The original C16 house

Summary

Former house, dating to the C16. Reduced in size and altered to ancillary functions in the late C19. Some late-C20 repairs.

Reasons for Designation

The original C16 house at Selworthy Farm is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* it retains fabric of good quality and clear special interest, demonstrating a good degree of survival and historic construction techniques characteristic of the region;
* despite the loss of the western two bays, the plan continues to be legible and comprehensive and where later remodelling has taken place, this evidence of evolution is legible;
* for the good level of survival of features from a range of periods such as fireplaces, doors and a good proportion of the historic roof structure.

Historic interest:
* as a C16 example of a vernacular house, partly remodelled in the second half of the C19 from when it was reused as a back kitchen and grain store.

Group value:
* as an integral part of the historic farmstead, located adjacent to the courtyard farm buildings and the cowshed, which are also both listed at Grade II.

History

Selworthy Farm is situated at the lower (south-west) end of Selworthy, a narrow linear village recorded as Seleuurde in the Domesday Book. The farm which has post-medieval origins includes a three-room, cross-passage house which dates from the C16. There is no evidence for smoke-blackening to the roof timbers, suggesting that the house always had an upper floor. Evidence in the fabric of the building indicates that it underwent some refurbishment in the C17 and again in the C18.

In 1802 the estate of Selworthy was inherited by Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871) and became part of the Holnicote Estate. The Acland family owned extensive lands in Somerset and Devon and had a great influence on its estates and its people. Selworthy Farm was substantially enlarged and improved during the second half of the C19. The C16 house was in a poor state of repair by this time. It was replaced by the present farmhouse, built directly in front of it, in 1883-1884. It was adapted for ancillary purposes, both domestic and agricultural, and was linked to the new house by a single-storey, covered passage. It was described in 1937 as the ‘Old Kitchen and Old Cellar’. Map regression indicates that between 1888 and 1902 the two bays at the western end of the building, probably the lower end, were demolished. Its rear wall was retained. A single-storey outbuilding of timber and concrete block was subsequently erected against the remaining building and is first depicted on the 1929 Ordnance Survey map (surveyed in 1928). It was demolished after 1991.

The Holnicote Estate remained in the hands of the Acland family until 1944 when it was gifted by the 15th Baronet Sir Richard Dyke Acland to the National Trust. Selworthy Farm was tenanted until the early C21 and the late-C19 farmhouse was renovated in 2020 to provide holiday accommodation.

Details

Former house, dating to the C16. Reduced in size and altered to ancillary functions in the late C19. Some late-C20 repairs.

MATERIALS
It is constructed of render over random sandstone rubble exposed in places, with some cob in the rear wall, and brick repairs. The west gable end has a late-C20/early-C21 full-height timber shiplap screen. The gabled roof would have previously been thatched and has double roman clay tiles of C19 date. There is a truncated lateral stack to the front left and a gable-end stack to the right (east), both are external.

PLAN
It is rectangular on plan, originally with a longer footprint, reduced by a third in the late C19/early C20. When built it was probably a three-room, cross-passage house with two stair turrets (one now partial) to the rear. The rear outshut is probably C18.

EXTERIOR
It is a one and a half storey building of four bays (probably six bays originally) which is built into a south-facing slope. The front elevation has a lateral external stack that breaks forwards, adjacent to the current west end of the building. It has been truncated at eaves level and capped with a slight extension of the roof. To the right, there is an unglazed opening with C20 timber shutters and four- and two-light casement windows. Below the eaves is a similar shuttered opening and a timber, chamfered mullioned window of three lights with two iron stanchions set in a hollow-chamfered, flat-arched frame with later shutters. The east gable end has an external stack and a window of one light with an internal timber shutter. The rear elevation is built of mostly stone rubble, though some cob is present. It has a projecting rectangular stair turret towards the east end and a stone-built outshut with a catslide roof further west. The west wall of the outshut has a two-light timber window with iron rod stanchions. The rear wall of the demolished section of building survives as a retaining wall. It rises to first-floor level, capped in concrete and with brick repairs, and contains a semi-circular recess, most probably the remains of a stair turret, and the lower part of a possible window. The current west gable end is a full-height shiplap screen which has a C19 pegged doorframe with an arched head that appears to have been cut back and a ledged plank door.

INTERIOR (partial inspection 2020)
The building has two surviving ground-floor principal rooms (originally three) and a rear outshut. The east room, latterly a kitchen, has a fireplace which has been reduced in size and has a C19 mantle and adjoining bread oven. To the left of the fireplace, set in a high splayed reveal, is a small window with a wooden shutter and strap hinges. There are several C19 wooden shelves fixed to the walls and a brick-infilled doorway is visible in the rear wall which previously opened onto a stone winder stair (visible at first floor) within a turret. The ceiling beam has hollow-moulded chamfers and stepped run-out stops. A timber-framed partition on a stone plinth separates the east room from the former hall to the west. At its north end is a doorway with C19 ledged plank door and architrave with a step below. The adjacent room (former hall/central room) has a wide lateral fireplace with depressed arch, chamfered stone jambs and chamfered timber lintel. The central ceiling beam has hollow chamfers and stepped run-out stops, and towards the west end of the room is a second hollow-chamfered beam with mortices and evidence for a wide doorway. It is most probably the top rail for a plank and muntin screen which would have once separated the hall and cross passage. There are two doorways in the rear wall. The one to the left has a squared-headed stone surround with chamfered jambs, but the opening was infilled with random rubble when the rear outshut was added. The other doorway has an C18 door and opens onto the outshut. A later, simple ladder stair leads to the first floor. This was used for grain storage from the late C19, and a number of timber and brick partitions were added to facilitate this. Along the south side is a spine corridor. Three partition walls sub-divide the first floor. They extend to the undersides of the original roof trusses but are slightly later in date. The western partition has plaster to both faces, studs exposed at high level, and C18 and C19 plank doors at either end. There is a doorway with chamfered, cambered head with slightly curved sides and traces of possible historic paint in the central partition; the applied shiplap boarding is at least the late C19. The eastern partition has plaster to its east face. Beyond this, the gable wall has a recessed opening, perhaps for a cupboard or garderobe. There is a small niche in the wall adjacent to the stone winder stair, possibly for a light, and towards the top of the stairs is a small lancet in a splayed reveal. The C16 roof comprises three pairs of jointed crucks which are morticed and tenoned at the apex. The high collars are tenoned into the blades, and the soffits of the collars and blades have round holes in them for original partitions. In addition to the cruck frames there are four pegged principal rafters of late-C19 date and machine-sawn purlins and rafters.

Sources

Websites
Old Farmhouse, Selworthy Farm, Selworthy, Holnicote Estate, accessed 1 September 2020 from https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA141387
The Historic Environment Record for Exmoor MEM22092 – Selworthy (Place), accessed 1 September 2020 from https://www.exmoorher.co.uk/Monument/MEM22092

Other
I Richardson, 2001, The National Trust, Holnicote Estate, Archaeological Survey Parts 1-3
DHD Structures, May 2018, Structural Inspection Report, The Old Farmhouse, Selworthy

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry