Youngcott Barns, Milton Abbot, West Devon, Devon. Historic Building Recording (OASIS ID: southwes1-300023)
South West Archaeology Ltd, 2018. https://doi.org/10.5284/1050108. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © South West Archaeology Ltd unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Dr
Samuel
Walls
South West Archaeology Ltd
The Old Dairy
Hacche Lane Business Park
South Molton
Devon
EX36 3LH
UK
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 3338
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1050108
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
South West Archaeology Ltd. was commissioned to undertake historic building recording for a group of historic barns at Youngcott, Milton Abbot, West Devon. This work was undertaken in order to assess the fabric affected by the conversion, restoration and development of this complex and set the buildings in their historical and archaeological context.
Youngcott is first mentioned in the documentary records in the 13th century, when it may have formed a part of the medieval manor of 'Hundcot', having been a part of the lands held by the Abbot of Tavistock at the time the Domesday survey was carried out.
Youngcott Barns are an L-shaped range consisting of a threshing barn and linhay bordering a small walled, concreted courtyard with open to fields to the west. There is a further small ruined outbuilding in the field south of the range of barns. The barns exhibit the fine stonework style often associated with the agriculturalist movement of the later 18th and early 19th centuries, with the inclusion of decorative courses of quartz stones within the otherwise vernacular slate and shale. The barns comprise a delightfully authentic and visually pleasing group, within a pastoral setting. The loss of their farmhouse is probably a contributing factor to them never having been Listed.
The barns have also been subject to significant alterations and repairs which have left only the north end of Barn 1 displaying the attractive and unusual alternating slate and quartz coursing. These alterations/repairs have also resulted in the loss of other key historic elements such as their roof structures. The barns' value lies in their unusual form, particularly the decorative use of quartz stones, seen in a small number of other buildings in the area. The loss of historic fitments and the multiple phases of alteration and repair contribute towards masking the original function of the barns and their phasing.
