MEM23125 - Middle Ranscombe Farm, Lynton (Building)

The farmstead is shown on historic mapping. The Lynton and Lynmouth Tithe Map shows the site as a group of three small buildings, one which appears to be still extant as the central portion of the longer range at SS 6901 4662. The farmhouse is shown at approximately SS 6902 4660 and it is not clear whether this is still extant or was replaced after the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map was surveyed, although the latter seems more probable. A smaller structure at SS 6900 4661, however, had been removed by the time the 1st Edition map had been published; this map also depicts the other two buildings having been the subject of some extensions. By the time the 2nd Edition map was published, the longer range of buildings had been much extended (including a section on its western end that has since been demolished) and three outbuildings had been constructed at SS 6900 4661, SS 6903 4661 and SS 6904 4660. Only the first of these three outbuildings still appears to be extant. Also on this map is depicted the Lynton to Barnstaple railway line (MMO42), which cuts across the north of the farmstead. Since its removal, an agricultural building has been sited on the line of the trackway to the northwest of the farmstead. Also, on both the 1st and 2nd Edition maps, the site is labelled Higher Ranscombe Combe. [1-4] The site was visited in December 1996. The house was described as a recent bungalow, confirming the replacement of the original structure shown on historic mapping. The long range to its northwest, however, was described as a nice 19th Century range of unaltered rubble farm buildings. [5]