Southwood Farmhouse

Southwood Farmhouse is a farmhouse with late medieval origins, remodelled and extended in the 17th century, with a datestone of 1742 on the front. The rear lean-to probably dates to the 19th century, and a 20th-century conservatory has been added.

The building is constructed of rendered cob on stone rubble footings, with a thatched roof half-hipped at the left end and gabled at the right end. The rear wing is half-hipped at its end. There is a projecting right-end stack and an axial stack, both with rendered shafts.

The plan follows a traditional 2 room and through passage arrangement, with a rear right wing forming an overall L-shape. The house originally functioned as an open hall, with the apex of the roof said to be sooted from end to end. When the house was floored, probably in the late 16th or 17th century, the hall stack was added behind the passage, creating a hall/kitchen at the higher end and a parlour at the lower end. The rear right wing, likely added at the same period, provided two ground floor service rooms with accommodation above. The rear lean-to, now a kitchen, was probably a 19th-century dairy addition with a corrugated iron roof.

The 2-storey front is asymmetrical with 3 windows. The eaves thatch is gabled over three first-floor late 18th or 19th-century 2-light casements with glazing bars, and four similar ground-floor windows. A good quality probably 17th-century chamfered square-headed oak doorframe leads to the front door to the passage, positioned right of centre. The front door itself is a 19th-century plank door. Above it is a nowy-headed plaster frame bearing the date 1742 with initials GB. The rear wing features a first-floor 3-light 17th-century timber mullioned window in the end wall, with chamfered mullions on the inside, and a smaller 2-light timber mullioned window on the inner return wall of the wing's first floor.

The interior contains good survival of 16th and 17th-century carpentry and other features. A late medieval rear oak doorframe to the through passage has a shouldered arch, chamfered jambs and lintel, and a massive plank and stud door. The ashlar granite of the rear of the hall/kitchen stack is exposed in the passage, featuring a granite cornice. A short section of plank and muntin screen forms the remainder of the hall/cross passage partition. The partition to the lower end room is incomplete but retains chamfered muntins with pyramid stops on the passage side. The hall features chamfered stopped crossbeams and an open fireplace with granite monolith jambs, a chamfered lintel, and a bread oven. A straight stair rises against the rear wall of the hall. The lower end room has an open fireplace with rounded jambs and a timber lintel, a chamfered stopped crossbeam, and chamfered stopped joists. The first floor retains some early plaster, a square-leaded doorframe, and a 17th-century plank door.

At the time of survey in 1987, the roof apex was not accessible. However, side pegged jointed crucks with cambered collars mortised into the principals are visible on the first floor. Sooted thatch was discovered from end to end of the main block when the house was re-thatched and some rafters to the front of the ridge were replaced, according to information from the owner. The rear wing appears to have trusses with straight principal rafters.

The farmhouse has group value with three 17th-century farmbuildings.