Mousetail Barton

Mousetail Barton is a late 17th-century cottage located in Chittlehampton. It has been extended and altered in the 20th century. The building is constructed from rendered stone rubble and cob, with some rendered brick at the left end, and has a thatched roof, hipped at the left end. A stone rubble stack with a tapered cap stands at the right gable end. Originally, the cottage had a 2-room and cross-passage plan, with a large heated room to the right and a room to the left divided to create a parlour and scullery. A staircase formerly ran up beside the rear wall, entering the passage at the rear left-hand corner. In the 20th century, internal partitions were removed creating a single large room, the cross-passage doorway was blocked, and a single-storey gabled wing was added to the front right end. A continuous outshut has been added to the rear. The front facade has a 3-window range of 2-light casements with 6 panes per light; the two windows to the right are from the 19th century, and the window to the left end was replaced in the 20th century. A 2-light casement is on the ground floor to the left of a 20th-century window inserted into the blocked cross passage doorway. Inside, there is a cambered chamfered fireplace lintel with scroll stops, and a chamfered cross ceiling beam with scroll stops in the original right-hand room. The roof has trusses with rough-pegged straight principals. There is no sign of smoke-blackening.