Combe Hill Farmhouse And Walls Returned On South Front With Gatepiers

This is a farmhouse, now a dwelling, originally dated 1664. A north-east wing was added shortly afterwards, the lower end was rebuilt, and a service wing was added in the early 19th century, with interior alterations also occurring at this time. It is constructed of squared and coursed chert and red sandstone in a chequerboard pattern, with a plinth visible on the front facade and left return. Quoins are present, and the right return and rear elevations are roughcast. The roof is slate, with the north-east wing having its own lower roof. The north-west gable-fronted cross wing is higher than the main block, and features a brick stack at the rear gable end. A large lateral brick stack is situated at the rear of the main range, above the north-east wing.

The original plan comprised a 3-cell layout with a cross passage facing north-east. The lower end was extended with a wing to the rear, and the north-east wing opens off the main hall. The farmhouse is two storeys high, with a 1:2 bay arrangement. It has ovolo-moulded mullioned windows, with the gable end of the wing having no windows on the first floor. A 4-light ovolo-moulded mullioned window is set under a hoodmould on the centre and below the gable to the right. The ground floor to the left has a 3-light mullioned window in the wing, a 2-light window in the re-entrant angle, a 5-light window on the left, and a 4-light window on the right, framing a 6-panel door with a reeded surround. The left return (south-east front) has a gable end on the main range, with a date stone in the apex, a blocked 3-light window to the right, and further 3-light mullioned windows to the first and ground floors. A 4-light mullioned window is located within the wing.

The interior is said to have been substantially altered in the 19th century, although an original collar beam roof remains in the main block. The plan is unusual; it is suggested that the north-east wing may have been a parlour.

The farmhouse is enclosed by a random rubble chert stone wall. At the north corner of the house, the wall returns with an iron boundary. There are eight-aisle stone gatepiers, each with a cavetto-moulded cornice, plinth, urn finials with floral and guilloche tops. The farmhouse occupies a prominent position on the road between Combe St Nicholas and Wadeford.