Clifford Barton And Adjoining Barn

Clifford Barton and Adjoining Barn

Farmhouse dating from the 15th century or earlier, with significant remodelling in the late 16th and 17th centuries, and alterations to the front elevation in the 20th century. The building is constructed of stone rubble at first floor level with cob above, whitewashed and rendered, beneath an asbestos slate roof gabled at the left end with end stacks and a stack to the wing.

The house shows complex development across several medieval building phases. The core is a medieval open hall, of which two roof trusses survive. These unusual trusses could date from before the 15th century and originally extended at least one further bay southwards. The house was modified and possibly extended in the later medieval period: a two-bay smoke-blackened roof at the lower end has a roof truss of more conventional type, and a similar smoke-blackened truss spans the inner room. There is evidence for a full-height partition up to the roof apex over the lower end, and there may have been two open hearths.

In the 16th century, the process of ceiling over the open hall began at the higher end, which had jettied into the hall. The inner room was given a fine fireplace to a rear lateral stack (dismantled in the late 20th century) and a newel stair in a rear turret. The hall stack, backing onto the passage, may have been inserted before ceiling over the hall and lower end; access to the first floor chamber over the hall was via a second rear stair turret. The lower end screen of the passage and a fine screen at the inner end of the hall are probably late 16th or 17th century additions. In the 19th century, a wing was built at right angles to the front of the lower end, providing a kitchen and creating an overall L-plan. In the late 20th century, the thatch was replaced and a new roof constructed above the medieval roofs; the fenestration was altered on the front elevation and first floor, and the axial hall stack was dismantled.

The building is two storeys with an asymmetrical three-window front and a 20th century porch to the front door of the passage on the extreme right of the main range. There are three first floor half-dormers and two ground floor windows; the first floor windows are 20th century casements; the two ground floor windows are three-light casements, probably 18th century, with old square leaded panes and some bottle glass. The front right wing has a slate roof and one ground floor three-light casement with six panes per light, and a further entrance into the kitchen.

The interior contains remarkable survival of medieval roofs and 16th and 17th century joinery and other features. The earliest roof trusses, in the centre, are arch-braced jointed crucks joined by a buried double tenon held by pegs with extra face pegs. The trusses have cambered collars and king posts below a saddle with a square set ridge. There are wind braces between the two trusses and curved braces from the foot of the king posts to the ridge. On the south side of the southern truss, which is closed, a mortise in the king post indicates that the same arrangement extended at least another bay to the south; sooted rafters and battens also survive. The roof truss over the lower end, heavily smoke-blackened, is collar rafter with principals mortised at the apex, a straight collar, diagonally-set ridge and threaded purlins. The truss over the inner end appears to be of the same design, though partly obscured.

The late 16th or early 17th century ground floor hall is virtually complete. The open fireplace has chamfered granite jambs and lintel and an ashlar chimney breast with shaft dismantled in the late 20th century. The hall cross beams are deeply chamfered with step stops; one has been truncated when the hall window was enlarged. The oak plank and muntin screen at the inner end of the hall has chamfered muntins stopped off at the level of the hall bench, which still exists and terminates in a fine, rare bench end with an elaborate profile and domed finial. The stair turret doorway is chamfered with a cambered lintel. The inner room has a cross beam with runout stops and a good granite fireplace; a hollow and roll moulding on the lintel continues and dies away on the jambs. The turret has a chamfered doorway with a cambered lintel and a granite newel stair. An oak plank and muntin screen at the lower side of the passage has chamfered muntins. The lower end room has chamfered cross beams with bar stops and a two-light timber mullioned window with chamfered mullions, now internal but formerly on the front wall before the 19th century extension was built.

The barn adjoining the 19th century kitchen addition is probably also 19th century, constructed of stone rubble with a slate roof with a gabled end. The barn has two ground floor entrances, stone steps against the front wall lead to a loft doorway at the left, with a loft window in the centre.

Despite the 20th century alterations, this is a most important medieval house with remarkable interior features. The first medieval roof may be one of the earliest in the county and has similarities of design with the roof of the Rectory at Cheriton Bishop.