Old Farmhouse and Adjoining Barn at Merrifield

The Old Farmhouse and adjoining barn at Merrifield are a house and barn complex, likely dating to the 18th century or earlier. The building is constructed of stone rubble, with a slate roof featuring gable ends. A projecting stone rubble stack is located on the left-hand gable end. The buildings are situated along a slope, with the house at the lower end on the left. An unusual feature is the thick cross wall that runs up to the apex, separating the house and barn.

The original plan remains uncertain. The house originally featured an entrance and possibly a passage on the higher side, with a fireplace in the lower left-hand gable end. The barn, to the right, includes a thick cross wall dividing the ground floor into two sections, with several straight joints visible on the front and rear walls. A service outshot was added to the rear of the house on the left, dating to the late 18th century.

The two-storey house has a window to the left, a stone rubble porch with a lean-to roof on the right, and two windows above. The barn projects forward, displaying a ventilation slit to the left, a door, and a 20th-century concrete block outshot extension. Further features include a window, a door, and a window above, as well as external steps leading up to a loft at the rear of the barn. At the rear of the house is a lean-to outshot.

Internally, the house has renewed 19th or 20th-century ceiling beams and an unmoulded granite lintel to the fireplace, with a blocked clom oven. The roof trusses are of 'A' frame construction, halved, lap-jointed and pegged and nailed. The barn’s ceiling beams have been replaced, and the roof structure was not accessible. A cobbled floor is present on the right side of the barn. While alterations in the 19th century have obscured earlier details, the unusual plan is distinctive for Cornwall, suggesting possible earlier origins for the farmhouse and barn.