Description

SS 72 SE BISHOP'S NYMPTON AVERCOMBE

6/38 Knowle Cottage

GV II

Small house, disused at time of survey. Probably mid/late C17 with some circa mid
C19 refashioning. Cob on stone rubble footings; corrugated asbestos roof (thatched
until at least 1960, old list description), gabled at ends; end stacks.
Plan: The C17 arrangement was a 2 room and cross passage plan house with a
kitchen/living room to the left and a slightly smaller parlour to the right. A
doorway in the rear wall of the left hand room gave access to rear stair projection
behind the cross passage. C19 alterations involved inserting a staircase in the end
of the cross passage and replacing the earlier stair in the stair projection with a
second C19 stair and gallery. Narrow rear service rooms were added, a back kitchen
to the rear left and a potato store to the rear right. The effect of the alterations
was to convert the house to a double depth plan with efficient circulation, although
the C17 plan form is still legible. A second doorway, giving access to the left hand
room from the front, may also be C19: this means that each half of the house, left
and right, could have functioned virtually independently with an entrance, staircase,
principal room and service room.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3 window front with a half-glazed C19 front door
to right of centre into the passage, C19 plank door to the left into the left hand
room. C19 2- and 3-light timber casement windows with glazing bars. The left return
has a blocked 2-light timber mullioned window and a projection containing the bread
oven bulge and an outside lavatory.
Interior: Good survival of C17 features in a small house. The left hand room has a
chamfered axial beam which extends across the passage, a C17 chamfered doorframe to
the passage and to the rear service room, an open fireplace with a chamfered
doorframe to the passage and to the rear service room, an open fireplace with a
chamfered lintel with step stops and a fixed bench in the front left corner. The
right hand room has a C17 chamfered doorframe to the passage cased in the C19, a
chamfered axial beam with hollow steps stops and C19 vertical matchboard dado
panelling and a bench in the front right corner. The rear right service room has a
cobbled floor and a blocked stair window to the C17 stair projection.
On the first floor principal rafters visible at time of survey appear to be straight.
A small traditional house, rich in interior features.

Ground plan recorded by James Moir and deposited in the South Molton Archive, South
Molton Library.

Listing NGR: SS7669823315

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26456397

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock