Brendon Barton

Brendon Barton is a farmhouse, dating from the early to mid-17th century, and likely representing a remodelling of an earlier structure. A late 19th-century cross wing was added to the south-west, along with lean-to additions which are also probably from the 19th century. The main part of the house is constructed of pebble-dashed coursed rubble stone, with slate hanging to the 19th-century wing. Rendered stacks with weatherings are present, alongside brick stacks to the 19th-century wing. The roof is covered in slate, with a hipped roof over the upper end wing.

The original plan consisted of a 3-room-and-through-passage layout, facing north-west, with a former service area to the right and an inner room with a later front parlour wing to the left. A kitchen and dairy were situated in these rooms at the time of the 1987 survey. There is a possibility the site was formerly a medieval open hall, which was floored in the 19th century, though no definitive evidence was found. An axial stack is located at the lower end of the hall, with an external lateral stack behind the lower room. The parlour wing (then a dairy) was added to the front in the early to mid-17th century. A staircase was inserted into the through passage, presumably in the late 19th century, evident by the blocked rear through-passage doorway. A late 19th-century cross wing was added to the service end, featuring integral end stacks.

The front of the house is asymmetrical, with a four-window facade to the north-west. Most windows are 19th-century timber casements, with a 20th-century metal casement on the first floor of the left-hand wing. Weatherings are above the right-hand ground floor window. A central, late 19th-century boarded door has four glazed lights at the top and a pegged frame. Wide, battered buttresses are to the right of the right-hand ground floor window, and a narrower battered buttress to the right of the left-hand cross wing. A lean-to is situated in the angle of the left-hand cross wing, incorporating an open-fronted shed to the left and a probable kennel to the right, featuring a boarded door. The 19th-century cross wing projects to the right, with a small first-floor window. Its south-west front has three bays, with margin-light sashes and a central half-glazed door. The gable-end of the main range has a central boarded door and a battered buttress to its right. A short lean-to outshut is in the angle of the wing at the rear, with a blocked through-passage doorway visible inside. A half-glazed door has been inserted in the rear of the hall, with a porch.

Inside, chamfered cross beams are present in the hall and inner room, along with a chamfered beam between the inner room and the front parlour wing. A stone fireplace, dating to around 1900 and originally from Coombe House, Porlock, was brought into the hall in the mid to late 20th century, accompanied by a late 19th-century overmantel featuring key and scrolled brackets. The hall is lined with 19th-century matchboarding. Slate shelves are found in the dairy (former parlour wing). The first-floor rooms and roof of the 19th-century cross wing were not inspected during the 1987 survey.