Willishayes Farmhouse

Willishayes Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the early 17th century or earlier, with later 20th-century renovations and re-arrangements. It is constructed of cob and stone rubble with a slate roof, hipped at the left end and gabled at the right end. A corrugated iron roof covers the adjoining cider house at the right end, also hipped at the right end. The farmhouse has three rooms and a passage, arranged with the lower end to the left and the hall heated by a front lateral stack. A rear lean-to has a corrugated plastic roof. The house has undergone several phases of rebuilding; the lower end and passage are under a lower roofline, and the plainer carpentry in the inner room suggests a late 17th or later date. The original structure may have been a late medieval open hall, evidenced by a massive jointed cruck in the centre. Modern alterations include a new stair to the rear of the passage, some repartitioning of the lower end, and the insertion of an axial passage to the rear of the hall. The two-storey front has an asymmetrical arrangement of two and two windows. A 20th-century glazed porch is located to the right of the left-hand block, leading into the passage. Fenestration is largely 20th century, with timber casements with glazing bars to the left and iron casements with glazing bars to the right. The cider house has a central doorway flanked by single windows and a 20th-century roof dormer for loft lighting. Inside, a plank and muntin screen with plain muntins separates the higher end of the passage. The hall features deep, hollow-chamfered step-stopped crossbeams and a modern fireplace that may conceal earlier jambs and lintel. The lower end room has an open fireplace with stone rubble jambs, a timber lintel, hearth seat, and two bread ovens, alongside roughly chamfered crossbeams. The inner room has two rough axial beams and a 19th-century cast iron grate. The cider house has a chamfered stopped crossbeam and is of 17th-century origin. The roof over the hall contains a massive side-pegged jointed cruck; the cruck feet are visible just above ground level on the ground floor. The apex of the cruck was not inspected, but it may be late medieval and show signs of sooting. The cider house has X-apex roof trusses, likely dating to the 18th century, and probably replacing an earlier structure.