Fernworthy

House, formerly farmhouse, dating from the 15th century with 17th-century alterations. The building was modernised and partially rebuilt in the late 20th century. It is constructed mainly of local rubble stone, though the left-hand gable end and part of the front wall have been rebuilt in concrete blocks. The roof is thatched, hipped at the left-hand end and gabled at the right, with an axial brick stack.

The building's plan reveals a complex pattern of development, and its original form is not entirely clear. It now comprises a long lower end to the left, separated by a through passage from the hall, with an outshut at the rear of the lower end. The hall appears to be a fragment of a larger, high-quality medieval hall house that was originally longer than its current form. Its stack may pre-date the ceiling inserted in the early to mid 17th century, when a newel stair was added in a rear projection. The lower end is probably an addition but lacks dateable features; substantial rebuilding makes its date uncertain, though it was likely originally a shippon. The demolition date of the higher end is also unclear. An outshut was added to the rear of the lower end in the 19th century, and in the 20th century the lower end was partially rebuilt and converted to domestic accommodation.

The original form of the house cannot be fully determined, but the only apparent surviving high-quality structure is a two-bay hall. At its lower end, the roof truss form and the fact that the original roof structure terminates in a solid wall suggest the house ended here. At the higher end, the structure resembles a spere-truss, suggesting only a light partition existed and the house extended further, possibly in a cross-wing. The solid wall enclosing this truss is likely a later insertion. Evidence of a doorway in this wall, positioned unusually for an external door in an early Devon house, corroborates this theory and suggests it pre-dates the demolition of the higher end.

The exterior is two storeys with an asymmetrical four-window front featuring small-paned casements of circa early 20th-century date; the left-hand windows on each floor are late 20th century. A doorway to the passage at centre has double 20th-century plank doors, with both doorway and adjacent window having segmental stone arches above. To the left of the door is a 19th-century lean-to outbuilding, beyond which the concrete block rebuild begins. A 19th-century lean-to stands at the rear centre. Towards the left end is a small rectangular stair projection, which has been cut away beneath its left side to accommodate a window at the rear of the hall. The right-hand gable wall shows signs of a blocked stone arched doorway in its stonework.

The interior contains an exceptionally interesting original roof structure extending over two bays from the lower side of the passage to the higher end of the hall. The main hall truss is a true cruck with one scarfed joint to the front blade between the collar and ridge. The ridge is diagonal with a triangular strengthening block below it. The purlins are diagonal and represent a hybrid of clasped and butt purlins, butting into a mortice formed between the inner face of the principal rafter and the collar. The morticed collar is arch-braced with a raised crank at its centre. Both collar and arch braces are chamfered, as are the principals. One set of curved and chamfered windbraces either side of the truss below the purlin clasps the purlins in a birdmouth joint. The lower end truss appears to be a base cruck with no structure above; the collar runs straight across with arch braces, but unusually features a small strut rising from the collar to clasp the purlin (removed at the front). The whole truss is built into a solid wall with no evidence of the roof continuing beyond it. This truss appears to have served mainly decorative purposes.

The roof structure at the higher end of the hall is equally noteworthy, closely resembling a spere-truss form, which is unusual in Devon. It consists of two vertical posts extending to ground level and connected at the top by a straight collar. Butted into the post-and-collar joint on each side are the purlins and a curved strut corresponding to the windbrace on the hall truss side, clasping the purlin with the same joint and rising from partway down the vertical post. A king post rises from the collar to support the ridge, with evidence suggesting a strut may have connected this to the ridge. Between this structure and the main hall truss lies a chamfered and cranked collar with light superstructure above. The entire roof structure is smoke-blackened and of heavy scantling. Beyond the wall on the lower side of the passage, the roof structure over the lower end is probably 19th century, consisting of rough, insubstantial principal rafters with lapped and pegged collars.

The hall contains three cross beams chamfered with bar and hollow step stops. The fireplace has roughly chamfered granite jambs and a chamfered wooden lintel with worn straight cut or step stops, and features a cloam oven to the right-hand side. Wooden winder stairs survive at the rear of the hall.

The significance of this house lies in its early and very unusual roof structure, which is particularly unexpected in such a relatively modest dwelling. Various factors suggest the house was originally both larger and more important. The late 16th and early 17th-century alterations are also of interest for the evidence they provide regarding the later development of a house whose original form remains unclear.