Lower Coombe Farmhouse

The Lower Coombe Farmhouse dates back to the 16th century, with alterations made in the 17th and later centuries. It is constructed of cob and stone rubble, now plastered, and has gabled end slate roofs. Originally designed as a three-room farmhouse with a through-passage, it includes two rear wings: one at the service end and the other at the hall end. The higher end of the house is to the left of the passage. The farmhouse has end stacks, the one on the right originally external and partially dismantled. A brick shaft on an external rear lateral stack heats the hall. A newel staircase is located at the rear of the service end stack, with evidence of another (now gone) at the corresponding corner of the inner room; the present main staircase occupies the former passage.

The front of the farmhouse has a three-window range, with 19th-century three-light casement windows. There is a timber, open porch with a slate roof leading to the passage. The wing projecting on the right indicates a former smoking chamber, later converted into a small chamber, with a blocked window visible internally. The rear of the service end wing has 2 and 4-light 19th-century casement windows, likely inserted into earlier 17th-century embrasures. A surviving 4-light casement window with chamfered mullions and jambs, 8 or 10 panes per light, a sliding butterfly catch, and stanchions, is located on the ground floor outer side elevation of this wing. A wing behind the hall has an end stack, partially rebuilt. The first floor has a 2-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions and jambs, and 10 leaded panes per light, to the left of the stack; a 19th-century 2-light window is to the right of the stack. Further 19th-century 2 and 3-light casement windows are set within early embrasures on the outer face of this wing. The inner room has a 3-light casement window with chamfered mullions and jambs.

Inside, the inner room features a wooden fireplace lintel with an unusual barley-sugar moulding to the concave moulding. A rough cross beam with mortices indicates the former position of a screen between the inner room and the hall. The service end contains a fireplace lintel with hollow step stops, and a deeply chamfered cross beam is also present. The roof structure consists of two phases: one potentially from the 16th century, with two jointed crucks; the other, later, with crossed and pegged trusses at the apex.