MSO10596 - Gatehouse and adjoining barn at Bratton Court (Building)

Gatehouse and barn. C15, altered C19 and C20. Rendered in part over red sandstone random rubble, west Somerset slate roof, medieval louvred type chimney east of gateway opening. Plan: barn abutting west end of gatehouse range comprising 5-bay original domestic wing, 2-bay gatehouse, 4-bay agricultural building. South front: 2 storeys, irregularly placed fenestration, first floor C15 cinquefoil headed lancet left, similar 2-light to left of stairway opening to gatehouse, gable fronted gatehouse with clock from Ashley Combe House, Porlock CP (demolished), right 3 loft openings with pigeon hole openings irregularly placed, ground floor left original chamfered peaked doorframe, small opening right, inserted square headed opening left of entrance to gatehouse, flight of 14 stone steps, square headed carriageway entrance, chamfered joists to ceiling, right stable door, C20 raking buttresses flanking stable door with opening beyond. North elevation masked by farmbuildings (qv) left, unlit right, part renewed C16 double doors with Tudor arch head wicket gate and contemporary iron work, wooden trefoil headed lancet. Interior: main feature is the gatehouse room with 3 pairs of fine arch braced jointed crucks with shields below, similar to those at the Old Manor Guest House, Dunster (qv); chamfered lintel to fireplace in east wall; east end range 4 pairs of collar beam trusses without purlins; west end first floor 6-light octagonal mullioned window, unglazed, in gable end, chamfered beams with step and runout stops, some chamfered joists, 5 pairs of tenoned jointed cruck trusses, remains of plastered floor. Barn abutting featureless, possibly on site of earlier detached kitchen. Notable for survival of early wooden windows and particularly the fine double doors. (VAG Report, unpublished SRO, March 1978; Photographs in NMR). [1,2] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 265366. First Listed on 22/05/1969. [3] Stone, Render walls. [4] Gatehouse with original oak gate. [5] The buildings were visited in June 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. The gatehouse received a BAR score of 6 and the barn a score of 5. [6] The buildings are shown on the 2020 MasterMap data. [7] The buildings were assessed as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings 2018-19, receiving a BAR score of 6. [8]