Old Barton

Old Barton is a house, formerly a farmhouse, that likely dates back to the late 17th century. It was extended in the 18th century and partly remodeled in the 19th century. The building is made of colourwashed rendered cob and has a concrete tile roof, which was originally thatched, hipped at the ends of the main range. It features a brick axial stack and two rear stacks. The overall layout is L-shaped with a rear right wing.

The house's development is somewhat unclear, but there is evidence of a three-room and through or cross passage plan, with the lower end on the left and the hall likely heated from a stack on the rear wall. The main range appears to have been extended in the 18th century by a wing next to the inner room, which includes an 18th-century kitchen and a rear service room. In the late 1860s, the roof was raised and slated, a cob chimney was replaced by a brick shaft, and the old leaded-light windows were replaced "in the same form." A rear corridor now connects the principal rooms.

The house has two storeys and an asymmetrical four-window front. There is a six-panel front door located left of centre that leads into the passage, with a second entrance on the right. To the right of the passage door is a 19th-century three-light canted bay window with six panes per light, while the other windows are two- and three-light small pane casements.

The interior has not been fully inspected, but the passage remains, along with some 18th-century joinery and an 18th-century kitchen at the right end, which features a large cross beam and exposed joists. There is also an early 19th-century staircase with stick balusters.

Jonathan Dymond, a poet and essayist born in Exeter, rented Farm Barton in 1827. He was a member of the Society of Friends and was involved in the Peace Society, helping to establish the Auxiliary Peace Society in Exeter in 1825. Illustrations from around 1907 show Old Barton’s front elevation much as it appears today, and it is referred to as Farm Barton on the Ordnance Survey map.