Hayne Farmhouse

Hayne Farmhouse is likely of late 15th or early 16th century origin, with later modifications. It is constructed of roughcast cob and has a gable-end and half-hipped thatched roof. Originally a three-room, through-passage plan house built using jointed cruck construction, the service end was extended in the 17th century. The hall and service end were open to the roof, which shows signs of smoke-blackening. The inner room was of two storeys from the beginning, separated from the hall by a closed truss. A first-floor window in this partition, noticed by Commander Williams in 1975, has since been removed. The inner room was unheated, with an axial stack backing onto the passage providing heating to the hall, and another axial (originally an end) stack heating the service end. A further internal end stack heats the service end extension; all stacks have brick shafts.

The front elevation has an irregular four-window range. The first floor has 3-light C19 casement windows. The ground floor features two entrances; the right-hand doorway is centrally placed and leads into the passage between the service room and extension, incorporating a half-glazed door with a corrugated iron canopy. Other ground floor windows are C19 and C20 2 and 3-light casement windows. The rear elevation includes two late lean-to additions. A rear door to the through-passage has a debased 4-centred arch, with a low, chamfered, pegged pediment, reminiscent of doorways found in Somerset. A planked and studded door is located to the extreme left of the rear elevation, alongside other 2 and 3-light casement windows.

Inside, the hall has deeply chamfered, unstopped intersecting ceiling beams, creating six panes. The partition between the hall and the inner room is now rubble, but it may have originally been a timber screen, according to Commander Williams' suggestion. A plank and muntin screen separates the through-passage from the service end. The service end has a roughly chamfered cross ceiling beam, and the service end extension features an axial ceiling beam, chamfered with run-out stops to one end. The roof structure incorporates three jointed cruck trusses with cranked collars, morticed and pegged at the apex with a diagonal ridge piece (Alcock type F2). The service end and hall have intact smoke-blackened rafters and thatch. A higher end exhibits a hip cruck, while the lower end—which Commander Williams could not fully inspect— does not retain its hip cruck, the soot from the smoke-blackened roof above having stained the cob stack inserted at that point. A full report with plan and sections by Commander Williams, dating from June 1975, is held by the NMR.