Lower Blackaton Farmhouse

This is a 16th or 17th century farmhouse, originally a longhouse. It is located in Widecombe-in-the-Moor. The farmhouse comprises a house with a large shippon (animal shelter) attached at one end, with the shippon later remodelled as living accommodation in the mid-20th century. The building is constructed of granite rubble and has a slate roof. Photographs from 1946 show that the shippon end originally had a much lower roofline. There are brick chimneys on each gable and just behind the ridge, with the two left-hand chimneys having thatch weatherings. The original layout featured a through-passage – a rear entrance which is now blocked – with two rooms on the left side, separated by a staircase. The former shippon had opposing front and back doors, now blocked or converted into windows. The front of the building has six windows, fitted with 20th-century casements with glazing bars. A two-storeyed entrance porch features a chamfered stone doorway and a moulded stone window above, with a hood-mould. Inside, the hall fireplace has hollow-moulded granite jambs and lintel, backing onto the through-passage.