Ley Farmhouse

WIDECOMBE-IN- SX 77 NW THE-MOOR 2/182 Ley Farmhouse -

• II*

Longhouse. C16 or earlier; the house part rebuilt in late C17 or early C18. Granite rubble. House part thatched; shippon, which has a lower roof-line, part- slated, part-covered with corrugated iron. Large stone chimneystack (heating former hall) on right-hand gable of house part; plain, projecting course of stones just below the top, forming a cap. 3-room and through-passage plan with hall and inner room to left, shippon to right. The shippon is unusual for Dartmoor in not having a stone wall dividing it from the passage, but simply a rough stud partition boarded on the passage side; there is a separate external door to the shippon, but this may be a C19 insertion. 2 storeys; shippon with loft originally, of which part remains. Single-storey addition at right-hand end. House part is 2 windows wide, all windows having 2-light C19 wood casements with 3 panes per light. Small doorway at left- hand end of ground storey. Both this and the 2 ground-storey windows have projecting granite lintels, chamfered on top to throw off rainwater. Stone entrance-porch with slated pent roof abutting junction of house and shippon; stone seat in left side. Front wall of shippon is set back a little. The door directly into shippon, immediately right of porch, has a re-used granite gatepost for a lintel. Above porch is a loading doorway with plank door having old wrought-iron strap-hinges. At right angles to the right-hand end of shippon is a stone building, possibly a pigsty, with pent roof covered with corrugated iron. There have never been ventilation slits on this side of the shippon, but there are 2 in the rear wall and 3 in the gable wall. The lower part of the rear wall projects at a different angle from the rest of the building, suggesting that the shippon has been partly rebuilt and also heightened. Loft door with old wrought-iron strap hinges at left- hand end. Interior: former hall has fireplace, possibly of C16, with hollow-moulded granite jambs and lintel; blocked oven at left side having a shallow granite shelf in front. Rounded recess to left of fireplace may have contained a staircase; it is lit by a small window in rear wall. Chamfered upper floor beams without stops. Roof has simple trusses with collars pegged to the faces of the principal rafters; no common rafters, just heavy thatching spars. The back of hall fireplace towards passage is without architectural features. Shippon has well-made central drain of granite blocks; on each side is a line of stone defining a feeding trough, these having holes on top for tethering posts. Plain, heavy loft beams. C20 roof timbers.

Listing NGR: SX7231279389