Former Farmhouse Adjoining West Yarde Farmhouse To The South East

Former Farmhouse adjoining West Yarde Farmhouse to the South East, North Molton

This is a former farmhouse, now used as an outbuilding partly converted to garages. The building probably dates from the early 17th century, with probable 18th-century alterations and additions, and further late 20th-century modifications. It is constructed of coursed stone rubble, much of which replaced earlier 17th-century cob (a small area of original cob survives on the front elevation). The roof is gable-ended with corrugated iron covering, and the chimneys are truncated stone stacks. The building is two storeys high and built into a bank at the left-hand end, with ground falling away to the right.

The building probably originated as a 17th-century two-room plan with integral end stacks, facing south. A one-roomed addition (latterly used as a dairy) was probably added to the left in the 18th century with an entrance to the front. A lean-to porch and outbuilding to the front appear to be a late 18th or 19th-century addition, indicated by a probable straight joint to the front. Significant rebuilding of the outer walls occurred, probably in the 18th century, replacing former cob—straight joints visible on the right-hand gable end and rear show where later stonework abuts the former stone stack. The eaves were raised at some point, probably in the later 18th or 19th century. In the 20th century, the two right-hand ground-floor rooms were converted to garaging with large doors inserted in the front wall. The roof was replaced and the stacks truncated in the late 20th century.

The front elevation features two first-floor 19th-century two-light small-paned wooden casements with wooden lintels. The ground floor has a 19th-century two-light small-paned wooden casement to the left with a wooden lintel and a small 19th-century four-paned wooden casement to the far right with a wooden lintel, possibly replacing a former doorway (flanking straight joints are visible). There is a 19th-century boarded door off-centre to the left with a 19th-century pegged beaded wooden frame and wooden lintel. A lean-to porch with an open front contains stone benches and 2 steps leading up; it incorporates a small lean-to outbuilding to the right with boarded doors in the right-hand return. Two sets of 20th-century garage doors are positioned off-centre to the right with a steel lintel, a steel door to the left, and a pair of boarded doors to the right.

The right-hand gable end displays a straight joint to the centre, with the right-hand side being a former end stack and the left-hand side a later rebuilding. A projecting semi-circular bread oven projects from the right with a slate roof and a blocked doorway to the left (straight joints and internal wooden lintel and jambs are visible). The left-hand gable end, built into the bank, has a first-floor 19th-century boarded door with a wooden lintel, approached by 2 stone steps. An end stack projects slightly at the rear of the right-hand end with straight joints, probably evidence of a rebuilt former cob rear wall. A blocked small window appears at the rear of the left-hand end (straight joints visible).

The interior retains significant 17th-century features. The right-hand ground-floor room has a 17th-century deep-chamfered spine beam with stepped runout stops and a 17th-century deep-chamfered rear half beam (a reused beam now spans the 20th-century garage doors). A 17th-century open fireplace to the right has dressed-stone jambs and a cambered chamfered wooden lintel with straight-cut stops returning to the jambs. A small probable former fire window is visible in the rear wall. The central ground-floor room contains two 17th-century deep-chamfered cross beams and a wall half-beam to the left, all with straight-cut stops. The ceiling frame retains old joists. A blocked 17th-century fireplace to the left has dressed-stone jambs and a cambered chamfered wooden lintel with runout stops. The left-hand ground-floor room, formerly a dairy, retains the remains of low slate shelves and a drain in the stone floor. A doorway to the rear formerly led to external stairs. A doorway in the front of the stack between the left-hand and central rooms is blocked with 20th-century blockwork but retains a wooden frame on its left-hand side. The roof is 20th-century.

The house was replaced by a new farmhouse around 1900 (not included on the heritage register) adjoining to the north-west. The old house was used as a Youth Hostel in the first half of the 20th century.