MSO10700 - Nos 1 and 2, Hillside, Allerford (Building)

Hillside Cottages, now a cottage pair but formerly a farmhouse, probably an early 16th Century open hall house. It is built traditionally of roughcast render over stone rubble and cob, with a thatched roof and large front lateral stack adjoining the porch.

Farmhouse, now 2 cottages. Probably early C16, ceiled late C16 and outshot added, lower end subsequently rebuilt and extended. Roughcast over random rubble and cob, thatched roof hipped to left, roughcast stacks right gable end, large lateral stack abutting porch and between first and second bays left marking end of original building. Plan: open hall house ceiled to 3 cell and cross passage, service end rebuilt and extended one bay left, 2-storey porch added. Two storeys, 3:1:1 bays; all C20 casements except for 2 leaded iron casements to left of full height hipped roof porch, gabled dormer inserted in full height projection right of stack, ground floor window left of flat-roofed C20 porch addition, two windows right under semicircular relieving arches, 4-light window in projection right of stack, 3-light beyond; square headed opening to porch reached by short flight of steps, small lancet openings on returns. Interior not seen, said to contain circular stair turret opening out of room to left of cross passage in corner at rear, plank and muntin screen to cross passage right, small room at rear of hall with step and runout stops to beams, probably dairy, later outshut beyond, remains of 2-bay jointed cruck truss roof with 2 collar beam trusses at lower end. (VAG Report, unpublished SRO, August 1979). [1] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 265481. First Listed on 02/01/1986. [2] Open hall. Earth, Render, roughcast and pebbledash walls. Cruck, Collar beam, Hipped, Gabled roof [3] The building was visited in May 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [4] The buildings are labelled "Hillside Cottages" on 2020 MasterMap data. [5] The building was subject to a vernacular building survey by the National Trust in 1993. It was suggested to represent a 16th Century cross passage house with two storey porch over the original door. It has an unusual corner stair turret and small two storey wing at the back. The interior contains a plank and muntin screen, original partitions and two jointed cruck trusses. [6]