West Ilkerton Farmhouse And Attached Wall

Farmhouse. Dating from the early 17th century, the farmhouse has undergone significant reconstruction and extension in the 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed of rubble or rendered rubble, with a slate roof and stone stacks. Originally a three-room cross-passage plan, the farmhouse was formerly attached to a byre on its north-east side. This byre is now incorporated into the domestic living space, with a 20th-century addition at the outer end.

The exterior has two storeys and a 3+3-window front. The windows are mostly 2 or 3-light casements from the 19th century. The first floor has small casements set into the eaves on the left side, above a prominent gable. A wide 2- and 3-light window sits beneath this gable, with a further 3-light window in a small half-dormer gable to the far right. The ground floor includes a 2-light and single-light window on the left, and two 2-light and a 3-light window on the right. A gabled porch with a pointed archway is positioned between the different sections of the house, with a square rubble stack to the right of the cross passage, opposite the porch, and another to the right gable. The gable end facing the lane is part of a 20th-century extension, and there is a lean-to along the rear wall.

Inside, the main parlour is located to the right, featuring a low compartmental ceiling with early 17th century beams and rafters with pyramid-stopped chamfers. The fireplace, backing onto the passage, has a replaced bressumer. A door in the far left corner and a full-width, panelled early 17th century bench are also present. The roof appears to have been replaced in the 19th century.

Attached to the outer gable is a rubble wall, approximately 2.1 metres high and extending roughly 8 metres across the yard, terminating in a plain stepped end. The yard is mainly cobbled. A nearby range of buildings, converted for domestic use, lies to the south. Despite later alterations in the 19th century, the farmhouse retains important elements of its early fabric. Its original cross-passage plan suggests it began as a longhouse dwelling, a type found on the fringes of Exmoor.