MSO10778 - West Lynch Farmhouse (Building)

Farmhouse. Late medieval, enlarged C16, subsequently ceiled, refenestrated mid C19 Roughcast rubble, triple ridge tile roof, stone stacks left and right gable ends, and large central lateral stack. Plan: double ended open hall house, solar apparently single storey with partition, then ceiled with stair turret on rear elevation. Two storeys, 2:1 bays, first floor 2-light casements, ground floor C19 2-light trefoil headed casements, door inserted between first and second bays left, end bay right 3-light mullioned and transomed window with depressed 4-centred arched head and floral decoration to spandrels, possibly late C15-early C16, wooden lancet with diamond head to former stair at gable end, semi-circular headed chamfered door frame, ribbed door. Rear elevation said to have similar doorframe with ogee-headed lancet to remains of stair turret. Interior not seen, said to contain 5 pairs of cruck trusses, remains of stud and panel screen to right of cross passage with 2 and a half lateral beams with hollow moulded chamfered and step and runout stops, other beams axial. The proximity of the chapel (qv) would suggest that this was a house of some importance. (VAG Report, unpublished SRO, October 1980). [1] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 265552. First Listed on 22/05/1969. [2] Open hall. Stone, Render, roughcast and pebbledash walls. Cruck, Gabled roof [3] The Historic England archive contains a file on the farmstead. [4] The 2003 conservation area appraisal for Bossington and West Lynch states that the doorframe of the farmhouse has "massive oak frames... jointed with pegs or chamfered with stops", possibly giving it a medieval date. It advises the farmhouse "is probably the earliest domestic building in the conservation area" and goes on to say that "owned by the National Trust, West Lynch Farm probably dates from the 16th century or earlier. There are five jointed cruck roof trusses, three with smoke-blackening, indicating an original open plan hall house. The heavy pegged door frame with semi-circular chamfered head and adjoining timber mullion and transom with four-centre arch head and floral decoration to spandrels is possibly late 15th – early 16th century. The tall front lateral stack with circular stone shaft, rear stair turret and ceiled interior were probably added in the late 16th –early 17th century." [4] The building was visited in March 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [5] A structure is visible on the 1841 Selworthy Tithe map at this location. [6] The building is shown on the 2020 MasterMap data. [7] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [8]