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Summary

Stone built farmhouse under a slate roof. Built in the late 16th/early 17th century and extended in 1734.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1098062: BIRDS FARMHOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 87029

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FARMHOUSE (Built, XVI to XVIII - 1501 AD to 1800 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Building is marked.

Clements, H. A., 1994, Survey of Farmsteads in the Devon Part of the Blackdown Hills (Report - Survey). SDV344050.

Building not at risk (B.A.R. 3.3.5).

Devon and Somerset County Councils, 2000-2002, Historic Farmsteads Database, BH021H (Machine readable data file). SDV349681.

Stone rubble gable ended farmhouse with asymmetrical 4 window front facing west onto road. Originally a 3 room and through passage plan with a later (1734) room added to the south end. Rubble stone walls. Slate roof, formerly thatch.

Thorp, J., 2002, Birds Farm, BH021001 (Ground Photograph). SDV351001.

Thorp, J., 2002, Birds Farm, BH021012-BH02113, BH021021-BH021022 (Un-published). SDV351002.

English Heritage, 2011, Historic Houses Register (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV346128.

Birds Farmhouse. Farmhouse. Late 16th/early 17th century, extended in 1734 (datestone). Stone rubble; slate roof with crested ridge tiles (formerly thatched); 2 axial stacks and a shallow projecting right end stack, all with red brick shafts.
Plan: Sited parallel to the road, facing west. The house originated as a 3 room and through passage plan, lower end to the right (south). The higher end consists of a hall/kitchen, the stack backing on to the passage, and an unheated dairy at the left (north). The lower end room was probably a parlour, the stack also backing on to the passage. The position of the parlour stack is unusual and variations in the
carpentry detail on the ground floor suggest that there may have been some rebuilding of the house. In 1734 an extra room, probably a second parlour, was added at the lower (south) end and the house appears to have been re-roofed at the same time as far as the hall/kitchen stack, leaving the late 16th/early 17th century roof intact over the higher end only. There is a stair projection on the rear wall of the hall/kitchen. The projection has 19th century brick quoins and appears to be secondary.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front with an approximately central 19th century gabled porch with brick quoins to the through passage. A straight joint marks the 1731 addition at the right end which has a datestone on the rear wall. The first floor has 2 probably 19th century gabled dormers to the left and one at the extreme right with an earlier raking dormer to the right of the porch. 3 ground floor windows to the left of the porch, one to the right, all the windows either 19th century or 1980s timber casements, the 1980s casements hardwood with glazing bars. The rear door to the passage has a timber lintel, the rear stair projection has bullnose red brick quions.
Interior: The hall/kitchen has 3 chamfered cross beams of different designs, one with a deep chamfer, 2 with more shallow chamfers and stops. The fireplace is partly blocked but may preserve 16th/17th century jambs and lintel and has a rounded bread oven bulge. The through passage has a chamfered stopped half beam. The lower end room has a deeply chamfered stopped axial beam, the beam is stopped off against the chimney breast, indicating that stack and beam are of the same date. The 1734 parlour is plain, with no exposed carpentry and the higher end dairy is also plain.
Roof: Cruck trusses survive over the higher end, the feet are plastered over but they are probably jointed crucks. There is limited access to the apex of the roof over the higher end but as far as could be seen on survey (1987) the roof timbers are not smoke-blackened. The cruck roof originally extended at least across the passage and probably over the lower end (stud of a purlin with a scarf joint projecting beyond the hall stack). The present roof over the lower end is an 'A' frame design with straight principals and a X apex, probably part of the 1734 phase.
A traditional farmhouse with its historic plan form intact and interior features of interest. Group value with Birds Cottage. Date listed: 27th January 1989.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4655 - Survey of Farmsteads in the Blackdown Hills

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