Brooklands Farmhouse

Brooklands Farmhouse is a mid to late 17th-century farmhouse located in Chulmeleigh. The building is constructed of stone rubble and cob, with the upper two storeys rendered, and has a hipped thatched roof featuring a moulded timber cornice. A large axial brick stack and a brick stack at the right end are prominent external features.

The farmhouse has an unusual three-story, three-room and lobby entry plan, which includes a three-story porch. A massive axial stack heats the probable parlour to the left, while the hall is situated to the right of the entrance. The inner room at the lower right end was likely originally a kitchen and incorporates a secondary staircase in the rear left-hand corner. A principal staircase is housed within a three-story rear stair turret opposite the porch, creating a cruciform plan. A two-story dairy outshut adjoins the stair turret on its right side.

The front façade presents a five-window range. The upper storey retains original windows, including a four-light window to the left and three two-light windows to the right of the porch, all with chamfered mullions, and leaded panes. The middle storey contains a 17th-century three-light ovolo mullion window to the right of the porch, retaining its original window surround, although only the central light has rectangular leaded panes; the remaining windows on this level were replaced in the 20th century. A plain chamfered granite surround defines the outer porch doorway, which has a 17th-century ovolo-moulded timber inner doorway with a 19th-century ten-panelled door. A lean-to structure at the right end features a slate roof and an original 17th-century ovolo-moulded door surround, with a 17th-century two-light window above in the upper storey and a 19th-century three-light window at the right end of the dairy outshut, both with rectangular leaded panes. The rear of the outshut has a 17th-century three-light ovolo mullion window, with rectangular leaded panes in the central light. The stair turret has a three-light ogee mullion window on the ground floor, a three-light window on the first floor, a 17th-century two-light mullion on the upper storey to the right side, and a two-light window to each of the upper storeys on the left side, with the first-floor window blocked.

Inside, a 17th-century plank and muntin screen separates the hall and the inner room; the screen consists of three planks on each side of twin doorways, with ovolo-moulded muntins that are scroll-stopped approximately half a metre from the base. The doors were replaced in the 19th century. A 19th-century chimneypiece is in the hall fireplace, while the parlour has a 20th-century tiled one, both likely concealing original fireplaces. The dairy retains a flagstone floor and slate slabs. Other interior features include ledged three-plank doors to the dairy and salting house, a 17th-century balustrade at the head of the stairs featuring three turned balusters and newel with a reeded handrail, a cyma recta moulded plaster cornice in the chamber above the parlour, and a bolection-moulded chimneypiece. Repaired panelled doors are present throughout the house. The roof structure is largely original 17th-century, with straight principals, though it is not accessible for detailed inspection. Brooklands Farmhouse represents a remarkably complete survival of a late 17th-century farmhouse of considerable status, notable for its three-story height and lobby entry plan.