Eggesford Barton Farmhouse And Adjoining Farmbuilding

Eggesford Barton Farmhouse and Adjoining Farmbuilding

A substantial working farm complex of probable late 18th to early 19th century origin, altered and refurbished in the mid-19th century. The buildings are arranged in three ranges around a farm courtyard and constructed from exposed local mudstone rubble laid to rough courses with ashlar quoins and arch heads. The walls are topped by secondary brick eaves cornices, and the roofs are of slate. Chimneys comprise stone rubble and brick stacks with 19th and 20th century brick shafts, some plastered, including one early bulbous cone chimney pot.

The western range forms the principal façade and comprises a former dovecote at the centre, with the farmhouse to the right and pigsties to the left. The pigsties occupy three former cottages: two single-room plan cottages at the left end and a two-room plan cottage positioned between them and the former dovecote. These cottages had an unknown former function, as the wall includes two large blocked circular holes, possibly former loading hatches. The farmhouse follows a three-room plan with a large projecting end kitchen stack, axial stacks in the other rooms, and a one-room extension to the rear.

The western range presents an irregular five-window-to-one-window-to-three-window front at two storeys. The pigsties or former cottages contain 19th century three-light casements, most retaining rectangular panes of leaded glass in varying states of preservation. Windows and three doorways feature segmental-headed arches with ashlar voussoirs. The central former dovecote projects slightly forward and is surmounted by a gable with an iron weathervane. Its ground floor has a plank door and fanlight with glazing bars, whilst the first floor contains a sash window with a small fixed pane to the left. Both openings are spanned by round-headed arches of ashlar voussoirs. The farmhouse windows are all similar round-headed sashes with glazing bars arranged in a radial pattern in the upper sashes. A round-arched doorway is surmounted by a reset stone plaque inscribed "ECM 1626". The brick eaves cornice features projecting headers emulating dentils and breaks through the voussoirs above the farmhouse first floor windows. The roof is hipped to the left and gable-ended to the right, beyond the north range. The rear of the farmhouse comprises a variety of 19th and 20th century casements and another round-headed sash with a brick arch, whilst the extension contains a 19th century six-panel door and a 16-pane sash.

The north range houses full-height carriageway at the right (east) end, with an elliptical-headed arch of sandstone ashlar with plain imposts, neat voussoirs, and a projecting keystone. Between the carriageway and farmhouse, the store displays a five-window front of 19th century casements with glazing bars. Doorways and ground floor windows have segmental arches with ashlar voussoirs and contemporary plank doors. This range once functioned as a barn, as evidenced by the stub of a massive beam to the round-house visible in the rear wall. The curving wall is reused alongside the carriageway as the side wall for open-fronted cartsheds. Linhays to the right have been substantially rebuilt and are not included in the listing.

The south range contains a low open-fronted four-bay cartshed recessed between the west range and barn. The barn features a large round-headed doorway slightly right of centre, flanked by narrow ventilators, with a smaller segmental-headed doorway at the left end. It has a brick dentil cornice and roofs hipped at each end. A round-headed loading hatch serves as a gabled dormer to the hayloft in the roof space. Adjoining to the left is a workshop, formerly stables. The front was altered in the 20th century by insertion of garage doors at the right end and the blocking of a large central doorway and smaller left end doorway. The workshop roof is gable-ended.

The interior of the farmhouse contains no exposed carpentry, with mainly 19th century joinery detail. The dovecote has brick walls containing pigeon holes. Other buildings display plain carpentry detail with 19th century king post trusses throughout, including a queen post variant over the workshop.