Description

SHERFORD SX 74 SE 6/71 Ranscombe Farmhouse 26.1.67 II*

Farmhouse, probably built as a small gentry or manor house. Early C17, refenestrated in circa mid C19. Coursed and dressed slatestone rubble. Gable ended slate roof with C19 decorative ridge tiles. At right-hand end is projecting stack of coursed rubble with brick shaft, 2 similar rear lateral stocks. Plan: unusual H-shaped plan with central 2 storey porch. This leads into a lobby which may have been a passage but there is no evidence of a back door, To either side is a large room heated by a fireplace on the rear wall. At either end is a cross wing projecting at both front and rear, each with a newel stair on their inside face at the rear and each probably of 2 rooms. Left-hand wing not now occupied. Exterior: 2 storeys. Symmetrical 5 bay front, each bay gabled, with the outer 2 projecting end a central 2 storey porch. C19 3, 4 and 6-light diamond leaded pane casements with stone hoodmoulds above. Porch has roundheaded chamfered doorway of dressed stones with projecting imposts and dropped keystone. Inner doorway has richly moulded wooden frame and contemporary studded door with moulded stiles and rails forming panels and fleur-de-lys strap hinges. A moulded plinth runs along the front of the house. At the left-hand end a tall section of wall connects the house to an outbuilding projecting to the front. At the right-hand end a garden wall projects incorporating stone piers with moulded cops. The rear elevation of the house has a wing at either end with integral leanto on inner face of each housing newel stairs. Each wing has a 3-light wooden mullion window on the Ist floor and the right-hand wing has a 2-light ovolo-moulded mullion window below. Interior; only partially accessible. Ceiling beams and most fireplaces covered over. Stone newel stair in rear left-hand wing and blocked roundheaded voussoir arch to far left-hand room. Timber newel stairs in rear right-hand wing. Fireplace in left-hand room has ovolo-moulded wooden lintel. There are more moulded wooden doorframes on the 1st floor. The roof structure over the west wing at least is original and has substantial principal rafters which are joined at the base to posts extending down into the wall. Morticed apex, threaded purlins and collars halved and dovetailed onto the principals. Good early C17 houses are unusual in this part of Devon and Ranscombe is a particularly unspoilt example with some features probably still to be revealed.

Listing NGR: SX7606544896

External Links

• Wikidata Q17533353

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

• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]