West Ford Farmhouse

West Ford Farmhouse

Farmhouse dating from the early 17th century, probably with 16th-century origins, with later 17th-century improvements and mid to late 18th-century modernisation. The building is constructed of plastered stone rubble, possibly with some cob, with stone rubble chimneys topped with 19th and 20th-century brick. The roof is currently covered with corrugated iron, though it was formerly thatched.

The house follows a four-room-and-through-passage plan, facing roughly north-north-west, and is built down a hillslope. The inner room is terraced into the slope at the uphill (western) end and contains an end stack. The hall features a large axial stack that backs onto the passage. Two rooms occupy the service end, with the larger end room having its own end stack. A dairy block projects at right angles from the rear of the hall and inner room, with a stair turret positioned in the angle between the dairy and main block.

The house appears to have been substantially rebuilt through two or three phases during the 17th century, though no structures demonstrably predate this period. The late medieval hall house origins are suspected but unproven. The hall fireplace dates from the early 17th century, and both the hall and inner room feature chambers that jetty into the hall. The hall was floored over in the mid 17th century, likely at the same time the dairy block was added. The entire house was raised and reroofed in the mid or late 17th century. While it is possible the 17th-century house was a Dartmoor longhouse, no concrete evidence exists to confirm this. The service end was refurbished as a parlour end during the 18th century. The house is two storeys throughout.

The exterior shows an irregular five-window front fitted with 20th-century casements; the oldest retain glazing bars whilst the most recent is PVC. The front passage doorway, now containing a 20th-century part-glazed door, is positioned left of centre. The roof is hipped to the left and gable-ended to the right. A doorway in the right end wall opens from the terrace into the first-floor room. The rear fenestration is similar to the front, except for a replacement horned 12-paned sash serving the 18th-century parlour.

The interior contains only 17th-century soffit-chamfered and step-stopped half beams in the passage, which have been reset; the original lower ceiling level is indicated by a redundant joist ledge on the back of the hall fireplace. The hall fireplace is blocked, but its ovolo-moulded oak lintel can be felt within a cupboard there. Evidence exists for both upper and lower end jetties. The hall crossbeams date from the mid 17th century and are moulded with bar-step stops. The upper end crosswall is clad but is reported to be an oak plank-and-muntin screen. The original doorway to the dairy block survives in the rear wall—a plain oak frame containing a plank door with an applied 12-panel front and strap hinges. Both the inner room and dairy have soffit-chamfered and step-stopped crossbeams. The inner room fireplace is blocked. The newel stair is unusual for this part of Devon, rising around a circular timber post. The service end room displays only 18th-century detail. The parlour features a box cornice and a curved back crockery cupboard flanked by Ionic pilasters with a dentil cornice on the entablature; its fireplace is blocked. Several two-fielded panel doors throughout the house are likely of 18th-century date. The roof is inaccessible, but the bases of straight principals suggest 17th or possibly 18th-century A-frame trusses.