Court Barton Including Farm Buildings To North And Courtyard Wall To West-North-West

Court Barton is a farmhouse, originally reputedly the manor court house, probably dating from the 16th century, possibly with earlier origins, but considerably altered in the 19th century and extended at that time.

The building has rendered cob and rubble walls, with cob walls to the front wing. The roof is gabled and covered with asbestos. There are multiple chimneys: a rendered rubble projecting stack to the right gable end and lateral stack at the rear of the right-hand block; a similar rendered brick stack to the left gable end and an axial stack left of centre; a rendered rubble lateral stack at the rear of the left-hand block; and a rendered brick lateral stack to the side of the wing at the rear of the right-hand block.

The main building is L-shaped in plan. The right-hand block was reputedly the Court house, which presumably would have been one large room, although this may well have been on the first floor. At present it contains two heated rooms with a passage in between, the left-hand room having a rear lateral stack and the right-hand room having a gable stack. Beyond the left-hand room is another heated room. A thick wall divides the two main blocks. A wing was added at the rear of the right-hand side circa mid-19th century with a lateral stack. The left-hand wing was probably added in the 17th century and has been considerably altered, but originally probably consisted of three rooms, the right-hand one heated by a rear lateral stack; the left-hand room is now used as an outbuilding.

The building is two storeys high with an L-shaped asymmetrical front. The right-hand block is roughly regular with a central late 19th or early 20th century gabled porch with a plank door. Either side on the ground floor is a 5-light 16th century granite mullion window with depressed arched lights, moulded mullions and a hoodmould above. Three first floor windows are 3-light casements with leaded panes, arched at the top; the two right-hand ones are circa early 20th century and the left-hand one is a late 20th century facsimile. On the right-hand gable end at ground floor, to the right of the projecting stack, is a 2-light 16th century granite mullion window with depressed arched lights. The mid-19th century wing at the rear of the right-hand block is a later addition.

The left-hand block has an asymmetrical three-window front of 3-light early 20th century casements on the first floor with leaded panes. On the ground floor to the right is a late 20th century facsimile. Approximately one-third of the way along from the right, the wall projects, and a little further to the left it becomes slightly recessed, possibly marking the position of a former chimney stack. In this projection on the ground floor is a 19th century plank door. To its left are two windows with a door in between them; the right-hand window is blocked and the left-hand one is a 2-light without glass, with a 19th century plank door.

Few pre-19th century interior features are visible, but some are likely to be concealed. The left-hand room of the right-hand block has boxed-in cross beams, and there is likely to be an early large open fireplace behind the present one. The right-hand room of the left-hand block has two roughly chamfered cross beams, stops indiscernible. The roof of this block has circa late 19th century king post trusses with angled struts.

An L-shaped rubble 19th century outbuilding is attached at the end of the left-hand block, forming three sides of a courtyard. The left-hand section of the outbuildings was originally the stables and has a regular two-window facade of 3-light windows with arched lights and recessed spandrels, with a central 19th century plank door. All openings have brick segmental lintels. Between the two first floor windows are three rows of brick pigeon holes. Between the stables and the house is a cobbled courtyard.

Forming the fourth side of this courtyard is a rubble wall with a roughly central 16th century moulded granite 4-centred archway with projecting flanking walls supporting a gabled slate roof.

The interest of this building lies not only in its architectural features, of which there are relatively few, although more are probably concealed, but also in its historical associations as the Court house, an important building in the area, and in its grouping with the church.