Hallhays

Two attached houses, formerly a single farmhouse, located at Sampford Moor. The complex comprises a 17th-century cottage and an early 19th-century addition, which remained as one dwelling until 1986 when they were converted into two separate properties.

Hallhayes Cottage is the original structure, a three-bay end chimneystack house of two storeys with attic. It is built largely of roughcast over cob, rubble stone and brick, with a roof of double Roman tiles. The west gable end has a brick stack which appears to have been rebuilt, while the original east stack was removed when the 19th-century addition was constructed. The building consists internally of two cells with a cross passage and a later single-storey outshut to the rear. The fenestration has been replaced with 19th and 20th-century timber casements. A pitched-roof entrance porch is set slightly off-centre in the front elevation, with a further porch in the west gable end. The south-west corner has been rebuilt in brick.

The cottage retains significant historic fabric within. The right-hand room contains an open hearth with large timber bressumer and chamfered beams with run-out stops. The left-hand room's fireplace is a later replacement. The roof, although repaired and reinforced over centuries, retains earlier carpentry including two large trusses.

The 19th-century addition, Hallhayes House, was built at a slight angle against the east gable wall of the cottage and is considerably larger in scale. Its construction resulted in the cottage being downgraded to serve as a service range. The walls, probably of rubble stone, are rendered, and the roof is of slate with decorative ridge tiles and overhanging eaves, with brick end stacks and a further large stack to the rear. The principal elevation faces east and comprises three bays with a central entrance beneath a porch with entablature supported on free-standing timber Doric columns, reportedly cut from ships' masts. The six-panel door and panelled reveals are 19th-century, with a blocked fanlight above. Either side of the entrance are six-over-six sash windows with eight-pane sash windows above. The south gable wall has six-over-six sash windows to ground and first floors, and a six-pane sash window lighting the attic. A single twelve-pane sash is present in the rear west elevation. The north gable wall has a single-storey lean-to extension and a 20th-century conservatory, with sash windows to first and attic floors.

The interior of Hallhayes House features an open-well staircase with plain balusters. The principal ground-floor rooms retain folding window shutters, timber wall panelling, decorative ceiling roses, and ornate mid to late 19th-century fireplaces with marble surrounds. The dining room is said to contain 19th-century wall paintings, though these are now covered over. Originally, openings at ground and first-floor levels provided access between the cottage and the addition, but these were blocked when the properties were divided; however, cupboards within Hallhayes House still indicate their positions. A plain timber staircase leads to the attics, formerly used for servants' accommodation, which feature a king-post roof with two rows of staggered purlins.

To the west of Hallhayes Cottage stands a single-storey rectangular outbuilding built largely of cob, with a roof re-covered in corrugated sheeting. To the rear of Hallhayes House is a simple rubble-stone privy with a single pitched roof of corrugated sheeting and a range of rubble-stone outbuildings.

The site has a complex history. It is believed to have been owned by a Bristol ship-owner during part of the 19th century when it was known as Hall Hayes. The later addition appears to date from the early 19th century, although some sources suggest construction in the 1780s. The existing 17th-century cottage was incorporated into the larger building and used as the service range, before later being converted to a milking parlour with a grain store above. The property remained a single dwelling until 1986 when it was divided into two separate properties.