Blagdon Farmhouse

Farmhouse of early 17th-century origins, with 18th and 19th-century alterations. The building is constructed of cob on stone rubble footings and stone rubble, partly whitewashed and plastered, with rag slate hanging on the courtyard side. The slate roofs are hipped and gabled at the ends, with six chimney stacks distributed across the ranges: the main east range has two axial stacks, a 19th-century brick chimney shaft to the rear, and a gable end stack to the 19th-century wing; the west range has a massive axial stack and a gable end stack.

The complex plan consists of three ranges arranged around a narrow central courtyard. The south range is shorter, linking the longer east and west ranges. The east range has a crosswing at the north end. The building's evolution reflects significant 17th-century origins: the east range may have originally been the hall range served by a kitchen range to the west, or alternatively the west range (clearly early 17th-century in origin) may have been demoted to kitchen status when the east range was added in the later 17th century. The linking south range may also be 17th-century. The east range was originally single-depth and three rooms wide, with the 17th-century axial stack to the north possibly serving the hall. In the early 18th century, a central rear stair projection and rear single-storey lean-tos added half a room width to the earlier arrangement. In the 19th century, a crosswing was added at the north end and internal partitions were altered. The west range is single-depth and three rooms wide, though its southern end is slightly set back and may be an 18th or 19th-century addition.

The east front has an asymmetrical four-window elevation with a 19th-century half-glazed door with margin glazing to the left and a large 19th-century porch into the left return of the crosswing. The sash windows throughout are predominantly 19th-century, four-pane, with the ground floor window to the right being a paired sash; the first floor window to the right is 20th-century. The right return of the wing features a canted bay window with a lead tent roof and sash windows: one ground floor tripartite sash and two first floor sashes with glazing bars. The west elevation of the west range has a gabled stone porch to the front right, a first floor gabled dormer, and 19th-century fenestration of casement windows with glazing bars and one four-pane sash. The courtyard is paved with pitched stones and completed by a cob wall linking the east and west ranges.

Interior: The east range contains 18th-century joinery and an 18th-century stair with boxed-in balusters. The ground floor room to the rear right has boxed-in cross beams, and 17th-century joists with scratch mouldings are said to exist behind the ceiling plaster. The putative 17th-century hall has a good 19th-century chimney piece, and fragments of 17th and 19th-century panelling exist on the first floor, though probably not in their original positions. The west range preserves a 17th-century ground floor room with a chamfered cross beam with run-out stops and a massive partly blocked fireplace with stone rubble jambs. The right-hand room in the range has a chimney stack abutting the 17th-century stack, a large open fireplace with cloam oven, and a feature that may be a smoking chamber. Roof spaces were not inspected but may be of interest.

Blagdon Farmhouse is an extremely interesting example of an evolved house of 17th-century origins and high status. The interior has been very little altered since the 19th century, and the survival of external slate hanging around the small courtyard is a particularly attractive feature. Historically, the Domesday "Blakedon" formed a sub-manor of Claueton.