Description

NORTH TAWTON
SS 60 SE
6/81 Upcott Farmhouse
GV II*
Farmhouse. Circa late C15 with C17 alterations and addition and C18 extension.
Rendered cob walls. Thatched roof gabled to left end, hipped to right. 3 brick
stacks - 2 are axial, one is at left gable end.
Plan: originally 3-room and through passage plan, lower end to the right, open to
the roof from end to end with central hearth to hall and divided by low partitions.
The inner room was floored, and a solid wall inserted between it and the hall, at an
early stage judging from the light degree of smoke-blackening on the timbers above.
The hall and lower room were probably floored at the same time, in the circa early
C17, possibly 1609. Gable end stacks were added at about this time to the lower and
inner rooms and a hall stack inserted backing onto the passage. In the circa mid
C17 a wing was added behind the higher end containing a framed staircase and a
dairy. In the C18 an unheated service room was added beyond the lower room with a
granary or store above.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front of C20 3-light casements apart
from 2 left-hand ground floor windows which have 4 lights. Wide C19 panelled door
to passage at centre under simple doorhood. Extension at right-hand end has
original window to the right which is 4-light with square section wood mullions. To
its left are stone steps leading to first floor door. Just above the steps
approximately half way up is a date-stone inscribed 1609. Rear elevation has stair
wing at right end with 3 original wooden chamfered mullion windows: the lowest to
the right is of 2 lights, to its left at an intermediate level is a 3-light stair
window with a now reduced and blocked 2-light window just below the gable.
Interior: hall has fireplace with chamfered wooden lintel and granite jamb to the
left. Leading to the inner room and the rear wing are 2 C17 wooden doorframes which
are chamfered with decorative stops. The inner room has a chamfered axial beam with
raised diamond stops. At the higher end of the passage is a moulded head-beam,
possibly to a screen which pre-dates the hall stack. A C19 staircase has been
inserted into the stair wing. At the top of the stairs are 2 C17 chamfered wooden
doorframes.
Roof: the roof appears to be original from end to end although only 1 truss is
visible, over the hall. This is a face-pegged jointed cruck which has a morticed
apex with diagonal ridge and triangular strengthening block below. Butt purlins.
In the original lower gable end wall (now an internal wall) there is a triangular
opening at the very top of the gable which has a jowelled smoke-blackened post
supporting the ridge - this is a rare surviving smoke vent, of a fairly crude form,
which ventilated the open hall. The rest of the roof is considerably smoke-
blackened over the hall and lower end including the thatch and the wall between the
hall and inner room, beyond that the roof is only lightly smoke-blackened.
The interest of this building lies both in its medieval roof with a rare example of
a smoke vent and the C17 modifications with the stair wing and its related features,
the whole survives in an unaltered state with a picturesque facade.

Listing NGR: SS6998902610

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537667

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

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover