MDE21381 - Middle Ball Farmhouse, Twitchen (Building)

Shown on O.S. map as Middle Twitchen Ball. Farmhouse, now house. Mid-19th Century, with probably late 19th Century outshut to rear. Uncoursed stone rubble with some red-brick dressings. Gable-ended asbestos-slate roof. Stone stacks with brick tops. Plan: Two-room plan with roughly-central entrance and external end stacks. Facing southeast. Larger principal room to left and smaller room (present kitchen) to right. Staircase between rooms, rising from entrance lobby. Outshut added to rear (see straight joints), probably a late 19th Century addition. Small low outhouses flanking front of house. Two storeys (including outshut) and one-storey outhouses. Exterior: Asymmetrical 3-bay front; 19th Century two-light wooden casements with brick segmental heads (left-hand ground-floor window is a late 20th Century replacement). Roughly- central 20th Century half-glazed door with brick segmental head. Right-hand end of outshut with 19th Century two-light wooden casements to each floor. Interior: Largely complete mid-19th Century fixtures and fittings. Left-hand ground floor room has open fireplace, and L-shaped wooded bench along front and left-hand walls. Blocked fireplace in right-hand ground-floor room. Stone-flagged floors and old boarded doors throughout. First-floor rooms not inspected. This is a good example of a mid-19th Century farmhouse, which now rarely survive in such an unaltered state. [1] The building was visited in September 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [2] The building was assessed as part of the 2018-19 rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings, receiving a BAR score of 5. [3]