Sparks

This is a house with origins dating back to the late medieval period, undergoing significant remodelling in the 17th century and further rebuilding and extension in the early 19th century. The construction is primarily stone rubble, with the main section rendered, and features a slate roof with gables at the left end and a hip at the right end. A gabled wing is also present. A tall, tapering stack of stone rubble is located on the front, with an end stack to the cross wing.

The house began as a late medieval open hall house, originally comprising an inner room to the left and a two-bay hall to the right, with an open hearth fire providing heating in the hall. Roof timbers show evidence of smoke-blackening above the hall, but notably not in the inner room, suggesting the latter was originally two storeys. The lower end of the house, and likely the medieval cross passage entrance, was rebuilt in the early 19th century as a cross wing. The hall was floored, and a front lateral stack was added in the early 17th century, with a single-storey hall bay, adjacent to the stack, probably added at the same time. The inner room has been repartitioned to include a staircase adjacent to the hall/inner room division, and the house is now entered to the left of centre into the former inner room.

The front of the house, which faces the road, presents an asymmetrical facade with three windows. A 20th-century front door is located to the left of centre, leading into the former inner room. The hall bay to the right of the lateral stack has a sloping roof. The windows are a mix of 19th and 20th-century timber casements, some with small panes. A timber sash window is situated on the right return of the cross wing, facing the road.

Inside, 17th-century carpentry includes moulded stopped cross beams to the hall, with elaborate fern motif carving on the stops. These mouldings do not extend into the hall bay. There is an open fireplace with stone rubble jambs and an ovolo-moulded lintel, and a hearth window, possibly a converted bread oven. The framed partition between the hall and inner room does not align with the main roof truss. The inner room retains an amouided half-beam, possibly a reused element, and has tile flooring. The 19th-century cross wing has a 20th-century ceiling.

One late medieval roof truss survives intact, featuring curved feet and sooted rafters, threaded purlins, and a diagonally-set ridge on the hall side. A new roof has been constructed above the original. The house is situated in Yarnscombe village and exemplifies a traditional dwelling of medieval origins.