West Leigh Farmhouse (East)

Farmhouse. Dating to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with later 17th-century alterations and a partial rebuilding in the 19th century. The walls are plastered cob on rubble footings; the stacks are stone rubble or cob, topped with 19th and 20th-century brick; and the roof is thatched, with corrugated iron and asbestos additions to outshots. The house originally faced east and was likely based on a three-room-and-through-passage plan, with an inner room at the north end. The rear of the passage was blocked by a 17th-century newel staircase, possibly indicating the original arrangement. The service room end was rebuilt and raised in height during the 19th century. The inner room has a projecting end stack, the hall has an axial stack backing onto the passage, and the service end room has a rear lateral stack. Outshots extend across the rear and rise to two stories behind the service end, mostly appearing to be 20th-century rebuilds. The main house is two stories high and has an irregular three-window front with 19th and 20th-century casements, the latest without glazing bars. One late 17th-century oak window frame with a small, flat-faced single light is located to the right of the passage door. The 19th-century casement above is the only first-floor window on this side and has a thatched eyebrow. The hall window is in a projecting bay with the roof carried down over it. The main passage door is set behind a 20th-century conservatory with a monopitch corrugated asbestos roof. A 20th-century doorway has been inserted toward the right end of the former inner room, with a monopitch, corrugated plastic-roofed porch. Most other windows on the sides and rear are 20th-century replacements. Inside, a winder staircase behind the passage rises around a newel post with chamfered edges and late step stops, suggesting an early 17th-century origin. A plank door at the foot of the stairs is likely from the early 18th century and has H-L hinges. The hall has a large rubble fireplace with a high, soffit-chamfered oak lintel. A mid-17th-century half beam with a soffit-chamfer and run-out scroll stops is set across the chimney breast. A cob crosswall at the upper end of the hall is lined with 17th-century oak-panelled wainscotting above a built-in bench. The inner room features a late 17th-century axial beam, soffit-chamfered with cut diagonal stops. The fireplace here is blocked, as is a cream oven in the back of the hall cross wall. The service end's interior appears to be entirely 19th-century. The roof is inaccessible, but a late 16th- to early 17th-century, possibly earlier, side-pegged jointed cruck is visible over the hall.