North Breazle Farmhouse

The farmhouse dates to around 1500, with alterations in the 17th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of rendered cob walls with a gable ended slate roof. There are projecting rubble stacks at the left gable end, a rendered rubble stack at the right gable end, and a projecting rubble lateral stack at the right side of the hall bay with a rendered brick shaft. The original layout comprised three rooms and a through-passage. The lower and inner rooms have solid wall partitions; the partition in the lower room reaches head height, while the one in the inner room is full height. Originally, there was a central hearth open to the roof, particularly over the hall. This was ceiled in the early to mid 17th century, when a large, projecting hall bay was added, laterally to the right-hand wall of the hall. Gable end stacks were inserted into both the inner and lower rooms during the 17th century, and a newel staircase was built at the rear of the inner room. In the 20th century, the rear door of the passage was blocked and a staircase inserted there. The fireplace in the lower room was removed and replaced with a door.

The front elevation is asymmetrical with a large, projecting, two-storey gabled hall bay at the centre. Most windows are 19th century casements, although the first floor windows on the left and right are 20th century, featuring 2 and 4 lights respectively. Ground floor windows to the left and centre are 4-light, with a 3-light window to the right. The central first floor window has 2 lights. All windows have H-L hinges. To the right of the centre is a 19th century panelled and glazed door leading to the front of the passage, beneath a 20th century lean-to slate roofed porch. The rear elevation has a semi-circular projection for the newel stairs on the right-hand side.

Inside, a smoke-blackened truss with arch-braced rafters and ridge, featuring curved feet, survives over the lower end of the hall. It incorporates a morticed cambered collar and threaded purlins, with a morticed apex and diagonal ridge. A morticed cambered collar is visible in the inner room truss on the first floor, likely contemporary with the lower hall truss. Softwood trusses, likely 18th or 19th century, are above the lower end. The doorway to the hall from the passage has a shouldered cranked head, although it is encased on the front. The hall fireplace has a chamfered wooden lintel with ogee stops and chamfered granite jambs. The lower room has chamfered longitudinal beams with hollow step stops; one beam has a stop that curiously finishes further in on one side than the other. A particularly interesting feature of the house is the large hall bay with its integral stack, an unusual arrangement. The hall is relatively narrow from side to side, meaning space for a conventional fireplace stack would have been limited when the hall was floored. The solution was to expand the hall with a large bay to accommodate the fireplace.