Hartnells Farmhouse And Attached Barn

WEST MONKTON

439/0/10016 A3259 28-OCT-08 Sidbrook (Northeast side) Hartnells Farmhouse and attached barn

GV II House, late C17 with C18 and C19 extensions to the side and rear elevations.

MATERIALS: Rubble stone which is rendered to the principal elevation. The projections to the rear are built of brick to the first floor. The roof is covered in pantiles but was probably originally thatched. Brick gable end stacks and Ham stone raised verges.

PLAN: Two-storey, two-room through-passage house with a two storey extension to the west and two, two-storey projections to the rear.

EXTERIOR: Three-bay principal elevation with central door. There are three windows to each floor and each has a late-C19 three-light wooden casement. The house is extended to the south-west by one bay with an C18 plank door to the right and two, three-light wooden casements to the left. An L-shaped agricultural building is attached to the south-west corner of the extension but is of lesser interest. The rear elevation has a catslide roof, lean-tos and two, two-storey projections. The unrendered projection has rubble stone to the ground floor and brick to the first floor, suggesting that it may incorporate an earlier wing. INTERIOR: The interior survives substantially intact and includes inglenook fireplaces to the ground floor principal rooms, chamfered ceiling beams to the ground and first floor rooms, a winder staircase to the external stair turret and service stairs and staircase to the C18 extension, as well as many of its plank doors. The ceiling beam to the central first floor room includes a decorative feature to its centre which resembles a faceted jewelled stop. It was not possible to inspect the roof of the main house but it is likely that its original roof survives. To the C18 extension are A-frame trusses with collar and butt purlins.

SOURCES: W A Heritage, Hartnells Farm, Monkton Heathfield, Taunton, Somerset - Building Assessment (December 2007); West Monkton Tithe Map (1839)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION DECISION: Hartnells Farmhouse is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * A substantially intact late-C17 through-passage farmhouse with C18 and C19 extensions and an attached L-shaped barn that form a cogent group * The farmhouse preserves a significant proportion of historic fabric including chamfered ceiling beams, staircases and fireplaces * The C18 extension to the south-west is of good quality and does not detract from the interest of the main farmhouse