Disused Farmhouse At Higher Penquite, Shippens Directly To East And Adjoining Wall On North

Disused farmhouse at Higher Penquite with a range of shippens directly to the east and an adjoining wall on the north, dated 1618 by datestone. The buildings are constructed of granite rubble with slate roofs featuring gable ends; the right-hand side of the farmhouse has been renewed with asbestos slates. Granite gabled coping and a stone rubble end stack appear on the left gable end.

The complex has an overall U-shaped plan, with the farmhouse on the west, shippens on the east, and a connecting wall between the gable ends of both ranges on the north. The house probably originally comprised a three-room and through-passage plan. The lower end on the left was heated by an end stack, the hall by an axial stack backing onto the higher right-hand side of the passage, and the inner room appears to have been unheated. A small porch, possibly partly rebuilt or added with an arch reset, stands to the rear of the passage. The chimney stacks and cross wall on the higher side of the passage have probably been inserted or rebuilt, suggesting the house may have earlier origins. However, the roof structure appears to be 18th century and 20th century, though not fully accessible, providing little evidence to confirm this.

A range of shippens, probably contemporary with the house, runs parallel about 10 metres to the east, directly to the rear of the lower end, passage and hall. The right-hand end to the south may have been rebuilt or added. A low stone rubble wall connects the lower left-hand gable ends of the house and shippens, forming the third side of an internal courtyard.

Around the 18th or 19th century, the house was divided into two dwellings. The left-hand house on the north comprises the lower end and passage with a fireplace inserted into the passage, back-to-back with the hall fireplace. The second house on the right comprises a two-room plan with central entrance, with the left-hand room heated by the hall stack and the right-hand room apparently unheated. A service outshot was added later to the rear of the higher end.

Exterior: The house is two storeys with an asymmetrical two-window front. The left-hand side has a four-pane sash and an 18th or 19th-century stone rubble porch. The inner entrance has a round-headed granite arch, apparently of a single piece of granite, with chamfered ashlar granite jambs. Two window openings flank the door opening to the right. The first floor has a four-pane sash on the left and a window opening to the right. A datestone of 1618 appears in the left-hand gable end.

The rear elevation faces the courtyard and has a gabled stone rubble porch to the rear of the passage with a segmental chamfered granite arch and an inner door with a three-centred granite arch featuring hollow chamfered jambs and simple moulded stops. A three-light mullion window lights the rear elevation of the lower end; the mullions have been removed and the glazing comprises early small leaded panes of glass. A two-light mullion window appears on the first floor.

Interior: The through passage is intact with a fireplace inserted in a cross wall on the higher side on the left, fitted with a 19th-century corbelled chimneypiece. The partition on the lower side of the passage has probably been removed. The left-hand room is divided by a later timber screen and heated by a very large, partly blocked fireplace with a hollow chamfered granite lintel and mid-19th-century cast iron grate. Ceiling beams were replaced around the 18th century. The hall and inner room are largely gutted with partitions and ceiling beams removed. The hall fireplace has hollow chamfered jambs and lintel, with a 19th-century brick segmental arch to an adjoining blocked fireplace and remains of a cloam oven. The front wall is slightly curved on its inner side near the fireplace.

Roof structure: The left-hand range has an approximately 18th-century roof structure with principals that are halved, lap-jointed and pegged at the apices and collars that are lapped and pegged onto the face of the principals. The roof structure is not fully accessible. The roof structure above the right-hand side was replaced in the 20th century.

The shippen to the east is two storeys with openings partly altered. A granite segmental arch, possibly reset, appears in the west elevation and a narrow ventilation slit in the east elevation. The interior has replaced ceiling beams, and the roof structure was not accessible at the time of the 1986 survey. A segmental granite chamfered arch appears in the stone rubble wall which connects the two ranges on the north.