Lower Allercombe Farmhouse

Lower Allercombe Farmhouse is a late 16th to early 17th-century farmhouse that has been modernised, particularly in the late 19th century when both end walls were rebuilt. The structure comprises plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with the end walls rebuilt in late 19th-century brick and patching elsewhere in brick. One original cob stack and one late 19th-century brick stack are both topped with 20th-century brick. The roof is covered in corrugated asbestos, replacing the original thatch.

The farmhouse originally followed a 3-room-and-through-passage plan, facing west with the inner room positioned at the southern end. The hall contains a projecting front lateral cob stack, whilst the service room has a rebuilt brick end stack. During the late 19th century, the original front passage door was blocked and replaced with two front doors—one serving the service room and another the inner room. The rear passage doorway remains in its original position. A small stair turret projects to the rear towards the upper end of the hall, built of brick and likely a late 19th-century rebuild of the original.

The building is now 2 storeys throughout. The irregular 5-window front comprises various casements, some late 19th-century but mostly 20th-century, with few retaining glazing bars. The inner room has a late 19th-century 4-panel door, whilst the service room doorway contains a reused possibly 17th-century plank door similar to the rear passage door. The roof is gable-ended to the left and hipped to the right.

The interior retains good quality and little modernisation beyond the late 19th-century alterations. The original late 16th to early 17th-century structure appears to survive largely intact beneath later plaster. The passage is lined on both sides by oak plank-and-muntin screens, with the service-side muntins chamfered with step stops. The hall screen is plastered over, though the owner recalls a plank-and-muntin screen beneath. The service room crossbeam and end half-beam are soffit-chamfered with step stops. The kitchen fireplace is a late 19th-century brick construction.

The hall fireplace is blocked by a 20th-century grate, with the crossbeam papered over. The hall was probably originally open to the roof, with the beam inserted in the early or mid 17th century. It features a soffit-chamfer with pyramid stops to the front and scroll stops to the rear. The upper hall crosswall is plastered over with no exposed carpentry in the inner room. The stair turret contains a probably 19th-century winder stair.

The roof structure comprises side-pegged jointed cruck trusses. The roofspace is not accessible, but exposed timber where plaster has fallen away shows no smoke-blackening. One visible collar displays a pegged dovetail-shaped lap joint. The trusses at the upper end of the hall and lower side of the passage are closed with no exposed framing. Another first-floor crosswall over the hall contains an oak doorframe with chamfered surround. The main hall chamber has a small 17th-century fireplace with a soffit-chamfered lintel and low segmental arch. Other 16th and 17th-century features are likely hidden by later finishes.

Despite the late 19th-century end walls, the late 16th to early 17th-century farmhouse appears to survive very little altered.