Westacott Barton

Westacott Barton is a farmhouse that likely has late medieval origins, although it exhibits no features earlier than the 17th century. It was probably extended in the late 17th century or early 18th century, with additional modifications made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The building has rendered cob walls and a gable-ended thatch roof, with brick stacks at either end and a rendered rubble rear lateral stack featuring a brick shaft.

The current layout consists of a four-room plan, but it is believed to have originally been a three-room-and-through-passage plan. The left-hand room, which was formerly used for storing cider, was likely added in the late 17th or early 18th century, making the position of the passage unclear. The hall is heated by a lateral stack at the back, while the inner and lower rooms are heated by gable end stacks. A 19th-century outshut has been added at the rear, which is now the entrance front, along with a small 20th-century wing adjoining at the center.

The exterior of the farmhouse is two storeys high, featuring an asymmetrical five-window front with mid-20th-century three-light casements that lack glazing bars, except for a 19th-century window with an arched head located on the first floor to the right of center. A 20th-century conservatory or porch is situated at the center, with a glazed door. The rear elevation, which serves as the entrance front to the farmyard, includes a 19th-century outshut on the right and a small 20th-century wing with a hipped roof at the center.

Inside, the right-hand end room contains an open fireplace with a roughly chamfered wooden lintel and a rough axial ceiling beam. The insubstantial feet of straight principals are visible on the first floor, resting on the wall plates. Although the roof space was inaccessible during the survey and no evidence of early timbers was visible on the first floor, it is possible that earlier timbers remain in the roof space. Other early features may have been concealed due to modernizations that occurred in the mid-20th century.