East Forde Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating from the late 17th to early 18th century, it may incorporate an earlier core. The construction is plastered cob on rubble footings, with rubble and 19th-century brick stacks, and a thatched roof. The original plan consisted of two heated rooms and two entrance lobbies. The house faces south-east. A large lateral stack projects from the front, and a gable-end stack is located on the left (south-west) side. The front has an irregular arrangement of three windows, with late 19th to early 20th-century casements featuring glazing bars. A four-panel door is located to the left of the lateral stack and a plank door is at the right-hand end, alongside a bee bole. The lateral stack retains its original rubble chimney shaft. The roof is hipped to the right. Inside, the fireplace in the right-hand room has been blocked, but its large size is still evident within a cupboard, which contains volcanic ashlar and an ash-pit on the right side. A blocked volcanic ashlar fireplace is also in the left-hand room. Both rooms have stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. The roof space is inaccessible, but bases of principals suggest A-frame trusses. The layout implies the possible existence of a 16th-century three-room-and-through-passage house, which was adapted to the current layout in the late 17th to early 18th century.