Gatehouse And Barn Abutting West End At Bratton Court

The gatehouse and barn at Bratton Court date back to the 15th century, with alterations made in the 19th and 20th centuries. The buildings are partly rendered over red sandstone random rubble and feature a west Somerset slate roof. The gatehouse has a medieval louvred chimney located east of the gateway opening. The layout includes a barn that abuts the west end of the gatehouse range, which consists of a 5-bay original domestic wing, a 2-bay gatehouse, and a 4-bay agricultural building.

The south front of the structure is two storeys high with irregularly placed windows. On the first floor, there is a 15th-century cinquefoil headed lancet window to the left and a similar 2-light window to the left of the stairway opening leading to the gatehouse. The gatehouse has a gable front and features a clock from the demolished Ashley Combe House in Porlock. To the right, there are three loft openings with pigeon hole openings that are also irregularly placed. The ground floor includes an original chamfered peaked doorframe on the left, a small opening on the right, and an inserted square-headed opening to the left of the gatehouse entrance. A flight of 14 stone steps leads up to a square-headed carriageway entrance, which has chamfered joists in the ceiling. There is a stable door on the right, flanked by 20th-century raking buttresses, with an opening beyond.

The north elevation is obscured by farm buildings on the left and is unlit on the right. It features part renewed 16th-century double doors with a Tudor arch head, a wicket gate with contemporary ironwork, and a wooden trefoil headed lancet window.

Inside, the main feature is the gatehouse room, which has three pairs of fine arch-braced jointed crucks with shields below, similar to those found at the Old Manor Guest House in Dunster. There is a chamfered lintel over the fireplace in the east wall, and the east end range has four pairs of collar beam trusses without purlins. The west end has a first-floor 6-light octagonal mullioned window that is unglazed, along with chamfered beams featuring step and run-out stops, some chamfered joists, and five pairs of tenoned jointed cruck trusses. The remains of a plastered floor can also be seen. The barn, which is featureless, may be located on the site of an earlier detached kitchen. The buildings are notable for the survival of early wooden windows and the fine double doors.