The Annexe Town Farm Cottages

The Annexe Town Farm Cottages is a Grade II listed farmhouse located in Countisbury, dating from the early to mid-17th century, with possible earlier elements, an 18th-century addition, and likely mid-19th-century remodelling and extension. The building is constructed of rendered coursed stone rubble, with areas of painted rubble where the render has been removed, and features a gable-ended Welsh slate roof.

The layout suggests a three-room and cross passage plan, which includes a hall with a large external lateral stack at the front, an inner room to the right with a former end stack now positioned at the ridge, and an 18th-century addition further to the right. To the left is a lower room with a former end stack and a projecting gabled 19th-century cross wing. While it may have been a remodelling of a medieval open hall, no evidence was found during the survey in July 1987.

The exterior is asymmetrical, featuring six windows on the first floor and five on the ground floor, with 19th-century two- and three-light wooden casements. The second ground-floor window from the right has a painted segmental brick head. A central rendered large external stack has offsets leading to a tall circular shaft, along with a pitched-roofed link to the attic. There is a ground-floor lean-to square bay to the right, possibly from the 17th century, with a three-light wooden casement. To the left of the stack is a 19th-century Tudor-arched doorway with a two-leaf boarded door, a beaded frame, and a 19th-century lean-to porch featuring a Tudor-arched opening. A 20th-century half-glazed door is located to the right of the bay. The 18th-century addition to the right is built into the hillside and has a boarded loft door, while the right-hand gable end features a 19th-century one-light wooden casement. The two-storey 19th-century wing to the left has two-light segmental-headed wooden casements on each floor.

At the rear, there is an almost continuous outshut with a rendered external lateral stack and a pair of eaves dormers. Inside, the central former hall contains an open stone fireplace with a bread oven and a deep-chamfered wooden lintel with run-out stops. The beams are mostly cased, and the left-hand cottage and roof space were not inspected during the survey. Some old purlins are visible.