Description

SX 79 SE CHERITON BISHOP

10/5 Gorwyn Farmhouse

II*

Farmhouse, now house. Probably C15, with C16 and C17 improvements, C17 and C18
extensions; modernised circa 1960. Plastered cob on rubble footings; stone
stacks of dressed volcanic stone and granite, some topped with C19 brick; thatched
roof. Original three-room-and-through-passage plan with inner room at north-west
end. C17 wing behind inner room and C18 extension to service end and contemporary
rear block behind. Now 2 storeys throughout, facing south-west. Axial stacks
backing onto both sides of through passage and kithcen stack on gable end of C17
wing. 5 window front of C20 wooden casements, 2, 3 or 4 lights of different sizes,
all with glazing bars. Chamber window above hall rises into thatch. Central door
behind C20 open-sided timber porch with hipped thatched roof. Main roof is half-
hipped to left, hipped to right, and C16 dressed granite stack projects above the
ridge. Well-preserved interior of a house with a long and complex structural
history. Smoke-blackened roof timbers and thatch over hall, inner room and passage
suggests an original house heated by an open hearth fire and divided by low
partitions. Two trusses survive over hall, both jointed crucks resting on wooden
plates .75m above ground level. Truss towards inner room is a plain, face-pegged
Jointed cruck but the other is unusually elaborate. The side-pegged jointed cruck
truss has chamfered arch-bracing below the collar and evidence of a (removed)
carved boss at the apex. The cruck posts are fashioned with a moulded false corbel
on a chamfered shaft which descends below the present face to an area of rough face
where carving (possibly an angel) has been removed. In later C16 full-height cob
cross walls were inserted at the upper end of the hall and lower side of the
passage, the inner room was floored with plain joists, a chamber created over the
passage resting on a step stopped beam, the hall fireplace (dressed volcanic stone
with oak lintel) inserted, and the small oak flat-arched door to right of fireplace
may have led to stairs and passage chamber. Service room probably floored about
same time but no beams exposed and granite fireplace rebuilt in C20. Hall floored
in mid C17 with moulded beams and bar-runout stops. C19 kitchen block has stone
fireplace with oak lintel and (rebuilt) brick side oven. Second rear block
apparently rebuilt as service wing (possibly stables etc) with plain chamfered
cross-beams and was converted into self-contained accommodation in C20 with south-
east front in same style as main front. Pitched-stone courtyard to rear enclosed
by wings and high cob wall with thatched top.
An important farmhouse with most of its early structure preserved. The decorative
false corbels and shafts of the hall cruck-posts may be unique in Devon.

Listing NGR: SX7817193745

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17547970

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

• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings
• 
  Building Small Projects (New Best of Fine Woodworking)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)