Bere Barton

Bere Barton is a large farmhouse that was originally the manor house of the Ferrers family. The building represents a complex sequence of development spanning from the medieval period to the 19th century.

The oldest rear portion possibly dates back to the 14th century. A licence was granted in 1337 to Sir William de Ferrers to castellate the manor house. The house was added to probably in the 16th century, with the main front portion dating from the early to mid-18th century and some 19th-century additions.

The walls are constructed of limestone, granite and slate rubble incorporating some pieces of dressed stone, with a hipped slate roof. There are 2 brick lateral stacks at the side of each front wing and 3 brick axial stacks between the front and rear blocks.

The plan developed in a complex way. The oldest part is at the rear of the left-hand side, consisting at present of one large room. Visible on the first floor of this part, in the front left-hand corner, are the remains of a stone newel stair with a garderobe adjoining it, under which is a shute and underground waste channel. Built onto one side of this room is a probably 16th-century block heated by an axial fireplace, which may originally have been a kitchen. In the early to mid-18th century, a new block was built on the front, probably replacing an earlier structure. This new block consists of a large central entrance and stairhall with a principal heated room on either side and a further small room projecting from the front at each end. In the 19th century, a large dairy wing was added set back at the right-hand end of the house. In the late 20th century, the partition between the two right-hand rooms in the 18th-century block was removed.

The building is 2 storeys. The front displays a symmetrical 1:3:1 bay arrangement. The outer bays project with late 20th-century 12-pane sashes on ground and first floors. Similar windows appear on the inner face of each wing. The central bays have 3 windows on the first floor and 4 on the ground floor. The outer windows on ground and first floor are 20th-century 12-pane sashes; the inner 2 on the ground floor are contemporary narrow 8-pane sashes. The central first-floor window is the only surviving complete 18th-century hornless sash with 24 panes and thick glazing bars. All windows are almost flush with the outside wall and in the original openings. The central doorway has a rectangular fanlight and a late 20th-century 6-fielded panel door. The front of the house has a plinth of re-used chamfered stones. At the right-hand end, set back from the front, is a circa early 19th-century dairy extension with one 3-light late 20th-century casement. Adjoining the left-hand end at the front is a tall rubble garden wall.

At the left-hand gable end, the complex sequence of development is apparent in the clearly marked joints between the various sections. The 18th-century block is to the right. The original section is set back to the left and in front of it is a 2-storey lean-to with a single light chamfered round-headed stone window on the ground floor; it is unclear whether this is re-used or in situ. Where the lean-to joins the original block is a section of slanting wall which marks the stair turret. To its left is a 16th-century single-light square-headed window with double chamfered stone frame, with what appears to be a relieving arch above, cut off by the roof. Below and to the left is a similar more simply moulded stone window frame. There is a diagonal buttress at the left-hand corner.

The irregular rear facade of the original block is distinguishable with a diagonal buttress at each corner and a wide roughly central doorway with a 19th-century stable-type door. To its left is a recessed section with a 6-light 19th-century casement on the ground floor with wooden lintel. Above to the right is a 16th-century blocked single arched light stone window frame with recessed spandrels; 2 later windows are to its left. A 19th-century outshut projects from the left-hand side. Beyond it, in what is the rear of the dairy wing, is a finely moulded late medieval pointed granite arched doorway, probably re-used although this wall may pre-date the dairy.

An outbuilding, possibly a stable or granary, is attached at the left-hand end at the rear of the house, projecting from it. It has a wide doorway on the ground floor at the left-hand side of the front and stone steps leading to the first floor at the left-hand gable end.

The ground-floor rear room of the original section has a high, very heavily beamed ceiling with massive chamfered cross beams and deeply chamfered joists. Visible on the first floor in the corner are the remains of a stone newel stair with a moulded granite newel post. Adjoining it is the former garderobe to which the stone seat partially survives. The adjoining rear ground-floor room has rough cross beams with a large open fireplace, which has a rough timber lintel and stone and brick oven on the right-hand side.

In the 18th-century front block, few original interior features survive, although the right-hand front room is known to have been panelled and there are large panelled doors on the first floor. Circa early 19th-century 6-panelled doors and shutters are present. The staircase has a closed string, simple handrail, square newels with capping and square balusters; it is surprisingly plain for a house of this quality. The dairy preserves its slate floor and shelves.

This house clearly retained its importance in the area from the Middle Ages to the 18th century, with the rear portion representing an unusually early domestic survival in a building of this size. The 18th-century block preserves some interior features and its original plan is clearly defined; it has a basically little-altered facade, of which the 18th-century sash window is an important survival.