Description

EXMINSTER EXMINSTER
SX 98 NW

4/48 The Priest's House
-

GV II

Detached kitchen or possibly church house. Probably late C15/early C16. Substantial
C20 alterations. Dressed coursed Heavitree brecchia; thatched roof gabled at ends;
right end projecting stack, slightly projecting corbelled first floor stack on rear
wall, shaft dismantled.
The original function of the building is unclear. The ground floor is divided by a
stone wall between 1 large heated room to the right and a narrow unheated room to the
left. Opposed front and rear doorways give direct access into the heated room
immediately to the right of the internal stone wall. The first floor consists of a
single room heated by the stack on the rear wall, access to the first floor is from
the exterior via a straight stair adjacent to the left end wall. In 1679, according
to Barley, it was described as "an old house built with stone and covered with reed,
two parts (i.e. rooms) in the bottoms, one in the top, one oven to bake standing in
the chimney and place to brew". The building may have been a detached kitchen to a
house that no longer exists, or possibly a church ale and bake house with some kind
of public room on the first floor. A single storey lean-to adjoining at the left end
is in brick, but the front wall, adjacent to the front wall of the main block is
Heavitree brecchia and the building may have extended further to the left. A short
section of brecchia walling at right angles to the front of the building could also
have been part of the early arrangement. C20 alterations have included the insertion
of metal girders to carry the first floor joists, which are probably C20, and the
insertion of a number of C20 windows.
2 storeys asymmetrical 2 windows front. At the extreme left steps rise to a Tudor
arched rebated doorway leading to the stair. A 2-centred chamfered arched doorway to
right of centre has brecchia voussoirs, to the right of the doorway a window with
voussoirs, a cranked head and C20 glazing; to the left of the doorway a probably
inserted rectangular window with C20 glazing. Above this window, a 1-light chamfered
window with C20 glazing. There appears to be a second similar window on the first
floor to the right, although this is partly obscured by foilage. The rear elevation
has a blocked chamfered 2 centred doorway and a first floor slightly projecting
corbelled stack to the right (shaft no longer exists). 2 first floor and 2 ground
floor windows appear to be C20 insertions.
Interior: The ground floor has a massive fireplace with a segmental brecchia arch.
To the left of the fireplace a rounded recess may have been an oven. A 2-centred
chamfered stopped stone doorway in the internal wall leads into the unheated room to
the left. The C20 ceiling replacement makes it difficult to judge whether there was
ever a second cross wall forming a passage. The first floor has a smaller fireplace
with brecchia ashlar jambs and a chamfered lintel with straight cut stops. No access
to roofspace at time of survey (1985), but 1 visible principal rafter appears to be
straight and rests on a timber pad.
An intriguing early building which has survived in the centre of Exminster village.
It is gable on to, and slightly set back from the road.

Listing NGR: SX9445687827

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26389295

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

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)