MSO10779 - Withycombe Cottage, Winsford (Building)

Cottage. C17 enlarged mid C20. Flat bedded slate, slate roof, pyramid roof hipped over extension left, circular stone stacks left and right at original gable end. Plan: possibly gable entry to single cell with partition at lower end for cattle, enlarged at both ends to form 3-cell. Two storeys, 3 window facade, all C20 left, in addition wall set back, central window and another to right of butt joint, ground floor lit end bay left, C20 door, window to right, wall slightly curved to contain gable end stair lit by arched head lancet with rubble voussoirs, window to right and another entrance in lean-to addition. Rear elevation has polychrome slate voussoirs to blocked door of gable end left and 2 windows on each floor to right. Interior: fireplace lintel and beam chamfered with scroll stops, part of good plank and muntin partition on rubble plith with scratch moulding to stiles, bench with interesting carved end also with scratch moulding on inner side, damaged at top, suggesting place for 2 beams to be set across previously to exclude large animals. Possibly reset. The other side of the screen has been restored with oak floor boards. West Nethercote (qv) contains a similar bench end. [1] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 265561. First Listed on 02/01/1986. [2] Stone, Random rubble walls. Hipped roof [3] The building was visited in December 2013 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [4] Withycombe Farm is said to be one farm of a vanished hamlet, which probably included Withycombe Cottage. [5] Previously known as Little Withycombe, it has been dated to the early 17th Century (from wooden ceiling beams and a wooden settle), although it may have earlier origins. It used to be a farm in its own right and possibly predates Withycombe Farm. By the early 20th Century, the cottage had been absorbed by Withycombe Farm, part of the Acland Estate. The freehold was purchased privately before the outbreak of World War Two. The field adjacent to the cottage is still known as Arthur's Mead, after Arthur Ridd, a contemporary occupant. The farm was split in the 1950s; Withycombe Cottage fell vacant by the mid 1950s and was condemned for human habitation. It was purchased in the early 1960s after being unoccupied for seven years. A bridge was built over the Winn Brook at Withycombe Farm by March 1962 and work undertaken on the Cottage by builders from Minehead. The room heights were raised, meaning the uncut slate floors were removed and the ceiling and first floor level raised. A fresh water supply and modern sanitation were installed but the house was only connected to the National Grid in the 1970s. The old pig house at the south end of the Cottage was demolished and stone built extensions were added to the north and south ends, with the original round stone chimney replicated in the new southern extension. The works were completed by the end of 1962. [6] 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]