Corridge Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating from the 16th century or earlier, it has undergone some alterations to the exterior in the 20th century. The construction is of roughcast cob with a slate roof (previously thatched), and it features three axial brick stacks. Originally a three-room plan with a through passage, the hall stack backs onto the passage, and a heated lower end is situated to the right, with the inner room stack axially rather than at a gable end. While roof access was unavailable during the 1985 survey, evidence suggests it was originally an open medieval hall house, floored over in two phases. The hall stack may have been inserted before the flooring. A rear lean-to and a store room adjoining the lower end are likely later additions. 20th-century alterations are mainly external; the thatch was replaced with slate in the early 20th century, and it appears that newer trusses exist above the original. The house was re-fenestrated in the 1940s. It is two storeys high, featuring an asymmetrical five-window front with a central left-hand doorway leading to the cross passage, and a second doorway on the extreme right accessing the store room adjacent to the lower end. Inside, the hall displays richly moulded cross beams with elaborate stops. The granite ashlar chimney breast of the hall stack is visible in the passage. A 20th-century grate conceals the earlier fireplace in the hall; a blocked newel stair is present adjacent to the stack at the front, potentially providing first-floor access to the lower end before the hall was floored. An oak plank and muntin screen located to the rear of the stack suggests the stack is an insertion, replacing a previous low screen. A chamfered timber doorway with a rounded arch at the rear of the hall leads to the rear lean-to. The inner room contains a blocked fireplace, plastered over cross beams, and evidence of a blocked doorway to a rear external stair, which still exists. The lower end room has a large fireplace and chamfered cross beams with run-out stops. A first-floor room possesses a good 17th-century fireplace with an ovolo-moulded lintel featuring a frieze of decorative carving. A jointed cruck truss survives, with principal rafters visible in the first-floor rooms, suggesting a smoke-blackened medieval roof likely remains. The rafters of the lower end room imply at least two phases of roof construction. The interior is largely unaltered, with several original doors remaining. The interior features and the roof are considered to be of significant interest.