Westcott Farmhouse On South Side Of Settlement At Westcott

Westcott Farmhouse is a farmhouse located on the south side of the settlement at Westcott, dating from the late 16th century. It is constructed of rendered stone rubble and cob, with part of the left gable end rebuilt in brick. The roof is made of rag slate and features gable ends, with a brick chimney at the left end and another axial chimney to the left of center.

The original layout likely consisted of three rooms with a cross or through passage, having a higher end on the right. The entrance is positioned to the left of center, leading to a service room on the lower left side of the passage and a hall on the higher right side, which is heated by an axial stack that backs onto the passage. The inner room on the far right is probably unheated. There is a stair turret projection at the rear of the passage and the lower side of the hall, with the staircase rising from the rear wall of the hall, near the fireplace.

In the 18th or early 19th century, an outshut extension was added to the rear of the passage and lower end, which incorporated the stair projection. The gable end wall of the lower end was rebuilt in the early 20th century. In the 19th or 20th century, the house was divided into two cottages, with a second entrance created near the partition between the hall and inner room. In the later 20th century, the two cottages were converted back into a single house, with the original entrance blocked and the partition between the inner room and hall removed.

The exterior features two storeys and an asymmetrical three-window front with renewed 20th-century two-light casements. The entrance is to the right of center and has a 20th-century porch. There are three casements to the left of the entrance, with the central casement located in the original entrance, and a casement to the right of the entrance. The first floor also has three casements.

Inside, the hall includes a fireplace with a cavetto moulded granite lintel and jambs, along with a pentan to the rear and remnants of a cloam oven. The floor joists in the hall are slightly chamfered. The inner room is unheated, and the fireplace in the lower end was rebuilt after the end wall collapsed in the early 20th century. There is a 19th-century staircase in the earlier stair turret, and the roof structure above the hall and inner room was likely replaced in the 19th century, while the roof structure above the lower end has not been inspected.