Description

WITHERIDGE

1619/9/62 MUXERIES FARMHOUSE
14-OCT-87
(Formerly listed as:
MIXURIES FARMHOUSE)

II
DESCRIPTION
Farmhouse. C18 and early C19, possibly with an earlier core. The main, central part of the building is of rubble stone, the front elevation being roughcast and whitewashed; brick dressings are visible to the rear of the building. The hipped roof is of slate, coated with bitumen; there are 2 squat brick stacks. An earlier kitchen wing to west, of cob construction, was probably originally the low end of an earlier house on the same site. The eastern section, built as a malthouse in the second part of the C19, is also rubble with brick dressings, the front elevation being rendered.

EXTERIOR: The main part of the building is of two storeys. The central doorway holds a 6-panelled door, the upper panels being glazed. The front elevation has irregular fenestration, with 12- and 16-pane double-hung sashes; there are casement windows to the W end of the western single-storey wing, and to the rear of the building. The transition to 3 storeys at the E end of the building is expressed by 3 vertically arranged window openings in the E elevation; the upper and lower windows are casements, whilst the central window has horizontal sliding sashes. The 2-storey, 2-bay western wing is lower than the main range, with a small C20 outshut extension to the front.

INTERIOR: The main part of the building is of single room depth. To the right of the central entrance hall is a large room with a stack backing on to the hall; there is a smaller room to left. The earlier, western wing has an original 5-bay tie-beam roof. The house retains an internal well shaft, widened in the 1950s, which still (2010) provides the domestic water supply.

HISTORY
Muxeries Farm is situated on the NW edge of the village of Witheridge. The farmhouse is believed to date from the C18 and early C19, possibly built on an earlier core. The western (lower) end of the house is the oldest part of the building, and was probably the low end of an earlier house on the same site, dating from the C18. The main part of the existing house was built during the early C19. The 1st and 2nd edition Ordnance Survey maps, published in 1889 and 1905, indicate that the footprint of the building has altered little since the late C19, apart from a small extension to NW, at the rear of the building. The eastern end was constructed as a malt house in the C19, prior to 1889, but was later converted to residential use when the building was reconfigured in the 1950s. The building has been subject to considerable internal alteration at various times.

SOURCES
OS maps, 1889 and 1905

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION
* Date: As a farmhouse developed between the C18 and late C19, possibly with an earlier core
* Construction: For the cob construction and original tie-beam roof of the earlier, western wing

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26465771

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

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5