Description

SY 29 NW WIDWORTHY

4/156 Old Triffords Farmhouse

-
6.10.87
- II*

Farmhouse. Early-mid C16 with major later C16 and C17 improvements including a mid
C17 parlour crosswing, some C19 alterations. Parts are local stone and flint rubble,
parts are cob on stone rubble footings, some of it is plastered; stone rubble stacks
topped with C19 and C20 brick; thatch roof covered with corrugated iron and plastic.

Plan development: L-plan farmhouse. The main block has a 3-room-and-through-passage
plan. It faces south-east and is built down the hillslope. Uphill at the left (south-
west) end there is a small unheated inner room which was a dairy or buttery. The hall
is next to it and it has a axial stack backing onto the passage. Downhill at the
right (north-east) end is an unheated service room (now a woodstore) which is open
to the roof. There is no passage partition on the lower (service room) side. A
1-room plan parlour crosswing projects at right angles in front angles in front of
(and overlapping a little) the left end. It has a stack serving ground and first
floor chambers backing onto the main block. There is a stair turret in the angle of
the 2 wings which also provides a lobby between the hall and parlour wing.

The original house, the main block, had a 3-room-and-through-passage plan. The hall
was open to the roof and heated by an open hearth fire. There was a bedchamber over
the inner room dairy/buttery. The passage and service room woodstore are still open
to roof. The roof structure is clean and therefore if it is original must have been
separated from the hall by a full height crosswall. The hall stack was inserted in
the mid-lage and the hall was floored over in the mid Cl7, probably at the same time
that the parlour wing and stair turret was built. From this time on the hall was
used as the kitchen. The passage and service end woodstore is open to the roof and
there is an outshot to rear of this section; the rest of the main block is 2 storeys
and the parlour crosswing is 2 storeys with a loft above.

Exterior: the main block front has a single window (to the hall) which is a late C19-
early C20 casement with glazing bars. The passage front doorway to right of this
window contains a c19 2-flap plank door. The front side of the stair turret contains
a probably Cl7 small oak-framed light containing rectangular panes of glass. The
inner side of the parlour crosswing contains at ground floor level an original Beer-
stone 3-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions and hoodmould and containing
rectangular panes of leaded glass. The other windows around the house are late C19-
early C20 casements with glazing bars. The main block roof is hipped both ends and
the parlour wing roof is gable-ended. Alongside the ground floor window in the end
of the parlour wing is a limestone block inscribed with the date 1668 which may be
the date of the parlour wing.

Interior: the passage and service end woodstore is open to roof and the lower
passage partition has been removed. The hall has a large stone fireplace with 2
chamfered oak lintels and includes an oven (relined in the C19). The crossbeam has
plain chamfered. The partition at the upper end of the hall is an oak plank-and-
muntin screen which is exposed only in the dairy/buttery. The main block roof is
carried on side-pegged jointed cruck trusses. The section over the hall including
the underside of the original thatch there is sooted from the original open hearth
fire. The truss over the hall/inner room partition was originally closed and it is
blackened on the hall side only. Both end sections of the main block roof is clean.
The stair turret contains an early C17 winder stair. The parlour fireplace is blocked
by a Cl9 grate but the original fireplace shows; it is Membury stone ashlar with a
Tudor arch head. There is a smaller version to the chamber above. Both the parlour
and chamber have chamfered and scroll-stopped crossbeams. The chimneybreast wall of
the parlour chamber includes a couple of Cl7 moulded plaster rosettes. The parlour
wing is carried on side-pegged jointed cruck trusses.

Old Triffords farmhouse has now (1987) been emply for 30-40 years and has had no C20
modernisation. It is an interesting and attractive multi-phase Devon farmhouse.

Listing NGR: SY2252899218

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17546890

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

• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)