Description

BOVEY TRACEY EAST STREET (south side),
SX 8178 Bovey Tracey

11/62 No. 21 The Manor House
-
23.8.55
GV II*

House. Late medieval, superficially remodelled and probably enlarged in early or
mid C19. Roughcast walls of stone, possibly with some cob. Slated roofs with blue
glazed ridge-tiles; at east end of front range 2 old handmade ridge-tiles with low
crestings. West gable of same range has stone coping with a kneeler at the front.
C19 red brick chimneystack on east gable, small rendered stack on west gable. In
centre of front wall a projecting stack (heating former hall) with chamfered plinth
and offsets; later rendered shaft on top. Late C19 or early C20 brick stack on
west wall of rear wing. 3-room and through-passage plan with long lower room; rear
kitchen wing, probably a later addition, at west end. 2 storeys. The front to East
Street now has few windows. To left of the projecting stack is the 6-panelled front
door with cast-iron knocker; the doorway has a moulded wood architrave and a flat
hood on shaped brackets, the soffit of the hood and the space above the door
panelled with raised margin-mouldings. To left of door a 2-light wood window with
straight wooden hood-mould, the lights with pointed heads and leaded panes. Above
the door a single-light window with hood-mould, the window containing a 4-pane wood
casement with 2-pane transom-light. To right of stack the wall has been brought
forward. At right-hand end of ground storey is a corner window with wooden hood-
mould returned round the corner; at the front it has a sash with 8 panes in the
lower section and 4 panes above, while at the side are 2 fixed panes with a transom-
light over. The second storey has 2 wood casements of 3 lights, each light having 2
panes; right-hand window has a hood-mould. To right of this projection the front
edge of the gable-wall is corbelled out in the second storey, almost exactly
matching the corbels on the Little Front House (q.v.) at the west end of East
Street. If this corbel is a pre-1700 feature (and not C19 revival) then this end of
the front wall was timber-framed and jettied, a remarkable thing to find in a rural
type of house, even if it was on the outskirts of the medieval town. In front of
the house is a pavement of old cobbles.
The east gable-wall has no windows, although there is evidence of a blocked doorway
on the ground storey. The west gable-wall has in the second storey 2 wood
mullioned-and-transomed windows, each of 2 lights with 2 panes in each of the lower
parts; straight hood-moulds above. In the apex of the gable is a window with
pointed head and simple hood-mould, possibly a late C19 insertion, it contains a 2-
light wood casement with 2 panes per light and a 3-pane transom-light. The west
wall of rear wing has a second-storey window to left with a pointed head and
straight hood-mould; it contains leaded panes and some coloured glass.
The garden front seems to have been the most important in C19, when it was
embellished with Tudor detail. However, a sketch of circa 1853 shows a plain early
C19 front, suggesting that the Tudor detail was added at a surprisingly late date.
The rear of main range is 3 windows wide; C20 glazed door in centre, having ogee-
headed glazed porch with late C19 windows. To left in ground storey is a 3-light
wood casement window with 2 panes per light; to right an 8-pane sash, the glazing-
bars of upper sash forming pointed arches (not shown in circa 1853 drawing).
Second-storey windows all have 2-light wood casements with 2 panes per light. Every
window, except that at right-hand end of second'storey, has a hood-mould. The
inward-facing front of rear wing is 2 windows wide, all with 3-light wood casements
having 2 panes per light; all with hood-moulds. Centre door with flush panel
nailed over lower part, but 4 panels above; cast-iron knocker. Gabled wood porch
with patterned glazing in side-windows (circa 1853 drawing shows simply a flat hood
on brackets). To left is a slightly lower section of the wing, having a plank door
in ground storey and a C20 window in second storey. In the garden is a pump (shown
in circa 1853 drawing) with C20 wood casing, but old lead outlet pipe into granite
trough.
Interior: former hall has large granite fireplace in front wall, hollow-moulded and
with a flat lintel made of a single piece of granite. Plank-and-muntin partition at
upper (west) end; studs chamfered both sides with diagonal-cut stops towards the
hall. Several studs and panels missing; from the position of the pegs on head-beam
it is difficult to see where original doorway would have been. Internal jetty
projects into hall (which must formerly have been open to the roof); joist-ends are
rounded and chamfered, with step-stops where they abut the partition. Lower (east)
room has gable fireplace with splayed sides, the jambs and back made of very large
granite ashlar blocks. Wooden cranked lintel, chamfered and with scroll-stops;
though unusual, it seems to be a genuine C17 feature. It seems too small to have
served a former kitchen. To its left is a deep, rounded recess, probably designed
for a newel stair. Front and back windows of this room have beneath them C19 panes
with pointed heads. Rear wing contains a large kitchen fireplace, its detail
entirely concealed. In second storey the upper (west) end room has in gable-wall a
corbelled granite chimneypiece with pyramid stops. Roof has complete set of
medieval trusses, although the common rafters have been replaced. Trusses have
cambered collar-beams and threaded purlins; there is provision for a ridge, but
probably not an original one. Over the hall are 2 arch-braced trusses with slots
for 2 tiers of windbraces, a few of which survive. At the upper (west) end of hall
is a closed truss with a framed partition which is visible in second storey and
corresponds to the front of the jetty in the hall. There is no closed truss at the
lower end of the hall, or evidence that one existed. Since the arch-braces stop at
this point, it seems likely there was only a low partition at this end of the hall.
The lower end of the roof had only one tier of windbraces, of which a few survive.
The roof-timbers over hall and lower end seem to be blackened; at the upper end
(beyond the closed truss) the roof has been converted to a garret and the evidence
concealed. The feet of the trusses, visible in second storey, seem to be curved;
they may be raised crucks. Rear wing has C19 roof.
Source: Annie Croker sketchbook, 1853 (Devon Record Office, 2160A add.7/PZ3, p.5).

Listing NGR: SX8184678570

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17534876

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

• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)