West Down Farmhouse

Farmhouse, dating from the 17th century or possibly earlier, with a 20th-century addition. The farmhouse is constructed of cob on stone rubble footings, whitewashed and rendered to the front, and has a thatched roof, half-hipped at the left end and gabled at the right end, with sections of the ridge replaced with corrugated asbestos. It is a single-depth L-shaped house. The possibility of late medieval origins is suggested by a chamfered jointed cruck truss in the centre of the main two-room range, although due to lack of roof access, the building’s evolution remains unclear. The main range has a two-room plan, with a higher unheated inner room to the right and a hall with an axial stack backing onto the passage at the left end. There is no lower room to the left of the passage, and it is possible that one never existed due to the sloping ground. The rear wing may be a later addition or a service wing. A rounded stair turret is located in the angle between the rear wing and the rear right wall of the main range. A single-storey kitchen has been added in the angle between the rear wing and the rear left wall of the main range in the 20th century. The front facade is asymmetrical with a three-window arrangement and regular fenestration. A 20th-century half-glazed gabled porch and a half-glazed front door lead into the passage on the extreme left. There are 20th-century 2- and 3-light casements with small panes at the top of each light. A bee-bole is located on the front at the right. A small blocked stair light is present to the stair turret. Internally, the principals of a jointed cruck truss are visible on the first floor, with chamfering below the joint. The hall has a 20th-century grate, likely concealing an earlier fireplace, and a chamfered cross beam with ogee stops. A 17th-century doorway with a cambered lintel leads to a former stair. A doorway in the partition wall between the hall and passage has a timber lintel, which may be a fragment of a former screen. The inner room has a chamfered cross beam with step stops. A late 19th/early 20th-century stair has been inserted into the hall at the inner end. There was no access to the roofspace at the time of the 1985 survey, but the house contains 17th-century interior features, suggesting the possibility of an earlier roof structure.