Description

SX 79 SW DREWSTEIGNTON DREWSTEIGNTON

5/108 Church Rooms
22.2.67

GV II*

Parish hall, former school and originally a church house. Early or mid C16,
refurbished circa 1980. Coursed blocks of masssive granite ashlar with a chamfered
plinth; granite ashlar stack and chimney shaft; slate roof (formerly thatch).
Plan: the building faces south and is built across and terraced into the hillslope.
There are 2 ground floor rooms; a small unheated room at the right (east) end and a
left room heated by a large projecting end stack. There is a stone newel stair to
rear of the fireplace. Single first floor room is unheated and because of the slope
can be entered directly from the there and the right end. It appears to be a single
phase building, always 2 storeys.
Exterior: irregular 3-window front of circa 1980 timber-mullioned casements
containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. The 2 doorways, one to each ground
floor room, contain part-glazed studded plank doors. All the apertures have slate
hoods. Another similar door to the right end at first floor level and similar rear
fenestration. The circa 1980 joinery was designed to complement the ancient
character of the building. The roof is gable-ended.
Good interior: is well preserved. The ground floor rooms are separated by an oak
plank-and-muntin screen. The headbeam has a moulded cornice and the muntins are
chamfered with step stops. It contains a shoulder-headed doorframe. The tops of
the planks have been knocked out to create a row of internal windows. The 3-bay
ceiling of the main room is carried on 2 massive soffit-chamfered and step-stopped
crossbeams and the plain joists are exposed. The fireplace is massive and built of
granite ashlar with a plain chamfered surround. At the head of the stairs is an oak
round-headed doorframe. The first floor room is open to the 3-bay roof which is
carried by side-pegged jointed cruck trusses with cambered collars. Roofspace was
not available for inspection at the time of this survey.
This is an interesting and well-preserved former church house intruding into the
churchyard.

Listing NGR: SX7363290819

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537239

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

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)