Mornacott Farmhouse

Farmhouse. It likely has origins in the 17th century or earlier, with a refurbishment in the mid-to-late 19th century. The rear kitchen wing may also date to the 19th century. The farmhouse is constructed of stone rubble, with some cob on the rear elevation; the front elevation is whitewashed and plastered, reportedly faced with stone rubble and cob. It has a slate roof with gabled ends, and axial and right-end stacks to the kitchen wing, a left-end stack to the back kitchen outshut, all with 19th-century brick shafts.

The plan is an overall 'T' shape. The south-facing main range is at least 17th century, being a single-depth range with two principal heated rooms, one on either side of an entrance hall. A narrow, unheated room is located at the left end. A rear-right dairy outshut may be 17th century, with cob that appears continuous with the cob on the rear wall. The rear-centre kitchen wing, at right angles to the main range, is probably early 19th century, but could be older. A rear-left back kitchen outshut is 19th century, containing a rectangular bread oven within the stack. An outbuilding, originally possibly a cider house (with a drain in the floor), adjoins the main range at the right (east) end, slightly set back. An axial passage, likely 19th century, runs behind the right-hand room, providing access from the kitchen to the cider house; the plan of the house has not altered since the 19th century.

The exterior has a handsome, asymmetrical five-window front, with two windows belonging to the adjoining outbuilding. A 19th-century panelled front door is situated to the right of centre, with a 19th-century lattice porch. A 19th-century or early 20th-century plank door leads to the narrow room at the extreme left (west) end of the range. The main range features a complete set of mid-to-late 19th-century four-pane horned timber sash windows with regular fenestration, while the outbuilding has four regularly spaced 19th-century two-light small-pane timber casements.

The interior is virtually unaltered since the 19th century, retaining slate floors in the service rooms. Surviving 17th-century features include a plastered-over crossbeam in the principal left-hand room, flanked by moulded plaster cornices, and a chamfered stopped crossbeam in the axial passage. A deeper chamfered crossbeam with run-out stops is visible in the axial passage behind the right-hand heated room; this presumably continues above the present plastered ceiling of the heated room, which is a 19th-century parlour containing a late 19th-century chimney-piece. Other features may exist behind wall plaster. The 19th-century stick baluster stair and slate-topped benches in the dairy are also present. The roof has not been inspected but may be of interest.

This is a very unspoiled traditional farmhouse, the plan form reflecting 19th-century adaptation of a 17th-century house to provide more extensive service rooms and more complex circulation. It has group value with the farmbuildings.