Hayne Farnhouse

Hayne Farmhouse is a substantial and well-preserved house of mid-17th-century date, refurbished in 1809 by George Snell, as recorded on a date plaque. The building is constructed of plastered cob on rubble footings with stone rubble chimney stacks; the main stack retains its original stone chimney shaft, while the other has been topped with plastered brick. The roof is thatched and gable-ended.

The house follows a 3-room plan facing south, with 2 storeys and attics to the main block. A 2-storey porch projects from the left (west) of centre, behind which is a lobby entrance created alongside a large axial stack serving back-to-back fireplaces. To the rear of this stack is a projecting stair turret. The kitchen at the right (eastern) end has an end stack. A 2-storey outshot has been added to the rear of the left room, originally single storey.

The front elevation has regular 1:1:2 fenestration of 2 and 3-light casements with glazing bars, probably dating from the 1809 refurbishment. The outer windows occupy what appear to be original embrasures, but the central wider windows appear to replace 2 original windows, and cupboards inside block other original window openings. The porch is gabled with an elliptical-headed outer arch. Below the gable is a large and distinctive ornamental plaster plaque with a circular frame containing a hanging shield bearing George Snell's initials and the date 1809, commemorating the refurbishment. A secondary 19th-century doorway serves the kitchen at the right end of the front. The main front door is original, with heavily studded planks. Along the front eaves, the original oak wall plate displays an ovolo-moulded soffit.

The interior retains much early fabric. Although several early 19th-century features are present, most of the interior, including substantial joinery detail, is 17th-century and well-preserved. The entrance lobby floor contains a pattern of small, shaped and variously coloured tiles, presumably of 1809 date. In the left (western) room, the ceiling is completely plastered over and the stone rubble fireplace has a plain oak lintel, possibly a replacement. The front window has 19th-century shutters. The rear doorway to the outshot has a bead-moulded oak frame, probably of late 17th or early 18th-century date. The middle room (hall) contains a soffit-chamfered and scroll-stopped crossbeam with exposed scratch-moulded joists. The fireplace is large, built of stone rubble, with an oak lintel (soffit-chamfered with scroll stops) supported on the left by a jowled-head oak post, apparently original. The fireplace includes a cloam oven. Opposite, the cob crosswall contains a cupboard with an early 18th-century panelled door hung on H-hinges. The kitchen at the right end has an axial soffit-chamfered and scroll-stopped beam and a large, probably rebuilt stone rubble fireplace with a roughly-finished oak lintel. It includes 2 19th-century brick ovens with cast iron doors. An oak-panelled window seat and an oak bench against the internal crosswall are of uncertain date. The first-floor rooms show only 19th-century detail.

The stair block contains a stick baluster stair with ramped handrail, presumably of 1809 date, with a contemporary cupboard on the half-landing. From the first-floor landing, an unusual original stair rises to the attics; its first flight ascends to the stack then divides to each room. It has a closed string, square-section newel posts, a flat handrail and turned balusters. The original roof survives essentially intact, carried on 6 bays of A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars featuring variant dovetail halvings. The left (northern) section is plastered; the right is not. The door from the stairs to the latter is original, panelled toward the stairs and with scratch-moulded planks within.

Hayne is a most interesting house, retaining much of its original build and little altered since its 1809 refurbishment. It forms an attractive group with adjoining stables and barns.