Barbers Farmhouse Including Stable Block Adjoining To West

Barbers Farmhouse is a 16th and 17th century farmhouse with later 19th and 20th century alterations, accompanied by a stable block dating to the late 17th or early 18th century. The building is constructed of local stone and flint rubble, with sections of cob; the farmhouse is cement-rendered. The stacks are of stone rubble, topped with 20th century brick. The house has a slate roof, while the stable block has a corrugated iron roof, both formerly thatched.

The farmhouse originally followed a 3-room-and-through-passage plan, facing north. The easternmost room appears to have been an unheated space, possibly a dairy or buttery, with the hall positioned to the west, featuring an axial stack backing onto the passage. The western end contained the service kitchen, with a gable-end stack backing onto the adjoining stable. The house likely began as an open hall house. The stable block was added to the west, aligned with the house.

The farmhouse presents an irregular 3-window façade with late 19th and 20th century casement windows, some without glazing bars. The main entrance, right of centre, features a part-glazed door. The roof is gable-ended on the left and runs continuously over the stable. The stable has been altered, now featuring one ground-floor window and a hayloft window. The ground-floor window, at the left end, is oak with 2 lights and chamfered mullions. The hayloft window, at the right end, likely blocks a former hayloft loading hatch and contains 4 lights with ovolo-moulded mullions. Ground-floor blockings indicate the presence of two original stable doorways, each with a window to the left. The stable roof continues from the farmhouse roof, and is hipped at the right end, covering a garage/cartshed doorway.

An interior inspection was not possible at the time of survey, however the farmer reported exposed beams, blocked fireplaces, and the removal of jointed cruck trusses from the roof. The barn hayloft is supported by roughly-finished crossbeams, and the roof features A-frame trusses with replacement lap-jointed collars. Barbers Farmhouse contributes to the character of the attractive hamlet of Beacon, alongside several other listed buildings.