Higher Eastcott Farmhouse

Higher Eastcott Farmhouse is a farmhouse that likely dates back to the early 16th century, with modifications made in the 17th century and modernizations in the 20th century. It features plastered cob walls and a hipped thatch roof. The building has a partly projecting plastered rubble front lateral stack with a drip course and a brick shaft, along with a brick stack at the right-hand end.

The original plan of the farmhouse appears to be that of a longhouse or a derivative of one, with a shippon at the lower right-hand end, a through-passage, a hall, and an inner room to its left. Evidence from the roof timbers suggests that the hall may have originally been open to the roof with a central hearth. However, solid walls separate the hall from the inner room and the lower end, indicating it was not open from end to end. In the early 17th century, the front lateral stack was added to the hall, likely at the same time the ceiling was installed. The shippon was converted to domestic use in the 18th or 19th century, and a stack was added to its end wall. The farmhouse was modernized in the late 20th century when stairs were added to the passage.

The exterior is two storeys high with an asymmetrical three-window front featuring early 20th-century two and three-light casements. There is a gabled porch from the early 20th century to the right of the centre, adorned with decorative ridge tiles and a finial on the slate roof, and a 20th-century plank door. The rear elevation has few openings, with a passage doorway to the left of centre that has a chamfered wooden lintel above; the doorframe is obscured but may also date to the 17th century. Behind the inner room, the wall projects, possibly indicating a former staircase.

Inside, the hall contains an open fireplace with a high chamfered wooden lintel. The lower room has blocked ventilation slits in its walls, indicating its previous use as a shippon, and features a later fireplace with a plain wooden lintel. Although access to the roof was limited, the trusses appeared to be of simple construction with morticed apex and lapped or halved collars. The timbers were darkened, suggesting smoke-blackening and indicating a late medieval date. This farmhouse is an unusual example of a longhouse located some distance from the moor.