MEM24761 - The Old Parlour and Hanny Cottage, Wootton Courtenay (Building)

A large irregular building is shown on the Tithe Map for Wootton Courtenay centred at SS 9362 4312, forming three sides of a yard and with a further building extending to the west. A small rectangular building situated on the southern side of the yard at c. SS 9363 4311. It is labelled 348, which the Apportionment describes as ""Rawles: Farm House Barn and Yard"", owned by the Right Honorable Lord Sherborne and occupied by John Westcott. [1] The buildings are shown in a similar footprint on the 25 inch 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, although the rectangular building to the south had been removed. [2] The 2018 MasterMap appears to show that the western projection is not fully extant, although it can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 2017. The site is labelled ""The Old Parlour"". [3,4] A restored L plan group has been converted to residential use, including a former thatched farmhouse built of red sandstone rubble with a thatched roof and large front lateral stack, which may have 17th Century or earlier origins. The adjoining former long barn is probably 18th Century in date. [5] Just to the west of the lane are the L-shaped restored remnants of a farm building group, probably 18th Century in origin but converted to domestic use in 1988 and now known as The Old Parlour and Hanny Cottage. The property was described as of local interest. [6] The site is labelled "Brookside Farm" on the 1972 Ordnance Survey map. [7] In the 1960s the cowshed, once a cottage, was still in use. Milk was taken in churns to Rawles Dairies in Minehead. By 1970 a milking parlour had been installed in the old cowshed building. The farm was sold in 1990, after which the barn was turned into a house and the cowshed into holiday cottages. [8] The heritage asset was assessed for inclusion on the Exmoor Local Heritage List in November 2022. It was decided to add the asset to the Local Heritage List. [9]