Lower Upcott Farmhouse

Lower Upcott Farmhouse is a farmhouse that likely dates from the early 16th century, with remodels in the 17th century and some alterations made in the 20th century. The building is constructed of painted rendered stone and cob, topped with a slate roof featuring gable ends. At the rear, there is a lateral hall stack with offsets and a projecting bread oven, along with a brick stack at the left end. An inserted lateral brick stack is located at the rear of the lower end.

Originally designed with a through-passage plan, the front access has been blocked and a window inserted. The partition between the hall and the through-passage has been removed. There is evidence of significant rebuilding at the upper end, which now includes an extra heated room beyond the inner room, although both areas were once used for housing animals. The lower end has also been extended and was previously used for animal accommodation.

The farmhouse has two storeys and features a seven-window range. The 20th-century fenestration mainly consists of two-light casements, with two three-light windows at each end of the ground floor. A four-paned window has been inserted into the former through-passage doorway, and there is an inserted doorway at the upper end with a slate lean-to roof.

Inside, the hall has stop-chamfered beams, while the other ceiling beams are roughly hewn. A 17th-century doorway in the rear through-passage features an ovolo with a chamfered surround and large carved worn stops. The lower end has a single truss with slightly curving short feet and a straight collar tenoned into mortices on the soffits of the principal rafters. There is no evidence of smoke-blackening on the truss, but some is present on one of the purlins, suggesting that the hall was originally open to the roof. Solid cob partitions rise to the apex of the roof at each end and between the upper end rooms, replacing timber trusses and supporting the purlins, although most of the roof structure is from the 20th century.