Higher Middlecott Farmhouse

SX 78 NW CHAGFORD MIDDLECOTT

4/139 Higher Middlecott Farmhouse

19.8.87 GV II

House, former farmhouse. C16 or C17, refurbished in late C19-early C20. Plastered walls, probably granite stone rubble; granite stacks topped with late C19-early C20 brick; thatch roof, slate to extension. Plan: L-shaped house. The main block faces south-west and is built down a slope. It has a 3-room-and-through-passage plan with the inner room terraced into the uphill left (north-western) end. This room has a projecting end stack. The hall has an axial stack backing onto the passage and the service end room has an end stack. Because the ground floor has been modernised in the late C19-early C20 and the roof was not available for inspection at the time of the survey it was impossible to assess the development of the house. The plan suggests that it was originally an open hall house and it is tempting to interpret the house as a former Dartmoor longhouse although the service end room is not as long as the usual shippon. There is a C19 2-room plan service extension projecting at right angles to rear of the hall. Now 2 storeys throughout. Exterior: irregular 4-window front of late C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars, the left (inner room) one gauzed rather than glazed. The front passage doorway is right of centre and contains a late C19-early C20 panelled door (a contemporary door to rear). Immediately to left of it and up is a tiny stair window. Roof is gable- ended. The inner face of the C19 rear block has a 2-window front flanked by plank doors. Only the first floor left window is original; a casement containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. It too is gable-ended and, at the end, there is an external flight of stone stops to a first floor doorway. Interior was only available for external inspection at the time of survey and the ground floor shows only C19 and C20 joinery and plaster. The fireplaces are blocked by fireplaces of that date and the beams are plastered over. The hall has 2 crossbeams. Higher Middlecott has a late medieval plan form but it is not known how much of the early fabric survives.

Listing NGR: SX7153586108