Abbotts Farmhouse

Abbotts Farmhouse is likely of late medieval origin, with a chimney inserted into the cross passage around 1600, and subsequent enlargement to the west and alterations in 1913. The house is timberframed and has roughcast rendering with 19th-century tile hanging to the upper storey. A substantial 1913 extension forms a cross wing to the north, constructed using matching materials at the front, but with red brick at the rear. The roof is half-hipped and covered in old red tiles.

The house originally comprised three units across four structural bays. The eastern service end was floored over in the early 18th century, though a three-centred buttery door arch survives, paired with a 19th-century copy. A notable feature is the chimney backing onto the cross passage, suggesting a rear entrance was in use, and the clasped purlin roof, which lacks wind braces in the chimney bay. The long bay originally encompassing the hall is located to the west of the chimney and incorporates a heavy timberframed partition on the ground floor, with wattle and daub infill to the roof truss. The original western parlour bay retains heavy axial joists. A further extension was added in 1913.

The north front is irregular and two storeys high, with four windows and a gabled open porch to the older part of the house. There are 2-light flush casements with small panes of glass. A projecting half-hipped gable and the western portion of the 1913 extension are present on the right-hand side. A small external gable chimney is at the east, and the central chimney has been rebuilt above the roofline.

A two-bay, single-storey, 17th-century kitchen extending to the rear is timberframed and weatherboarded, with a gabled roof covered in old tiles. Adjacent to the kitchen is a large cast iron pump with a flywheel handle. A late 19th-century three-sided bay window and a glazed rear door are joined beneath a tiled canopy. The clasped purlin roof incorporates wind braces. Internally, there are queen post and collar trusses with principals notched but not reduced above the collar. Exposed timbers include stepped jowl bay posts and curved braces to tie beams, along with structural elements of the floor and partitions. An edge-halved scarf with bridled butts in the rear wall plate suggests a 15th or 16th-century date. This detail, combined with the roughly contemporary chimney insertion, indicates the house may date back to 1438, when it was occupied by a John Abbot. The house was altered and extended in 1913 for Francis Pawle on his marriage. It is an historic medieval timberframed house.