Dairy Cottage at Langford Fivehead

Dairy Cottage, possibly a former detached kitchen, probably dates from the 16th century and was raised and remodelled around 1600, with 19th-century alterations and an early-20th-century addition.

The cottage is built of coursed local stone rubble with Hamstone dressings, under a slate roof. There is an ashlar stack to the south gable end and an off-centre ridge stack of brick. The windows are a mix of stone mullions and timber casements, with several modern replacements; all have leaded lights.

The building has an L-shaped plan, comprising the original three-window range and an early-20th-century wing that either replaced or is a substantial remodelling of an earlier structure. Variations in the stonework to all four elevations of the main range suggest that the walls above first-floor sill level were raised around 1600.

The east elevation has an irregular arrangement of windows and a central doorway with a timber lintel and a late-20th-century plank and batten door. Directly above the doorway is evidence of a further doorway, which has been infilled. The north return has mullioned windows to the ground and attic floors, and three single-light windows that are later insertions. The west elevation has an off-centre entrance door with raised and fielded panels toward the lower part. Immediately to the right of the door is a two-light mullioned window, and to the left are two four-light timber casements, one with a stone hood mould. There are three mullioned windows to the first floor. The windows to the south return are timber replacements under stone hoods. The south elevation of the early-20th-century addition has full-height glazing to the ground floor and a jettied upper floor clad in weatherboarding. Its north elevation has a timber door and two casement windows to the ground floor, above which is a four-light casement set high to the eaves.

The earliest part of the cottage has a three-room plan, although it is unclear whether this is the result of the early-17th-century remodelling. The right-hand (south) room is dominated by a large inglenook with a timber bressumer supported on stone jambs. The fireplace is flanked by a smoking chamber and a corn-drying kiln, for which there is further evidence at first and attic levels. The lower part of the kiln was modified, probably in the 19th century, to create a bread oven. The fireplace in the central room and the staircase are 20th-century insertions. The flat-chamfered ceiling beams to the ground floor have step and run-out stops; in contrast, one of the first-floor beams is deeply chamfered with an angled, straight-cut stop. The roof comprises early-17th-century collared trusses with tie beams and a single row of butt purlins.