Leigh Farmhouse

House, dating to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with alterations in the 17th century and restoration in the 20th century. The building is constructed of rendered, colour-washed cob with a slate roof and rendered chimneys. Originally a three-room plan with a cross passage, the house now features a lateral stack to the hall and a projecting stack to the left gable end. A stone stair is located adjacent to the hall stack, while a rear projection, lit by a two-light, ovolo-moulded mullioned window, contains a second stair. There is a partial rear outshut. The right end of the front likely represents a former unheated parlour, characterised by a lower roofline. Steps lead up to a two-storey, gabled porch with seating. The second storey of the porch was rebuilt in the 1970s and includes a two-light granite mullioned window replacing an earlier design. The ground floor front features a three-light casement with glazing bars on the left, a granite-framed stair light to the right of the porch, and a four-light granite mullioned window with eight panes per light to the hall. A ground floor three-light casement with glazing bars is located on the right. The first floor has a three-light casement with glazing bars on the left, a porch window, a granite-framed stair light, and two two-light casements in 1970s gable dormers which originally had windows under raking roofs.

The interior ground floor is slate-floored, with stud partition walls defining the cross passage. The hall fireplace has granite lintels and jambs, alongside a slatestone newel stair to the right of the hearth. The left-hand ground floor room contains an unhewn fireplace beam, while the right-hand ground floor room has widely-spaced ceiling beams and a low, semi-circular projection to the wall facing the hall. The first floor reveals three bays of raised crucks above the hall, featuring a threaded ridge and collars mortised into the principals. The room to the right of the hall has a fireplace and a curved principal with a low face and side-pegged joint. There is evidence of a former bressumer in the room above the present hall. Other principals throughout exhibit curved feet. A first-floor stud wall incorporates moulded timbers from a demolished house in Week St Mary. A fireplace with a stone lintel is found in the first-floor room to the left. The hall fireplace lintel originally featured decorative plasterwork depicting moons, stars, and heads; one head remains in the possession of the current owner. Group value context is that this is a building of significant historical and architectural merit.