Upcott Barton

Upcott Barton is a derelict farmhouse, likely originating in the late medieval or 16th century, with alterations in the 17th century and a late 17th-century addition. The construction is primarily of rubble walls, with some cob to the rear right-hand end. It has a gable-ended slate roof, and three brick stacks – one axial, one at the right gable end, and one rear lateral.

The original layout is unclear due to the ruinous condition of the left end and a complex structural history. The original plan was T-shaped, with a collapsed cross wing at the left end. A high-quality medieval roof truss survives over this wing, trimmed at the collar to accommodate a 19th-century roof, suggesting it may have been a great chamber or the original hall. The main range has been substantially rebuilt and remodelled in the late 17th century. A large room, heated by a rear lateral stack, is located between the end ranges, with a passage to its left. The roof structure above this room dates to the 19th century. A likely interpretation is that the ruined range was a great chamber, with the hall to its right and a passage between them, and that the late 17th century block represents a rebuilding of an inner room, including a staircase. This end was probably further altered in the 19th century.

The exterior is two storeys, excluding the ruinous wing. The fenestration is largely 19th century, with the exception of the projecting rear face of the right-hand end, which features three late 17th-century wooden mullioned and transomed windows – one on the first floor to the left and two below.

Inside the ruinous wing, a surviving arch-braced roof truss has an ovolo and roll-moulded soffit, cut off to accommodate the 19th-century roof above. On the ground floor, a small fireplace is present with a chamfered wooden lintel featuring straight-cut stops, and a surviving chamfered cross-beam. The central room has a good 17th-century lateral fireplace with a hollow-chamfered granite lintel and jamb to the right. A 19th-century staircase is located to the right of the fireplace, though it may be in the position of an earlier one. The right-hand range contains a late 17th-century bolection moulded chimneypiece on the first floor. The ground floor fireplace has a curved slate back in a herringbone pattern, moulded granite jambs, and a likely replacement plain wooden lintel. The roof structure above this range is of hardwood, with lapped and pegged collars, likely dating from the late 17th-century rebuilding.