Apridge Farmhouse

Apridge Farmhouse is a farmhouse dating from around the early 17th century, located in Doddiscombsleigh. It is constructed of whitewashed cob and stone, with a thatched roof, hipped at the left end, half-hipped at the right end, and with a hipped end to a wing. A stack on the left end contains back-to-back fireplaces, with a rendered shaft and a granite shaft between the wing and the main range. The original plan was a ‘L’ shape, with a single-depth main range of two heated rooms, and a kitchen wing set at a right angle to the right. A stair projection is situated in the rear left angle between the main range and wing, with a lean-to extending from the inner wall of the rear wing. The original entrance point is uncertain; a current entrance on the front, towards the right, is said formerly to have led into a narrow passage-like dairy, while another entrance is on the right return into the wing. The exterior has an asymmetrical three-window front with two buttresses, and a plank and stud door at the right end. The windows are mostly 20th-century timber casements with glazing bars. The right return of the main block features a 17th-century four-light mullioned window on the ground floor, and a small first-floor window. The wing continues to the right, with an eyebrowed thatch over a first-floor two-light casement, and two similar casements to the right of a 20th-century porch. Inside, the kitchen wing displays chamfered crossbeams and exposed joists, divided into a kitchen and a narrow rear service room, with an open fireplace featuring granite jambs, a chamfered lintel, and a bread oven. The right-hand room of the main block has a back-to-back fireplace with the kitchen fireplace, including granite jambs and a chamfered step-stopped lintel. The left-hand room has a chamfered step-stopped half-beam. A 20th-century fireplace may conceal earlier features; a two-light chamfered mullioned stair window, now internal, also exists. The roof structure includes three jointed cruck side-pegged trusses over the main block, while the wing has straight principal rafters. The apex of the roof was not inspected during the 1987 survey.