Description

MANATON
SX 78 SW
4/42 North Heathercombe
-
- II

House, formerly farmhouse. Probably late C15 with subsequent alterations in C16,
C17 and C18 and modernised late C20. Rendered granite rubble walls. Granite
rubble chimney stacks with drip-courses and tapering granite caps. Thatched roof
to right and hipped to left. Slate roof to outshut at rear.
Original plan three room and through passage with open hall and possibly low
partitions. Re-modelled in second half of C16 when a closed truss was inserted
between the hall and inner room, inner room possibly ceiled at this stage and newel
staircase added. Hall fireplace and ceiling inserted probably early C17. Also at
this stage it is likely that the lower end was re-roofed and the porch added to the
front of the passage. In C18 rear outshut added.
2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3-window front of C20 2, 3 and 4-light wooden casement
windows with glazing bars in small openings. Through passage doorway to right of
centre with C17 studded plank door in contemporary rendered stone porch with seats
either side and thatched gable roof. Reputedly the porch once had a granite arched
doorway. Granite rubble outshut at rear with C20 casements and plank door to left
of centre. Granite rubble garden walls to front of house with dressed quoins and
flat coping stones with slight return towards the house porch. Left hand wall
curves back to house and at upper end incorporates 6 bee-boles with corbelled
roofs. To right of door the wall extends approximately 13 metres northwards with 1
break. The wall ranges from 1 to 2 metres high.
Interior: although recent modernisation has considerably altered the plan of the
house a number of good early features survive. 2 smoke-blackened roof trusses of
differing types remain. Over the hall is the remains of an original truss of very
large scantling with curved feet and a morticed collar above which the truss is cut
off. There is a mortice in the top of the principal where it is cut off. Only a
small section of collar survives. (This truss is similar in form to the roof in
Penellick Farmhouse, Pelynt, Cornwall). The other early truss is the closed truss
at the higher end of the hall which is also smoke-blackened on the hall side. This
consists of a blade morticed into a wall-post but without the typical curve of the
usual jointed cruck. The joint is side-pegged on the hall side. There is a
straight collar notched and halved onto the principal rafters. The purlins and
ridge are threaded. Between these 2 roof trusses the purlins and rafters are also
smoke-blackened. Over the lower end are plain C17 trusses.
The ground floor partition between hall and inner room has been removed; on the
rear wall of the hall, probably close to the position of the partition, a stone
newel staircase rises leading to the chamber above the inner room. The hall
fireplace is granite framed with a corbelled chamfered lintel. The corbel stones
are curved with chamfered edge and the jambs are also chamfered with rough stops.
The fireplace back adjoining the cross passage is constructed of granite ashlar
with a coved cornice. The lower room has a heavy unchamfered cross beam and a 4
fielded panel door. Elsewhere in the house several C17 plank doors survive,
studded with old strap hinges.
Although considerably modernised this house preserves a very traditional appearance
from the outside and internally contains several early features of particular
interest because of relatively unusual construction such as the 2 early roof
trusses and the corbelled fireplace.

Listing NGR: SX7185181066

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26389521

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

• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)