West Liscombe Farmhouse Including Outbuilding Attached to East End

Farmhouse. Dating to the late 16th century, it was remodelled and significantly extended in the early 19th century.

The farmhouse is constructed of coursed rubble stone with rubble stone stacks. The west end gable is clad in corrugated iron, and it has a slate roof. The plan consists of a 16th-century core to the central range, featuring a hall to the left of a through passage and a dairy. An outbuilding was originally lofted and attached to the right end, and has since been converted to residential use. An early 19th-century range was added to the left, with a symmetrical two-room and central passage plan. The right-hand room has a rear stack for heating and the left-hand room a gable end stack. A single-story outshut with a slate roof is located to the rear.

The early 19th-century range has a symmetrical three-window front, with a central doorway framed by a 20th-century stone porch with a lean-to slate roof. A gable end stack is located at the west end and a rendered stack is at the rear. The windows are two-light, eight-pane casements to the first floor, with cambered heads, and 20th-century plate glass windows to the ground floor. The 16th-century central range is a former hall house with a through passage. The front elevation has a lateral hall stack with offsets and a tapered cap. The former outbuilding to the right has a door to the right end, a casement window to the left, and a window to the centre of the first floor.

The interior was extensively refurbished in the early 19th century and most of the joinery, including fireplaces and fitted shelves and cupboards, dates from this period. The former hall of the 16th-century range retains a fireplace with a substantial bressumer and a ceiling beam with hollow chamfer. Two further ceiling beams are present within the hall, but are now boxed in.

The farmhouse is designated at Grade II for the following reasons: it retains a legible 16th-century core; the 19th-century addition and outbuilding do not detract from the building’s interest and illustrate its evolution; and it retains substantial historic fabric, including its lateral hall stack, stop-chamfered ceiling beams and chamfered doorway to the 16th-century range, alongside much of its 19th-century joinery.