Description

CULMSTOCK FORE STREET, Culmstock
ST 11 SW
10/52 Thornbank
-
GV II
House. C16 or C17 origins, refurbished, rearranged and enlarged in the mid C19.
Plastered stone rubble, maybe with cob; stone rubble stacks with C19 brick; slate
roof, probably thatch before the mid C19.
Plan and development: originally a 3-room-and-through-passage plan house set back
from the street and facing north. Although heavily refurbished the basic plan form
remains. At the left (east) end is a small unheated inner room. The former hall
and service end room both have rear lateral stacks. In the mid C19 service rear
blocks were built at right angles behind each end (that to left with an outer
lateral stack) and a new stairblock built behind the passage in between the rear
blocks. Too little of the early carpentry shows for an accurate assessment of the
historic development of the house before the mid C19. Nevertheless it seems likely
that the house began as some form of open hall house. The hall was floored over in
the C17. The house is 2 storeys.
Exterior: regular but not symmetrical 4-window front of mid C19 casements with
glazing bars margin panes. The passage front doorway is right of centre and
contains a mid C19 6-panel door behind a contemporary timber porch; panelled square-
section posts and moulded entablature. The plaster front is incised as ashlar.
Plain eaves and roof is hipped each end. More similar casements to rear.
Interior: is largely the result of mid C19 refurbishment and most of the joinery
details dates from then. The only earlier feature exposed is the C17 hall
crossbeam; it is soffit-chamfered with scroll stops. The hall fireplace has been
rebuilt with C19 brick. The pre-C19 plan is preserved and therefore earlier
carpentry detail probably survives behind C19 plaster. The roof was not available
for inspection at the time of this survey although the owner claims that some
(jointed?) cruck timbers survive.
Thornbank forms part of a group of attractive listed buildings in the vicinity of
the Church of All Saints (q.v). Although it seems likely that there are C16 and C17
features hidden in the house it must be recognised that much of the character of
this house is the result of its mid C19 refurbisnment.

Listing NGR: ST1015013488

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26400301

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

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990