Westacott House And Barn Attached

Westacott House and attached barn are a farmhouse dating probably to the 16th century, substantially remodelled in the late 17th century when the barn was added. A further extension occurred in the late 18th or early 19th century. The house is built of colour-painted rendered stone and cob, while the barn is stone-fronted with cob to the rear. Both have slate roofs, with the house having a hipped end and a raised roof level towards the right, and the barn a gable end. The buildings form an L-shaped layout, with the barn extending at right angles to the front right side of the farmhouse.

The original farmhouse plan comprised three cells, with a hall and upper end heated by rear lateral stacks, both featuring brick shafts. A ridge stack with a brick shaft was formerly located at the lower gable end; this is now enclosed by 18th/19th-century extensions, which incorporate a further brick stack at the left end, along with a small two-storied extension to the rear of this addition. The house is two stories high with a five-window front, featuring 20th-century windows.

The barn has a slated canopy supported by projecting piers, extending fully to the height of each side, surrounding a wide threshing door with two leaves, with opposing doors to the rear. Double plank doors are located to the right, and a buttress extends to the full height at the right end. A plank door is present at the left end, near the angle of the farmhouse, alongside an ovolo mullion timber window of two lights. A three-light window from the 19th century is positioned above this. A two-light chamfered timber mullion window is situated at the rear.

Inside the farmhouse, an ovolo-moulded timber lintel remains at the chimneypiece of the upper end. Three raised cruck trusses survive over the hall and lower end, one having a cranked collar tenoned into soffit mortices to the principals. There is no sign of smoke-blackening. The roof structure features two tiers of threaded purlins and a diagonally set ridge purlin. Straight principals are found in two trusses over the right-hand end, with a superimposed 17th-century roof structure above, comprising two trusses with lap-jointed collars.