Venn Farmhouse

Venn Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the 16th century with major late 16th- and 17th-century improvements, modernised in 1835 according to a datestone and extended around 1960 by rebuilding a former cider store. The building is constructed of plastered cob on rubble footings, with the rear partly exposed. Stone rubble or cob stacks are topped with 19th- and 20th-century brick. The main block has a thatch roof while the circa 1960 extension is roofed in slate.

The house originally followed a 3-room-and-cross-passage plan facing south-east, with the inner room (now kitchen) at the north-eastern end. The rear of the passage is now blocked by a small lobby, and the exposed cob back wall shows no evidence of a rear passage door, possibly because the house is terraced into a slope. The inner room contains a projecting end stack with a secondary oven projection. The hall has an axial stack backing onto the passage, while the service end room formerly had an end stack, now axial since the circa 1960 1-room extension was erected at that end. A projecting newel turret stands to the rear of the hall. Two-storey outshots behind the hall and inner room are probably 17th century in date but were refurbished in 1835.

The building is two storeys. The main block has a balanced though not quite symmetrical 4-window front with similar 19th-century casements with glazing bars, those on the ground floor being larger than those on the first floor. The front passage door is positioned left of centre and contains a 19th-century plank door. A secondary doorway at the right end serves the inner room and is sheltered by a 20th-century porch with a monopitch corrugated asbestos roof. The main roof is gable-ended. The circa 1960 extension is also gable-ended and set back slightly from the main front, with a single window of circa 1960 casements with glazing bars and a contemporary door.

At the rear, the newel stair turret is gabled and retains a small 17th-century oak 3-light window-frame with chamfered mullions. The outshots include a sandstone date plaque inscribed "Christopher Born, 1835" and the keystone over one of the windows is a crudely-carved sandstone head in Norman style.

The interior is largely the result of 19th-century modernisation, but the 16th-century plan survives intact with sufficient early features remaining to suggest further elements lie hidden beneath 19th-century plaster. All the fireplaces are blocked by later grates. The inner room contains a mid-17th-century crossbeam with broad soffit-chamfer and large bar-scroll stops. A cob crosswall separates the inner room from the hall.

The hall features a high 3-bay ceiling with early 17th-century crossbeams displaying deep soffit-chamfers with keeled lozenge stops. The contemporary door to the passage has a chamfered surround and lozenge stops. The service end room contains an early 17th-century crossbeam finished similarly to those in the hall. A new stair, probably dating from the late 16th or early 17th century, has massive oak treads. The first floor includes some 17th-century oak doorframes with chamfered surrounds and scroll stops, though not all appear to be in their original positions.

The roof is inaccessible, though part of a 16th- or 17th-century side-pegged jointed cruck is visible above the hall, and the base of principals above the inner room suggests a 17th-century roof in this section. The 19th-century refurbishment of Venn appears very superficial, and the early house is well-preserved despite much being hidden. Nevertheless, the 19th-century plaster and joinery contribute an important element to the house's development as it now stands.