Gooseham Barton

Gooseham Barton is a house that was formerly a farmhouse, with origins dating back to the late 15th or early 16th century and alterations made in the 17th century and 20th century. The building is constructed of whitewashed stone with some cob above, and it features a 20th-century concrete tile roof that is hipped at the left end and gabled at the right end, although it was originally thatched. There is a large stone ridge chimney with weatherings for thatch and a brick chimney at the right gable end.

The house shows evidence of being an open hall house from the late 15th or early 16th century. A stack was inserted in the 17th century, likely creating a passage between the higher and lower ends of the house, with a stair possibly added in this passage. The rooms at the higher end are heated, while the room at the lower end is said to have been used as an outbuilding in the past. The roof was raised, and the house was widened at the rear, with a 20th-century lean-to added at the back.

The building has two storeys and an asymmetrical three-window front with an off-centre 20th-century timber gabled porch. The ground floor features a three-light 20th-century barred casement window to the left, a two-light 19th-century casement window with six panes per light to the right of the porch, and a 16-pane 19th-century sash window under a segmental head to the right. There is a blocked doorway on the front to the left of the sash window. On the first floor, there are three two-light 20th-century casements, each with six panes per light.

Inside, the ground floor room to the right has a massive fireplace with an unhewn fireplace beam and a cloam oven, along with two large axial ceiling beams and smaller cross beams. The ground floor room to the right of the porch also has a massive fireplace with an unmoulded fireplace beam, two large chamfered cross beams with step stops, and smaller axial beams. The first-floor room to the right features a canted ceiling with remnants of a 17th-century moulded plaster cornice. There are two massive raised crucks in the upstairs rooms, which have mortices for collars, although the collars are missing. The roof space was not fully accessible during the survey in 1984, but smoke-blackened trusses were visible on both sides of the stack, with some rafters replaced. The roof below the 20th-century roof is also smoke-blackened.

The house is said to have been owned by William de Gooseham, who was instituted as Vicar of Morwenstow in 1312.