MEM23080 - East Challacombe Farm (Building)

The farmstead is shown on the Tithe Map for Combe Martin as a large farmhouse with several farm buildings to its northwest. The nearest to the farmhouse is arranged in an L shape but with several additions to its main buildings. A further three buildings were situated to its north, the larger at SS 5924 4770 and the two smaller at SS 5924 4773 and SS 5926 4770. [1] The 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps show that the L shaped farm buildings have been extended in several places and now form a U shape, joining with the larger barn at SS 5924 4770 and incorporating the small outbuilding at SS 5926 4770. The large barn itself appears to have been modified, with part of the building apparently removed and rebuilt in a narrower form. [2,3] Of the historic buildings, only the southwestern part of the original L shaped building and the late 19th Century extension to its northwest, built to join to the large barn, now appear to be extant. The large barn (and its rebuilt section), the building at SS 5924 4773 and the remaining buildings at c. SS 5926 4768 (extending part of the L shaped structure) all appear to have been demolished. These have been replaced by large agricultural buildings in the northwest of the site. The farmhouse also appears to have been modified in plan. [4] The site was surveyed from a distance in December 1996. The house was described as good, probably with a three room plan and raised up in the late 17th or early 18th Century, with a big kitchen stack on the back wing. One farm building has been converted into accommodation and is built of stone and slate. The remainder of the buildings were thought to be 20th Century in date. [5]