Description

THROWLEIGH
SX 68 NE

3/223 Waye Cottage including garden
22.2.67 boundary walls to south.

GV II*

House, former Dartmoor longhouse. Late C15 - early C16 with major later C16 and C17
improvements and mid C17 extension, attached outbuildings are C19. Plastered
granite stone rubble with the top section cob; granite stacks, one with its original
granite ashlar chimney shaft; thatch roof.
Plan and development: L-shaped building. The main block faces south and is built
down the hillslope. It is in fact of 2 main builds with other modernisations. The
right downhill section is the original part. Originally it was a 3-room-and-
through-passage plan Dartmoor longhouse. The shippon and passage at the downhill
(east) end are disused although the front wall still stands to about first floor
level. Thus the hall is now the right end room of the house, and its stack which
was inserted in the late C16 - early C17 is now a right gable-end stack. The small
unheated dairy at the upper end of the hall was originally the uphill end room. The
original house was also open to the roof and heated by an open hearth fire. Hall
and inner room dairy were floored over probably in the early C17 and a newel stair
provided at the lower end of the hall, its turret projecting from the front wall. A
little later, in the early - mid C17, the house was extended uphill and rearranged.
A new through-passage was built uphill from the dairy and a new parlour provided,
the present left end room. It has a gable-end stack and formerly had a newel stair
rising alongside. Henceforth the hall was used as a kitchen. Rear block projects
at right angles to rear of left room. It is a pumphouse with a chamber over.
Behind that a single storey range of former pigsties has now been brought into
domestic use. They are probably C19 but may be earlier. The end of the pigsties is
curious since it is pointed (like a 2-centred arch in plan). This has led to
speculation that it was once a chapel but there is no real evidence for this. House
is 2 storeys.
Exterior: Irregular 3-window of C19 and C20 casements, the oldest ones with glazing
bars. The parlour window occupies a 3-light section of a C17 granite-mullioned
window with hoodmould. The fourth, left-hand light is blocked and it has one
chamfered mullion. Both mullions have been removed from the hall window which also
has a hoodmould. The first floor windows rise a short distance into the eaves. The
present front doorway contains a C20 stable-type door and it leads into the C17
passage. Stair turret projects from right end of present house and its roof gable-
ended. To right of the stair turret is the original passage front doorway; a
granite 2-centred arch with chamfered surround with spur stops. Immediately right
of this is a blocked contemporary cow door; it has a segmental head.
Good interior: The oldest feature is the house is the 2-bay roof over the hall and
inner room. It is carried on a face-pegged jointed cruck with a small yoke at the
apex (Alcock's apex type L1). Hip cruck, single set of through purlins and there is
evidence of windbraces, one of which still survives. It seems to be smoke-blackened
but the panels are plastered over. The hall fireplace is granite ashlar with a
soffit-chamfered oak lintel; its side oven relined with C19 brick. Hall and inner
room apparently floored in a single process. They are separated by an oak plank-
and-muntin screen; the muntins are chamfered with step stops high enough for an
upper end bench. The hall crossbeam is also soffit-chamfered with step stops and
the front end rests on the lintel of the stair doorway. The C17 parlour has a
granite ashlar fireplace with a soffit-chamfered oak lintel which has been raised in
height a little. Curious cupboard alcove alongside to left. The crossbeam is
roughly-finished. The roof over this section is 2 bays and has an A-frame truss
with pegged lap-jointed collar and shaped halvings. The pump room contains a large
granite trough.
The front garden is enclosed by a probably C19 low granite rubble wall.
Waye Cottage is both attractive and most interesting. It is a well-preserved
Dartmoor longhouse with some early features of good craftmanship.

Listing NGR: SX6891289927

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537361

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas