Catshayes Farmhouse

Catshayes Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from around the late 16th century or earlier, with possible rebuilding and extension at the right (north) end around the early 17th century and some 18th-century refurbishment. The structure is built of stone rubble, incorporating some cob to the rear and right end, and has a thatched roof with a plain ridge half-hipped to the right end and gabled at the left. Chimneys include a left-end stack, an axial stack, and a rear lateral stack.

The original plan consisted of a long, single-depth range facing east, comprising four rooms and a cross passage. The left end is slightly higher, with the hall stack backing onto the passage and an associated inner room located beyond. A lower end kitchen sits adjacent to a dairy, which in turn links to a grain store with an apple loft above. A circa-18th-century staircase rises from the hall against the rear wall, leading to a small first-floor lobby.

The external façade is long and asymmetrical, with seven window bays. The eaves of the thatched roof create a slight eyebrow effect over two first-floor windows, indicating a change in plane at the right end, likely due to the addition. Three circa-19th or 20th-century plank front doors are present: one central, leading to the cross passage; one to the right, accessing a passage between the kitchen and dairy; and one to the left, entering the inner room. The windows are primarily timber casements with 2-, 3-, and 4-light arrangements, possibly dating back to the 19th century. The rear (west) elevation, facing the road, has four first-floor windows and three ground-floor windows, with the two northern ground floor windows currently unglazed. A circa-16th or 17th-century 2-light timber mullioned window is situated on the first floor of the rear elevation.

The interior of the farmhouse contains a wealth of carpentry and joinery. The hall features a fine ceiling with intersecting moulded beams. The fireplace has a massive chamfered timber lintel, Beerstone jambs, a hearth seat, and a small timber-lined recess in the fireback of unknown purpose. An intact bench with a 17th-century panelled back is located here, which has been in situ for at least two generations. The lower end room contains a boxed-in crossbeam and axial beam. The fireplace, partially blocked, has a chamfered lintel and includes a bread oven. The inner room was not accessible during the 1988 survey. Another room adjoining the lower end has large roughly-chamfered crossbeams. The circa-18th-century staircase features turned balusters with a flat-topped handrail, leading to a small lobby on the first floor. A 2-panel door closes off the staircase at the bottom, and further 2-panel doors open from the lobby above. On the first floor, a plank partition with large studs divides the apple store from the grain store, both of which were in use approximately 30 years ago. Apples and grain were historically carried up the stairs through the house. The roof structure includes side-pegged jointed cruck trusses, notably one cruck at the right end that appears later than the others. Parts of the roof may be medieval. One truss above the lower end kitchen is an 'A' frame. The farmhouse is an attractive and unspoiled building, retaining significant interior features.