South Harton Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Dating to the late 16th or 17th century, with possible late medieval origins to parts of the outer walls and one roof truss, South Harton Farmhouse has undergone later additions. The construction is of solid, roughcast walls, some of which are stone rubble. It has a thatched roof, with a half-hipped porch roof. Large projecting chimneystacks with offsets and a moulded cap are visible in each gable and in the rear wall, positioned off-centre to the left. The farmhouse originally had a three-room and through-passage plan; all three ground floor rooms appear to have had fireplaces by the 17th century. It is two-storeyed with single-storey additions at the rear. The front facade has five windows, all with 20th-century small-paned wooden casements. The porch doorway is surrounded by a 19th-century rough-faced granite frame. Above the doorway is a cast-iron plaque bearing the Prince of Wales' feathers and motto 'Ich Dien’.

The interior is surprisingly plain, featuring simple chamfered spine beams with run-out stops, and similar wooden lintels over the fireplaces. Some good early 18th-century doors remain. A cantilevered granite staircase is found against the rear wall of the room at the upper end. While most roof timbers are from the 18th or 19th centuries, a single jointed-cruck truss is located at the upper end. This truss has face pegs, a slip tenon, a straight collar with halved dovetail joints onto the blades, slots for a former threaded ridge piece and purlins. The halved collar is typically dated to the late 16th or early 17th century, but the face-pegs suggest medieval origins, and there are possible traces of smoke-blackening.

Historical records, including title deeds starting with the will of John Wills of Harton, yeoman, in 1780 (who is described as a gentleman in 1800), show that the Wills and Arthur families owned the farm throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.

A good set of farm buildings are situated on the north side of the house, included in the listing as part of the curtilage. Four individual items within the farm buildings are separately listed: an L-shaped range on the north-east and north-west sides of the farmyard, including the gatehouse, the rear gateway, and the linhay abutting the south-east end of the range; a detached building and a manure pit in the yard's centre; and another detached building at the south-west end. The gateposts at the east end of the lane are also separately listed.