Farm Buildings Approx 12M North Of Elston Barton Farmhouse And Adjoining Courtyard Walls To South Between The Two

A range of farm buildings dating to the early to mid-17th century, with 19th-century alterations, stands approximately 12 metres north of Elston Barton Farmhouse and is linked to it by adjoining courtyard walls to the south. The buildings encompass a gate to Elston Barton, stables, a cartshed, a carriageway, a cider-house, and an apple store, and the walls enclose a courtyard between the farmhouse and the farm buildings. The construction is of plastered cob on rubble footings, with a corrugated iron roof that replaced thatch. The L-shaped range has a main block facing south into a courtyard, and a south wing projecting forward at the western end. Originally a coach house and stables were located to the left of the carriageway, with the cider-house and apple store to the right. The buildings are two storeys high throughout and feature an irregular five-window front with mostly unglazed 2-light mullion windows from the 19th century. The central carriageway has early to mid-17th century lintels on each side, richly-moulded and similar to those found in the hall of Elston Barton. A large, contemporary crank-headed oak gateway with a chamfered surround, now with a 19th-century plank door, is within the carriageway. A 19th-century wooden box containing pigeon-holes is situated at first floor level to the right of the carriageway. Four doors are present: one each side of the courtyard wall to the right of the carriageway, a door outside the courtyard wall, and another in the end of the projecting wing. The roof is hipped on the wing and at the left end. The rear elevation, facing the road, has a loading door to the apple store on the left, 20th-century full-height garage doors at the right end, and irregularly-spaced windows. Inside, full-height cob walls are present on both sides of the carriageway, and one within the stables. The cider house is partially floored and open against the carriageway. Four bays of the 17th-century roof remain in the stables, featuring A-frame trusses with pegged, lap-joined collars. The remainder of the roof was replaced in the mid to late 19th century. Plastered cob walls with rubble footings and slate roofs extend southwards from approximately 6 metres either side of the carriageway to meet the farmhouse, enclosing a stone courtyard. The eastern wall includes two feeding bays. This shows a rare survival of a 17th-century farmyard and has a strong visual impact.