Gate House To Middle Coombe Farmhouse

The gate house to Middle Coombe Farmhouse is a structure dating from the late 16th to early 17th century, refurbished in the late 19th century and modernised around 1970. It is constructed of plastered stone rubble, possibly with some cob, and features a stone rubble stack topped with 19th and 20th-century brick. The roof is slate, having originally been thatch.

The gatehouse faces south-west and is situated approximately 8 metres in front of Middle Coombe Farmhouse, backing onto the farmhouse forecourt. Its right end is terraced into the hillside. The carriageway is flanked by one-room plan blocks that project slightly forward on either side, with a room above the carriageway. There are doorways on each side of the carriageway, and the right block has an axial stack that backs onto the carriageway. The building has two storeys.

The exterior features a nearly symmetrical arrangement of windows with a 1:1:1 configuration, consisting of 20th-century replacement casements without glazing bars. The carriageway front arch has been partly rebuilt but retains the original oak headbeam, which is a soffit-chamfered low Tudor arch. The roof is hipped on the left and gable-ended on the right, with eaves extending over the front wings. The right wing includes a 20th-century hipped half dormer, and there is another dormer on the left end. A first-floor doorway is located in the left gable end of the terrace. The rear elevation presents a symmetrical three-window front, with the left windows featuring chamfered oak mullions that are likely original, while the right windows are 19th-century replacements. The carriageway arch on this side is a complete oak low Tudor arch with a chamfered surround, above which is a small original oak-framed single light window, its surround carved with a twisted band of foliage.

The interior was not inspected during the survey, but it is reported to contain some original carpentry details. This gate house is an unusual building and is part of an exceptionally good group with Middle Coombe Farmhouse and its traditional farm buildings.