Ebford Barton

Ebford Barton comprises two dwellings, originally a single farmhouse. The core of the building dates to the 17th century, with substantial alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries. The walls are roughcast cob on stone footings, with brick patching, and have a half-hipped and gabled thatched roof. The original plan was likely a three-room, cross-passage house, with the higher end located to the left of a now dismantled passage. The main hall was originally heated by a rear external stone lateral stack with offsets; the service end by a cob end stack, both featuring brick shafts. The inner room appears to have been largely rebuilt in the 20th century, when the rear parlour wing was probably reduced to a single storey, retaining some ovolo-moulded windows. A barn of late jointed cruck construction, likely 18th or 19th century, was added to the higher end, aligned with the main range. A service-end extension, possibly 18th century, projects from the front facade. A 20th-century stair turret is situated to the rear of this extension. The front has a three-window range, with 2-light casement windows to both floors. A recessed bay on the left features 2-light casement windows on each floor, representing a 20th-century reworking of the inner room. A front wing to the left contains a late 20th-century 2- and 4-light casement window. The forward service room extension has a shallow bay window, with all windows being 20th-century replacements. Similar 20th-century fenestration is found to the right-hand end elevation and rear, except for one 17th-century 2-light casement window with a chamfered mullion and surround. The parlour wing features two 17th-century 3-light windows with ovolo-moulded mullions and jambs, set within a double cyma-recta surround, all timber. The barn is partly cob, but the front has largely been rebuilt in brick, incorporating re-used front blades of six jointed crucks; the rear principals rest on the wall plate. The joints are nailed rather than pegged, suggesting a late construction date. Inside Lower Ebford Barton, the service room has a Heavitree stone fireplace with a chamfered wooden lintel with scroll stops. Ceiling beams in the service room and hall (Ebford Court) have scroll and step stops. An early 18th-century fielded panel door leads to Lower Ebford Barton.