East Port Farmhouse Including Linhay Adjoining At The South East

East Port Farmhouse, including Linhay adjoining at the South East

A former farmhouse of late 16th or early 17th-century origin, probably representing a remodelling and extension of an earlier house. The building was re-roofed and raised, probably during the 18th century. It is constructed of rendered cob and stone with a corrugated iron roof (formerly thatched), gabled at the ends. Two stacks are present: an axial stack and a right end stack, both with brick shafts.

The plan consists of a single-depth, south-facing range three rooms wide. The entrance is positioned to the right of centre, leading into a narrow passage. A rear outshut, partly constructed of 20th-century concrete block, contains a straight run stair adjacent to the rear wall. A change in plane on the front elevation to the right of a thick cross wall suggests that the right end is an addition. The late 16th or early 17th-century carpentry details in this section match those in the centre room, indicating that an earlier house was extended and remodelled at this date. Sooted timbers re-used in the roof over the centre room suggest the earlier house may have been a late medieval open hall house. The right hand room, containing a circa mid-19th-century chimney-piece and probably 19th-century stack, may originally have been unheated. The centre room functioned as the late 16th or early 17th-century hall or hall/kitchen, with the stack positioned on the wall away from the present passage. The extreme left room has no early features and is divided from an outbuilding by a 20th-century concrete block wall, suggesting that the late 16th or early 17th-century house consisted only of the two right hand rooms, with the left end possibly serving agricultural functions.

The exterior presents two storeys with an asymmetrical four-window front. A 19th or 20th-century plank front door is positioned to the right of centre. A 20th-century single-storey lean-to extends across the front to the left with a second entrance facing the axial stack. Windows are mostly 20th-century, comprising two and three-light casements, including two metal-framed windows on the first floor. The hall window is a three-light 19th-century casement with the centre light replaced without glazing bars.

The interior of the hall features good quality late 16th or early 17th-century chamfered stop-chamfered crossbeams with run-out stops and an open fireplace with a chamfered lintel. A 19th-century bread oven with an iron door is incorporated into the fireplace. A bench is fixed to the lower end partition of the hall with early 17th-century wall panelling above it; this panelling has been adapted for its present position. Two 18th-century wall cupboards in the thickness of the front wall retain their original doors and hinges. The right hand room has crossbeams matching those of the hall. The passage contains a half-beam with slightly different stops. An 18th-century two-panel door leads from the passage into the right end room. The first floor is fitted with 18th-century plank and two-panel doors.

The roof structure comprises an 18th-century collar rafter roof below a 20th-century roof, incorporating some sooted purlins. The apex of the thick cross wall is approximately one metre below the 18th-century ridge, indicating the height of the pre-18th-century house.

The cob outbuilding adjoining the west end of the house extends to the south as a four-bay 18th-century linhay with cob pillars on stone rubble footings. Both the outbuilding and linhay are included in the listing.