MSO10577 - Hales Cottage and Oakapple Cottage (Building)

A farmhouse of late 16th to early 17th century date, which was subsequently altered in the mid 20th century. The building is roughcast over rubble with a double Roman tiled roof, large lateral stack to right of entrance, and an external stone stack. The left gable end is extended at rear with slate roofed bread oven projection towards facade. The property has an L shaped plan and probably 3-cell and cross passage with full height projection to right of lateral stack, wing at rear. One and a half storeys. Interior not seen. [1] The property is possibly late medieval and was certainly two storey by the 17th Century. This is a good example of a developed cross-passage farmhouse. The cottages are limewashed with a black tar band. The entrance to Oakapple cottage has massive timbers and a Tudor arch. A jointed cruck truss can be seen in the roof space in the partition between the houses. Oakapple cottage has a rear stair turret dating to the 17th century. [2] A little higher up Stoney Street is a former late 16th-early 17th century farmhouse now subdivided as Oakapple Cottage and Hayes Cottage. The L-plan is probably three-cell and cross passage with full-height projection to the right of the lateral stack and a rear wing. The construction is roughcast render over stone rubble with double Roman tiled roofs. There are 19th century casement windows, both timber and metal. The plank door in a chamfered peak-headed doorframe indicates a possible 16th century date. [3] The building was visited in May 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [4] The farmhouse is shown on the 2020 MasterMap data as subdivided. The northeastern side is labelled Hales Cottage and the southwestern side Oakapple Cottage. [5] The building is mentioned in the 2018 Conservation Area Appraisal for Luccombe. [6] The building was assessed as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings 2018-19, receiving a BAR score of 6. [7]