Lower Bonehill Farmhouse

WIDECOMBE-IN- BONEHILL SX 77 NW THE-MOOR 2/226 Lower Bonehill Farmhouse -

GV II

House, formerly a longhouse. C16 with additions at the rear. Granite rubble, including some massive blocks at the quoins and base of the walls. Slated roof. Large granite ashlar chimneystack (heating former hall) on centre of ridge; thatch weatherings and unusual tapered cap, its base projecting slightly beyond the face of the stack. Small plain stone stack on left-hand gable. 3-room and through-passage plan originally, the former shippon occupying the room to right of the passage'; hall and inner room are now combined into one. 2 storeys; lean-to additions at rear are single-storeyed. 4-window front; all windows have C20 small-paned wood casements. Open-fronted stone entrance-porch with gabled roof; C20 plank door. To left of the porch the wall has been built forward a little, probably in late C17 or early C18; the left-hand ground-storey window has a flat arch with tall, roughly cut voussoirs. To right of porch is a blocked doorway with a C20 window cut into it. This must have provided separate access to the shippon; there is a matching doorway, also blocked, in the rear wall. 2 large C20 windows have been cut in the lower (west) gable-wall. There is a small blocked window, larger than the usual ventilation slit, in the rear wall of the shippon. Interior has been almost completely gutted, except for the hall stack. This has a granite ashlar back to the passage with chamfered plinth and hollow-moulded cornice. The large rectangular fireplace-opening has monolithic, hollow-moulded granite jambs and lintel; oven with stone-framed opening and shallow shelf in front. The old interior is described (with a plan) in E Mercer, English Vernacular Houses, 1975, p.151. Adjacent to the house are 5 farm buildings, making an important group; these are separately listed.

Listing NGR: SX7251877459