North East And North West Ranges Of Buildings To The Higher Yard At Middle Blagdon Farmhouse

The North East and North West ranges of buildings form part of the higher yard at Middle Blagdon Farm, Paignton. Dating to circa 1870s, the barn has earlier origins and was part of a planned double-courtyard, split-level farmyard. The buildings are constructed of local stone rubble with brick dressings and a turnerised slate roof, with partial cob construction in the barn. The higher yard is separated from the lower yard by a farm lane.

The North East range features cart-horse stables in the centre, facing into the yard, with a probable donkey engine house projecting into the farm lane to the rear, towards the North. A small, heated block likely used as a smithy or to cook fodder fronts the lane at the Northwest end, with further stabling adjoining it. The North West range consists of an earlier threshing barn to which a later, probably 1870s, projecting gabled stone porch has been added, facing the yard. Pigsties or fowl houses are situated on the front of the porch, and a block at the North end may have been used as a grain store.

The exterior of the North East stable range has a central doorway from the yard, stepping down to the lane. There is a stable door on the left, a pair of slatted doors in the centre, and four ground-floor top-hung small-pane stable windows on the yard side. The rear elevation, facing the lane, has a central doorway with sliding doors. A segmental-headed doorway and a donkey engine house are located to the North. A shallow lean-to with a central door and round-headed windows with brick arches is located to the South. The Northwest range's cob threshing barn includes a projecting gabled stone porch with slatted doors. Lean-to pigsties or fowl houses flank the porch, with doorways on the front. A connecting block joins this range to the carthorse range.

The interior of the carthorse range retains stall partitions and iron mangers, with other original fittings likely to survive. The farmyard remains in agricultural use and represents a rare survival of a split-level Victorian farmyard in Devon.