Description

HENNOCK CHUDLEIGH KNIGHTON
SX 87 NW

5/117 Clay Cutters Arms (formerly listed
- as part of Nos 1, 2, & 3 Claycutters
23.8.55 Cottages)
-
II*

Public House. Second half of C16 or very early C17; right-hand end may be earlier.
Later additions at front and rear. Roughcast cob and stone. Wheat reed thatched
roof, hipped at left-hand end, half-hipped on the right; ridge of far right-hand
section is about half a metre lower than the rest. Rendered brick chimneystack in
left-hand gable. Red sandstone ashlar stack towards right-hand end of ridge, at the
point where the ridge-level drops; stone weathering on right side of stack,
adjusted to lower roof level. In rear wall, off-centre to right, a projecting
stack, also of red sandstone ashlar but with added brick shafts. In C17 the plan
seems to have comprised the standard 3 rooms and a through-passage, with the
addition of an entrance porch at the front and a newel stair with small adjacent
room at the rear, behind the hall and inner room. The inner room end, however, is
lower and separated from the rest by a solid wall; it could be the remains of an
earlier house. The lower end has either been remodelled or extended in C18 or C19,
a further range being built on behind it in C19. Kitchen added at rear in C20. 2
storeys, with 1½;-storey section at right-hand end; single-storey additions at front
and rear. Front is 6 windows wide, the right-hand end having no windows in second
storey. In fourth bay from left a 2-storeyed gabled entrance-porch, the ground
storey of stone, the upper storey possibly of timber-framing. Ceiling of porch has
a double ovolo-moulded beam and a late C16 or early C17 moulded plaster head
surrounded by strapwork. The inner door is C20, but to left of it is an original
double ovolo-moulded wood post and above it an ovolo-moulded wood lintel with raised
run-out stops; above the lintel is a moulded plaster cornice. Upper storey of
porch has remains of a wooden oriel window, coved on the underside and possibly with
carving under the plaster. Above it, but at wall plane, is a C19 wood casement
window of 3 lights each light with 8 panes each. Over that again part of a moulded
timber cornice is just visible, apparently with a slated pent roof built over. To
the left of the porch is a single-storeyed C19 projection with a flat roof. It has
a 2-pane sash window to right and a plank door to left, set back a little. To left
of this again are 2 wood casement windows of 2 lights, each light with 3 panes. To
right of porch are 3 wood casement windows, the centre one a former doorway. The 2
outer casements are of 2 lights, the left-hand one with 3 panes per light and the
right-hand one with 6 panes per light; the former doorway has a fixed sash of 12
panes. In the second storey the first, third and fifth windows from the left have
2-light wood casements with 3 panes per light, while the second window from the left
has a single-light wood casement of 6 panes. The right-hand window is a 3-light
wood casement with 3 panes in the centre light and 6 panes in each of the outer
lights; it is set in an oriel, probably of late C16 or early C17 date, projecting
on 4 moulded corbels. Between the middle 2 corbels is a granite block carved with
the date 1666; this is said to have been re-cut, the orginal date being 1606. The
lower, right-hand section of the building has to right in ground storey a plank door
and to left a 2-light wood casement window with 8 panes per light.
Interior: divisions between hall, passage and lower room have been destroyed to
form a single bar-room. Hall has 2 ovolo-moulded beams with raised run-out stops, a
half-beam at the upper end and a full-beam in the centre, the joists at either side
of it having very small ovolo mouldings. In rear wall is a corbelled granite
chimneypiece, a rare feature in rural Devon buildings. The left-hand side appears
to have been cut away, but the right jamb is hollow-moulded, supporting an ovolo-
moulded corbel and a chamfered lintel; above it is a very small relieving arch. To
right of chimneypiece is a door having a straight-headed chamfered wood frame with
step-stops, and above it an ovolo-moulded wood lintel with step-stops. In the upper
end wall, to left, a door with similar frame, and, to right, a small wall-cupboard
with late C16 or early C17 panelled doors on elaborated butterfly hinges. Inner
room to right of hall, has chamfered beam without visible stops; behind it is a
projecting newel stair, the head of the newel-post carved with chamfer-stops. On
the ground storey one side of the doorframe into the stair survives. Former
through-passage has plain joists above, the front door having a chamfered lintel.
The portion of the lower end next to it also has plain joists and a chamfered beam
with step-stops. The far left-hand end of the bar room has much thinner joists and
is either a later addition or has been remodelled. In second storey the upper end
wall of the room over the hall (now the toilet) has a late C16 or very early C17
piece of moulded plasterwork, probably the overmantel of a fireplace. A pair of
fluted pilasters support a moulded cornice, upon which stand 2 more fluted pilasters
with enriched Ionic capitals, these being linked by a cornice; between them is a
pre-Jacobean royal coat-of-arms with the initials ER. This room has the dated oriel
window mentioned above and was clearly part of a larger room of high quality. The
room over the entrance porch has a door with chamfered wood frame having a cranked
head. Roof over hall, passage and adjacent part of lower room has 3 side-pegged
jointed cruck trusses with through purlins. Apex of roof over hall not inspected,
but truss ove division between hall and passage is clean on the passage side, having
had a partition built into it at a later date.
The building is said to have been divided into 4 cottages at one time, the left-hand
cottage only having been the public house.

Listing NGR: SX8447277437

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536104

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)