Wychanger

WYCHANGER is part of a former manor house, now converted into semi-detached dwellings. The building likely dates to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, with alterations and new windows added in the early and mid 19th century. It is constructed of random rubble, with roughcast rendering, and has a thatched roof that is hipped to the right side. A large external roughcast stone stack is located in the left gable end, a brick stack is in the centre, and a tall brick stack rises from the eaves on the right return.

The original plan, though unclear without internal inspection, appears to be a 3-4 cell service wing of a farmhouse. The architectural style is Gothick. The two-storey building has a 3-bay facade and a 2-bay return. The thatch is continued as pentice roofs over 2-light, ogee-headed bay windows with circular leading carried on shaped brackets in the second and fourth bays on the left side. Other first-floor windows are 2-light with divided tracery. The ground floor has 2 segmental headed recesses flanking the entrance; the recess on the right is filled with a 4-light French window with divided tracery, while the one on the left has been renewed with a similar 2-light window. A half-glazed door leads to a gabled rustic wooden porch. A 2-light window with divided tracery is located on the first floor of the right return, with a 20th-century window below it.

The interior has not been inspected. William Harrison, who died in 1615 and whose fine brass is in the Church of St Mary the Virgin, owned this property. The history of the manor is discussed in Chadwick-Healey’s “The History of the Part of West Somerset” (1901). Wychanger adjoins the building on the right.