Arscott Farmhouse And Barns Adjoining At West And East

Arscott Farmhouse and barns are a medieval farmhouse remodelled in the 17th century, with 20th-century alterations to the rear. Adjoining barns are situated to the west and east, likely dating from the 18th century. The farmhouse is constructed of stone rubble, with cob on stone rubble footings, and is whitewashed and rendered to the front. The roofs are corrugated iron over thatch, with hipped ends on the barns. A large stone stack provides heating to the inner room of the farmhouse, while a brick axial chimney shaft heats the 17th-century hall.

The original plan was a five-bay medieval open hall house, evident in the smoke-blackened roof spanning the entire length, suggesting low screens originally divided the rooms. The hall was likely ceiled over in the 17th century, with a hall stack inserted behind a through passage and a heated inner room. The lower end was re-roofed in the 18th century and now forms the barn attached to the east. A 19th-century roof covers the main range above the medieval one. A rear wing, used as a farmbuilding before the 1970s when it was converted into living space, creates a T-plan; its original function remains unclear. The barn to the east has opposing doors. The farmhouse is two storeys high, the east barn has a loft, and the west barn is single-storey. The front has an asymmetrical four-window arrangement, with probable 20th-century buttresses. The front door leads into the through passage and is sheltered by a slate canopy. Fenestration is mainly 19th and 20th century, with first-floor windows high under the eaves. The rear wall of the inner room features two first-floor, three-light mullioned windows with timber lintels and some square and diamond-leaded panes. The right-hand (east) window has circa 17th-century timber mullions, and both window openings are probably of 17th-century origin.

The interior reveals smoke-blackened collar rafter roof trusses, retaining original rafters, purlins, and smoke-blackened thatch. Truss II, the second from the east, is larger than the others and features a threaded ridge and threaded purlins. The remaining trusses have trenched purlins, apex notches, and diagonally-set ridges. Principal rafters are mortised at the apex, and collars have curved, notched joints with the principal rafters. The hall fireplace has stone jambs of squared masonry and a replaced lintel, while the inner room fireplace has similar jambs with a roughly-chamfered lintel damaged by fire. A circa 19th-century front passage runs axially between the hall and inner room, with a 19th-century staircase leading off it. The east barn has a steep roof with pegged trusses and straight principal rafters, some without collars. The west barn has pegged collar rafter roof trusses and a rear stone archway with a keystone, although the archway has been rebuilt on the outer face.