Halbathick Farmhouse

Halbathick Farmhouse is a farmhouse, likely dating to the early 17th century, with substantial rebuilding in the later 17th century and some remodelling in the mid-19th century. The construction consists of stone rubble walls with granite dressings, and a dry Delabole slate roof with gable ends, incorporating a rear stair wing with a lower section at the rear right. Original rubble stacks are positioned over a cross wall towards the right and over the right-hand end.

The farmhouse originally had a three-room and through-passage plan. The left-hand lower end was damaged by fire and is now partly ruinous and roofless. Behind the deeper central hall is a late 17th-century stair wing, and an integral pantry outshut is located behind the parlour on the right. A later, shallow wash house with a copper, now in ruins, stands in front of the lower end. A ruinous projection to the right-hand gable is possibly an oven.

The east range is irregular and has two windows. The slightly projecting central hall front features a wide drip mould marking the former hall window, rebuilt in the mid-19th century. A two-light casement with sixteen panes is situated beneath and to the left of it. Above the former hall window is an early 19th-century two-light casement with five horizontal glazing bars to the left-hand light, and a later casement with four horizontal bars to the right. The parlour front, partly rebuilt in the mid-19th century, has a doorway with a ledged door, a small window in a partially blocked tall opening with a horizontal glazing bar, and a sixteen-pane two-light casement on the right. All windows include iron stanchions; a twelve-pane two-light casement illuminates the first floor. A mid or sill element of a 17th-century mullioned window has been reused as a quoin on the right. The rear of the stair wing has a later window to the gable end, while two window openings are blocked in the left-hand angle.

Inside, the farmhouse retains several original 17th-century features, including a flat-chamfered granite fireplace in the hall, a hollow-chamfered one in the parlour, and a hearthstone from a likely 17th-century fireplace in the chamber above the parlour. Plastered hall ceilings and plaster chamber ceilings are present, with the feet of probably 17th-century trusses visible. An ovolo-moulded doorframe separates the hall and parlour, and a dogleg stair has an unusually wide upper flight and a turned balustrade to the landing. Additional features include 19th-century parlour ceiling joists and a late 19th-century iron grate in the chamber above the parlour. Keeping places are found at the parlour end, and chamfered jambs from a probable former doorway with ball stops are located nearby. Studwork partitions in the hall/chamber to the through passage are sheeted over with corrugated iron.

Halbathick Farmhouse represents an interesting development of 17th-century planning and retains its original form since the 19th century, aside from the partial loss of its lower end.