Farlacombe Farmhouse

Farlacombe Farmhouse is a late 16th or 17th century farmhouse, with later additions at the rear. It is constructed of roughcast stone and cob, with asbestos-slated roofs, hipped at the right-hand end and at the back of the rear wing. The exterior features three large, projecting chimneystacks: two on the front wall, centrally and at the right-hand end, and one on the rear wall at the left-hand end. The right-hand front stack has offsets, and the central stack has an added shaft on top. The rear stack has a cap formed by a projecting course of slates just below the top, with a short added slate shaft and an additional brick shaft on one side.

The farmhouse originally had a three-room and through-passage plan, with all three rooms likely having fireplaces by the 17th century, including the large room at the upper end. The rooms are separated by thick, solid walls rising to at least upper-storey level. A stair turret is located behind the centre room, formerly the hall. A two-storeyed rear wing extends from the lower end, and a single-storey lean-to connects this wing to the stair turret, situated behind the hall.

The front elevation has three windows, although the upper-storey room on the left-hand side lacks a front window. Most of the windows are 19th-century wood casements with glazing-bars, featuring old glass. Ground-storey windows have eight panes per light, except for a four-paned single-light window to the right of the central stack. Upper-storey windows have four panes per light. The main doorway, positioned between the two front stacks, has a 19th century gabled brick porch, sheltering a six-panelled front door, with the lower four panels flush and the upper two glazed, and a cast-iron knocker. A secondary doorway, to the right of the left-hand window, has a plank door with wrought-iron strap hinges; a small window has been cut into it. Both this doorway and the window to its left have a 20th-century glazed porch built out in front. In the right-hand gable, to the left of each storey, are 19th-century triple sash wood windows, each with the centre light replaced by a single, top-hinged sash.

Inside, the left-hand ground-storey room has heavy, chamfered joists running front to back, and a large fireplace with a chamfered wood lintel in the rear wall. The centre ground-storey room (the former hall) is said to have had a large open fireplace in the front wall, now blocked in and containing a small 20th-century fireplace. A doorway accesses the stair-turret from the rear wall, featuring chamfered wood jambs with run-out stops, an original plank door with scratch mouldings, and wrought-iron strap-hinges with fleurs-de-lis terminals. The winding newel stair is rounded inside but rectangular externally, with an old wood newel post, thick wood treads, and cement-rendered risers, which may conceal stone. Roof-trusses have plain feet rising directly from the wall-tops and the roof space has not been inspected. There are several good 19th-century plank doors throughout the house.