Higher Compton Barton

Higher Compton Barton is a planned range of farm buildings incorporating a farmhouse, dating to around 1850. Constructed primarily of stone rubble, the buildings are characterised by low-pitched corrugated iron hipped roofs, with some slate hanging to parts of the house, and asbestos slate to its upper sections. The ranges are arranged around a courtyard, comprising a long bank barn, shippons, a house, stables, a cattle shelter, a small detached building, and a cider mill.

The south-east barn has three segmentally arched barn doorways on its exterior side, each fitted with plank doors and slated canopies. The north end contains an engine house with a drive shaft projecting for an external steam engine. Facing the yard, the barn features loft doors and ventilation slits above a row of closely spaced shippon doors. The north-east range combines shippons with lofts above at its south-east end and a house at its north-west end, the first floor of which is slate hung and faces the courtyard. The house has first-floor sash windows, a 20th-century glazed door, and a single-storey projection into the yard. A large cart entrance archway in the north-west corner has an ashlar portal on the outer side, featuring a segmental arch with a keyblock, imposts, and large plank double doors.

The north-west stable range has lofts above. To the south-west of this range is an open-fronted, five-bay cattle shelter supported by cast iron posts. In the courtyard's centre stands a small, detached stone rubble building with an ashlar plinth, a hipped slurried slate roof, and possibly functioned as a granary, with external steps leading to a loft door and a small ground-floor opening at the opposite end, enclosed by cast iron railings, beyond which stands a large granite cider mill. Segmental arches frame all openings, and some retain their original plank doors. A low enclosing wall runs along the south-west side, bordering a small single-storey building with a cart entrance and flanking windows. This represents a complete and good example of a planned farmstead from the high farming era, distinguished by its integrated farmhouse.