MEM22692 - Ash Farmhouse, Porlock (Building)

A 16th or 17th Century farmhouse, altered in the late 19th or early 20th Century. It is one of the sites where it is believed Samuel Taylor Coleridge was living when he was interrupted in composing Kubla Khan from "the man from Porlock".

A farmhouse originally 16th - 17th Century in date, altered in the late 19th or early 20th Century.The building has an L-plan and is a possible longhouse. There is a 19th Century extension of the loft over the byre. This is generally believed to be the farm at which Samuel Taylor Coleridge was living when his composition of Kubla Khan was interrupted by the visit from "the man from Porlock". [1] This structure appears to be present on the 1841 Porlock Tithe map. [2] The site was visited in January 2014. The farmhouse was described as three room in plan, with a through passage and big lateral stack on the farmyard side. [3] The building was visited in June 2013 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [4] The building was assessed as part of the 2018-19 rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings, receiving a BAR score of 5. [5]