Above the entrance porch is a single window. To its west are five further windows: three on the ground floor, two on the first floor. There is an axial stack located on an earlier western gable. To the east of the porch is a lower range, its ground floor largely occupied by a wide, lean-to, stone and cob open porch with slate roof and C20 French windows. Above the porch is a small single window below the eaves. The eastern gable has a protruding stack with cloam oven, (a clay oven with a removable clay door, typically found in farm houses in Devon and Cornwall). There is a single ground floor window with timber lintel to the south of the stack and a similar first floor window to the north. The lower range of the north (rear) elevation; is blank with evidence for infilled former doorways and windows. The higher range has two windows on the ground floor and one on the first. Towards the west there is a protruding semicircular or `turret' stairwell lit by a single rectangular window. To the far west is a protruding 1 1/2 storey C20 timber porch with timber mullioned windows under the extended catslide thatched roof.
INTERIOR: The entrance lobby gives access to the ground floor lavatory opposite the lobby. To the right is the living room which includes an open joist ceiling and fireplace with granite lintel and a cloam oven. Some of the ceiling joists have been replaced and a former staircase in the north west angle removed. To the left is the dining-room with infilled former fireplace, a `bible cupboard' in the thickness of the rear wall, and access to the turret staircase with winder stair. Further west is a modern kitchen and porch extension.
On the first floor, the accommodation is built in the eaves and partially into the roof space. To the east is a large second bedroom and bathroom, which includes two exposed original roof trusses. These are single framed with half-lapped apex joints and cambered collars.
HISTORY: There is more than one phase of building incorporated into the farmhouse: the lower easternmost range is believed to be the earlier phase; a simple single cell dwelling, extended later with a larger and higher range added to the west. Latterly, the farmhouse was divided into two cottages. After a period of dereliction it was renovated and extended with Listed Building Consent.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:

Horsepool Farmhouse is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* A good example of an evolved vernacular farmhouse of C17/C18 date

* It retains a range of notable features including a cloam oven and winder stair

Listing NGR: SX3855865965

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26433569

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

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)