Conservation Area: Leigh Barton Farm Conservation Area

Four Exmoor farmsteads were designated as Conservation Areas in the early 1990s. This enabled funding to be sought under the then Conservation Area Partnership Scheme (CAPS) to carry out urgent, essential repairs in order to maintain their character. The farmsteads are mainly in remote upland locations which is unusual for such designation, but their characteristics are similar in that they consist of a farmhouse closely associated with a varied range of outbuildings. Each farm has several buildings that are now redundant as regards current agricultural practice and pose a considerable strain of upkeep. Three are remote from public access other than by footpath or bridleway. All but one has a grade II listed farmhouse and two also have grade II listed outbuildings. Leigh Barton in Old Cleeve parish is some 220 metres (750 feet) above sea level and has a very extensive range of outbuildings, some of which are grade II listed. It is located about two miles south of Roadwater on a spur above Comberrow and the historic remains of the incline of the former Brendon Hill Railway. Several public rights of way diverge here, including a public footpath towards Leigh Chapel about half a mile to the south-west; a road used as a public path to Treborough, and a bridleway towards the Brendon Hill ridge. The conservation area extends into open countryside to the south and west of the farmstead group. Each farmstead has a considerable history. It has not been possible to carry out detailed research within the terms of this appraisal, but there are some clues to the antiquity of most locations. The listed barn and farmhouse at Ranscombe are given as early 19th century in the listing details, but the site may well be much earlier. References to place names (see bibliography) suggest that Ranscombe may refer to Old English rand meaning a “brink” or “bank” with the familiar combe derived from Old English cumb; i.e. “in (or of) a valley.”