Coombe Farmhouse

Coombe Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, with significant remodelling probably in the 17th century and further alterations and window replacement in the 19th century. It is constructed of rendered stone rubble and cob, with a slate roof featuring gable ends. A tall lateral chimney stack with offsets and a drip rises prominently from the front, with the stack heightened in brick. A brick stack is also present at the right gable end and on the gable end of a rear extension. Originally a 3-cell open hall house, the plan now incorporates a stair turret to the rear of the cross-passage. The cross-passage has been widened, encroaching on the adjacent room, and a previous staircase in the unheated inner room has been removed. A 2-story, right-angled kitchen extension was added to the rear in the 19th century, creating an overall T-shaped plan. The front facade has a 3-window range of horned sash windows with margin glazing bars. A brick porch with a gabled roof shelters a 6-panelled door, with matching sashes flanking it, and a projecting hall window beneath a slate lean-to canopy. A tall 2-light window is positioned at the left end. A slate-roofed dairy outshut is located at the rear, within the right-hand angle of the T-shape. Internally, the hall retains stop-chamfered beams and vertical dado matchboarding. Some early joinery survives in the chamber at the right end. A single raised cruck truss remains above the hall; this early truss incorporates short extension pieces, scarf-jointed onto the blades to complete the apex, originally supporting a diagonally threaded ridge purl. The original rafters and purlins extend only as far as the end of the hall. Later replacement trusses are present over the inner room and cross-passage. The slight rise in the first floor level above the hall indicates that this section was the last to receive an inserted floor.