Former Longhouse At Beetor Farm Approximately 50 Metres West Of Beetor Farmhouse

Former Longhouse at Beetor Farm

A disused longhouse approximately 50 metres west of Beetor Farmhouse, probably dating to the 16th century with 17th and 18th century alterations and additions. The building is entirely constructed of granite, with the original longhouse built in granite ashlar, while later additions and the rear wall of the shippon are granite rubble. The higher end of the house is now in ruins and roofless; only the shippon and porch retain roofs, the former clad in corrugated iron and the latter retaining its original 17th-century roof.

The original plan consisted of a longhouse with the shippon to the right and the hall and a large inner room to the left. There was no structural division between the passage and shippon originally; the granite partition wall on the lower side of the passage appears to be a later insertion, rising only to loft floor height and covering about two-thirds of the shippon width, leaving a wide entrance. The inner room is unusually large and may have been an original feature or an enlargement of a more conventional space. A 17th-century hall chamber existed, accessed through the chamber above the 17th-century porch. The position of the stairs remains unclear. The stack at the lower end of the hall may be integral to the original structure.

The higher end of the house stands to about first floor level in places, and at the higher left front corner nearly to eaves level. The fine ashlar front wall of the hall continues across the inner room without a joint, suggesting the inner room may be original unless the front wall has been refaced. The inner room's fireplace has chamfered jambs with a lintel composed of two halves decorated with pyramid steps, both now lying nearby. The hall's lower end fireplace features a granite chamfered surround with a mitred lintel.

A large semi-circular stone rubble oven has been inserted into the back of the hall fireplace, projecting into the passage, with a clay oven now holed at the back. The back of the hall fireplace facing the passage is granite ashlar with a chamfered cornice; the stack above is granite rubble, built into a solid partition wall rising to the roof apex. The front and back doorways of the trough passage are rebated for doorframes. The hall-to-passage doorway has drawbar tunnels in its jambs on the hall side. A later doorway at the back of the hall provides access to the outshut.

The outshut, which is roofless but retains walls to about eaves level, contains windows with internal granite-lined splays. Inside stands an old granite trough with a 19th-century pump; the well is apparently situated beneath the hall.

The shippon's front wall is of dressed granite with large ashlar at lower levels, featuring one ventilation slit and a doorway slightly overlapped by a dairy extension on the porch. The gable end wall survives only to loft floor level, constructed of large roughly dressed granite rubble, with a ground floor doorway inserted in the middle; this doorway has a circa 17th or 18th-century pegged frame with slight chamfer. The rear wall is of rough granite rubble with a ventilation slit. The shippon contains low unchamfered cross-beams and a 20th-century roof structure. The partition between passage and shippon creates a 9-foot-wide passage and a wide doorway into the shippon.

The large porch is a 17th-century addition built of granite ashlar on its higher side, with granite rubble on the lower side, creating an asymmetrical gabled front. The porch doorway is to the left and features a chambered arch with granite voussoirs and one chamfered jamb, probably reused. A small window opening sits above the doorway to the right, with a larger ground floor window to the right lighting the small unheated room. This unheated room was enlarged in circa 18th century on the lower side, partly overlapping the 17th-century doorway. The internal partition wall between the porch and this room has a doorway with a granite jamb rebated for a doorframe; only the wooden lintel survives, which is chamfered with mason's mitres. The higher side of the porch has a small window slit.

The chamber above the porch is plastered, and access appears to have been from the chamber above the hall. The original 17th-century porch roof survives intact, featuring one truss at the inner end closed above the collar with wattle and daub infill. The collar is morticed to the principals, the purlins are trenched, the ridge-piece is trenched and diagonally set, and the rafters appear to be intact. To the left of the porch are three large granite slabs said to form a dog-kennel.

Probably 18th-century alterations include a shallow outshut at the rear of the hall across the back of the passage and behind the higher end of the shippon. The shippon has been extended by a long range at the lower end, of which only one bay survives. This surviving bay has a ground floor front doorway, a ventilation slit to the right, and a small opening at ground floor level with a smaller square opening above divided by a granite transom. The storey above is open-fronted, and the gable end wall is partly cob built. There is also a possibly 18th-century extension at the higher end which, like the hall and inner room, is now roofless but has a curious internal plan with a curved wall and two entrances on the higher end, suggesting it may be a farm building.

In circa 1946 the higher end of the house was gutted by fire and abandoned. The porch retains its original 17th-century roof, whilst the shippon with its 20th-century roof remains in use as a farm building.

The ground rises behind the house with the farmyard at lower ground level in front. The ground at the higher left end is significantly higher than the lower right end. According to local tradition, a Saxon settlement existed at Beetor, and Beetor is referred to in the Domesday Book.