East Barton

East Barton is a farmhouse dating from around 1550, with alterations made in the early to mid-17th century and probably extended or partly rebuilt in the 18th century. Late 20th-century alterations have been made. The building is rendered over stone and cob, with a gable-ended asbestos-slate roof and axial and end stacks, though the stack tops were rebuilt in 20th-century brick.

The original plan was a 2 or 3 room through-passage house, facing south, based on a late-Medieval open-hall model with a hall, former through passage to the left, and service room beyond. There may also have been an inner room to the right originally. The hall was formerly open to the roof throughout its length. During the 17th century, a first floor was inserted and an axial stack was added at the right-hand end of the hall. The eaves were probably also raised at this time. A kitchen was added at the right-hand end, probably in the 18th century, with an external brick end stack. This room may have replaced a former unheated inner room, or the medieval house may have always consisted of only 2 rooms. Late 20th-century alterations included the removal of the ground-floor wall between the through-passage and hall, removal of the front doorway to the passage, insertion of a staircase to the rear of the hall, and rebuilding of the left-hand gable end. It is uncertain whether the former service room ever had a stack, as that end wall has since been rebuilt. It is possible the service room never became a kitchen, with the kitchen function being taken over by the 18th-century kitchen at the right-hand end. A lean-to addition was built at the rear in the late 20th century.

The building is 2 storeys high with an asymmetrically-fenestrated front featuring 20th-century 3-light wooden casements—4 to the first floor and 3 to the ground floor. A boarded door to the kitchen is located between the first and second windows from the right. A blocked former through-passage door stands between the first and second windows from the left. The right-hand gable end stack has slate offsets.

Interior features include a hall with a 17th-century chamfered cross beam and half beam with stepped runout stops. Old joists to the left of the cross beam were removed when the wall between hall and through passage was taken out and replaced with a steel beam. A 17th-century open stone fireplace with a chamfered wooden lintel remains, though it was reduced in width in the 20th century. There is 19th-century matchboarded dado and a window seat. The inner room to the left has a plastered 17th-century chamfered cross beam. The kitchen has a plastered square cross beam, a segmental-arched stone fireplace, and a window seat. Old doors survive throughout. The right-hand end wall of the hall is cob and extends to eaves level.

Remains of the smoke-blackened late-Medieval roof survive, including 2 principal-rafter trusses positioned over the middle and left-hand upper end of the hall. Each truss has a cambered collar halved over the principals with pegged mortice and tenoned apex. A diagonally-set ridge-piece is present. A late-Medieval truss formerly existed at the right-hand upper end of the hall (a gap in the cob wall indicates its position), probably removed when the stack was inserted. Trenched purlins remain, along with some smoke-blackened rafters. Trusses with halved collars are rare in late-Medieval houses in Devon.