MEM22307 - Medieval or post-medieval house at Lower East Lyn Farm (Building)

The structure has few dateable features but includes putlogs, suggesting medieval or early post-medieval origins. It may have been a longhouse or the original manor house, converted in the 18th or early 19th Century to form a shippon.

A building at SS 7345 4818 within Lower East Lyn Farmstead was visited in January 1997. It was described as a long, early building, partly unroofed. It apparently had a water wheel at its western end [was this a confusion with MDE11723?]. The east end was built of coursed squared rubble. It was thought to have been a high status remnant. [1] To the northeast of the farm house is a single storey range of shippons and storage sheds. This is partly in a ruinous state without roof cover at either end, the remainder covered in corrugated iron. [2] The building was subject to a structural investigation in October 2012 as it was noted to be in poor condition. A photographic record was taken as part of the investigations. The building was rectangular in shape, of single storey height and originally had a pitched roof with gable ends. The walls were of random stone construction with inner and outer skins of stone with random rubble fill. Several of the walls were noted to be in an unstable condition, with a tree causing issues to the foundations of one of the walls. [3] The structure was surveyed by AC Archaeology in January 2013. Although it contains few dateable features, it was noted to be an early building of high quality, having a steep roof pitch and with putlogs suggesting it was of medieval or early post-medieval date. Its earliest fabric has thick, clay-bonded walls of impressive, carefully-coursed rubble, of large, flat blocks snecked with smaller stones, well squared and without dressings. The building was originally of one storey, which may or may not originally have had a chimney (the side walls have been rebuilt). It may have been a high status building such as a stable but it may also have had a domestic function and the building is of sufficient quality to suggest it may have begun as a dwelling, a supposition which would require excavation to determine. It may have begun life as a longhouse, with residential accommodation at the uphill end and a shippon or cowshed in the lower end, draining downhill. The building was not majorly altered until perhaps the 18th or early 19th Century, when new slit windows were made in its north wall and the doorways in its south wall were partially blocked to create larger windows; this suggests the building was fully functioning as a shippon at this time, with ventilation more important than lighting. New doorways were made in the north wall, probably during the 19th Century, changing its orientation and involving the removal of extensive areas of original walling, with the insertion of a new loft floor and roof structure. The interior was divided into three compartments by stone walls. [4] A watching brief was undertaken in October 2013 during works to lower the wall heights of the buildings for health and safety reasons. The intention was to prepare a record of any masonry or architectural features exposed during the works. The works were undertaken by hand and no previously unrecorded features were observed. A photographic record was prepared including a series showing the walls following their lowering. [5] This building may have been the original farmhouse (or manor house) on the site, replaced by MDE1234 in the late 16th Century. It may then have been used for purely agricultural purposes. [6] The outline of the building is shown on the 2022 MasterMap data. [7] The building is shown on the Tithe Map for Lynton. [8]