Higher Chuggaton

Higher Chuggaton is a house that likely dates from the early 16th century, with extensions and remodeling occurring in the 17th century, and additional cottage ornee features added in the 19th century. The building is constructed of rendered stone and cob, with the right gable end rebuilt. It has a thatched roof and an axial stone stack that backs onto a former through-passage at the left end. Originally an open hall house, it features a hall and an inner room to the right of the through-passage, which now has a window inserted in a blocked doorway.

In the early 17th century, the hall was floored over, and a right-angled two-storey extension was added to the rear right end, creating an overall L-shaped plan. In the 19th century, a narrow gabled two-storey porch was added to the east side of this rear extension, and the lower end of the house was apparently demolished. The end wall of the through-passage is heavily buttressed beneath a cottage ornee thatched verandah, with the main entry relocated to the left gable end.

The house is two storeys high and features a three-window range of two-light casements, each with eight panes per light. There is a small pantiled lean-to by the blocked through-passage doorway on the left and a two-light casement with eight panes to the right of the French windows.

Inside, the narrow hall has scratch-moulded joists, and the rear extension contains a large stop-chamfered beam with original joists. Much of the old joinery remains in the upstairs rooms, including scroll-stopped durns on the chamber doorway over the through-passage. The roof structure is largely intact, featuring a solid cob partition between the hall and inner room that rises to the apex of the roof, dividing the roof space into two parts. Close to the inserted axial stack is a raised cruck truss, with only one foot visible. There is heavy smoke blackening on the rafters, thatch, purlins, and truss extending to the lower end of the through-passage. The cob partition and gable end wall support the purlins over the inner room, where the roof timbers are clean. The 17th-century extension has a single raised cruck truss butting onto the inner room end, with lap-joined collar, trenched purlins, and rafters intact, showing no signs of smoke blackening.