Shell Cottage

Shell Cottage is a detached cottage located in Monkton Farleigh, dating from the early 18th century, and possibly a rebuilding of an earlier structure. It is constructed of dressed limestone and features a stone slate roof with coped verges and stone stacks. The building has an L-plan layout and is two stories high with a four-window front.

The entrance is to the left of center and consists of a good door with six fielded panels set in a moulded architrave that includes a keystone. Above the door is a stone shell hood supported by carved brackets, with a mask volute within. To the left of the door is a 12-pane sash window in a beaded architrave, while to the right are two sashes with original thick glazing bars, all set in beaded stone architraves. A moulded string course runs along the first floor, which features two 12-pane sashes in the center bays and blind windows on the sides. There is a relief-carved datestone reading "WMS / 1736" below the cornice, and a moulded cornice leads to a plain blocking course.

On the left return, there is a 12-pane sash window in a beaded architrave with a cornice on the ground floor, and an 8-pane sash window on the first floor, along with an oculus in the attic. The right return has two-light casements on the rear wing, which also includes a later 20th-century casement and glazed door. The left return of the wing features two-light casements and wood mullioned casements.

Inside, the front of the house has been converted into one room that includes a moulded Tudor-arched fireplace with a cornice on the left and an 18th-century beaded stone fireplace surround with imposts and curved corners on the right. There is also an 18th-century shell cupboard with shaped shelves and fielded panelled doors below. The rear wing has a deep chamfered beam, likely reset, and planked doors.