The Chantry

The Chantry is a detached former farmhouse dating from the 14th or early 15th century, with modifications made in the early 16th century and later. It is constructed from locally sourced stone that has been cut and squared, with a timber-framed and rendered west gable. The building features a thatched roof with a coped east gable and a plain west gable, along with brick chimney stacks.

The house is single-storey with an attic and has a five-bay north elevation. The first two bays are part of an outshut that continues as an open porch to the third bay. The first two bays, along with the upper sections of the third and fourth bays, contain three-light leaded casement windows. The lower fourth bay has a timber chamfer-mullioned three-light window beneath a stone label, with a circular window inserted to the left. The third bay features a boarded door set in a heavy timber frame, while the fifth bay has a 20th-century boarded door with a small leaded sidelight.

On the east gable, there is a three-light early pattern casement window below and a two-light stone chamfered mullioned window above, which has unworked top mitres and a label, along with a small stairlight. The west gable reveals an exposed post and truss with a 20th-century casement window inserted. The south elevation includes another stairlight, leaded casements, and on the first floor, a four-light ovolo moulded timber window and a boarded panel unit in a swept dormer.

Inside, there is a further post and truss frame in the west section, followed by a jointed cruck frame. The house features a 16th-century fireplace with traces of an early pattern smoke hood and remnants of a stone newel stair. The hall has a nine-panel ceiling with deep chamfered beams, and there are traces of a bread oven in the wide east gable. The house was used for visits by the Bailiff of Ilchester before 1475.