Partridge Farmhouse And Adjoining Farmbuilding

A farmhouse with an adjoining farmbuilding, dating from around the early to mid 17th century, likely built on the site of an earlier structure. The farmhouse is constructed of colourwashed rendered cob and stone, with a thatched roof; the roof is hipped at the left end, gabled at the right end, and has a half-hip to the rear wing. Brick chimney shafts project from the right end and where the farmhouse joins the outbuilding. The original plan is unusual because there's no evidence of a central cross passage or passage through the main block; the third room was a shippon. A rear wing projects at right angles to the main range. A 20th-century cross passage has been added between the two right-hand rooms of the main block, which may have originally been the hall and inner room of a three-room plan with a through passage. The lower end was probably rebuilt as a shippon in the 17th century, featuring a mullioned window. The rear wing, likely initially a dairy with accommodation above, is also of 17th-century origin, raising questions about the original entrance position. A rear lean-to with a concrete tile roof, located in the angle between the rear wing and the right-hand room of the main block, is either a 20th-century addition or a remodelling of an earlier structure. The front of the building is asymmetrical, with a two-window front extending to a three-window front; the two windows on the left belong to the shippon. A 20th-century lean-to porch now leads into a 20th-century cross passage, formerly giving direct access to the right-hand room. The windows are 20th-century timber casements, with three on each floor. The shippon has a doorway with a timber lintel, flanked by a small mullioned window to the right and a small, unglazed window to the left. Inside the right-hand room is a chamfered cross beam with flattened pyramid stops, and a 20th-century fireplace that hides earlier features, including a bread oven. The left-hand room has an ovolo-moulded cross beam and a 20th-century fireplace concealing earlier features. A chamfered, stopped 17th-century doorframe leads from the staircase to a first-floor room in the wing. Principal rafters are visible in the roofspace.