Whychurch Farmhouse

Whychurch Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating to circa 1675, built by William Ivye on the site of an earlier church. A 18th-century rear extension was added, along with a late 18th-century porch and pediment to the front. The construction is of coursed limestone rubble with pantile roofs and rendered ridge end stacks.

The plan is of a 3-unit central-entry type, with a rear stair turret accessed from the parlour on the left, and a service wing on the right that incorporates a 18th-century addition to the rear.

The exterior is two storeys and presents an almost symmetrical 4-window facade. A late 18th-century pedimented stone porch sits above a 17th-century chamfered segmental-arched doorway, which has original ironmongery opening to a 18th-century 4-panel door. A late 18th-century pediment features centrally. Hood moulds are above the 3-above 4-light hollow-chamfered stone-mullioned windows, with a 20th-century window inserted to the ground floor on the right. Similar windows are present on other elevations and to the gable end of the 18th-century rear wing. The left (south) return gable has a string course, plinth and straight joints, which relate to the surviving remains of a medieval chapel.

The interior retains substantial beams, some cased and others stop-chamfered with run-out stops. The parlour on the left was likely subdivided in the late 18th century, with a panelled door installed. Stone-flag floors are present. A dog-leg stair with a landing provides access to a rear first-floor gallery. First-floor and attic rooms have ribbed and plank doors with Norfolk latches set in ovolo-moulded and chamfered architraves within heavy pegged frames; a similar plank door is located to the centred room on the ground floor. The central hall features an open fireplace with chamfered jambs and bressumer. A principal rafter roof with tenoned purlins is also present. The 18th-century extension has mullioned windows serving both the 17th-century main range and the stair turret. The building is a good example of a late 17th-century central-entry plan with a near-symmetrical facade, although the plan form is otherwise traditional with a large central hall.