Description

SY 29 NW WIDWORTHY

4/142 Sutton Barton Farmhouse including
- front garden railings

GV II

Farmhouse and country club. C16 or C17 origins, much rebuilt circa 1700, some
modernisation circa 1970. Exposed local stone rubble with Beerstone ashlar quoins
and coping; stone rubble stacks mostly with C19 and C20 brick chimneyshafts, one
however (that one on the main block left of centre) is probably circa 1700 and has
panelled sides; slate roof, formerly thatch.
Plan and development: the main block faces east-south-east, say east. It has a 3-
room-and-through-passage plan. The left (south) end room has a gable-end stack; it
was the kitchen with a service stair to rear. Next to it is the former dining room
with an axial stack backing onto the former kitchen. The other side (north) of the
passage is a parlour with an axial stack backing onto a crosswing which projects
front and back. This crosswing probably contained the principal rooms of the house;
a principal parlour at the front with a gable-end stack, the main stair at the end
of the main block and another room to rear. (There is a C20 flat-roofed extension
on the outer side of the back room). A 2-room plan service wing projects at right
angles to rear of the kitchen.
There are some pre-1700 features and plan elements here, almost as if the house were
rebuilt in stages whilst still occupied. However no internal inspection was
available at the time of this survey and therefore it not clear exactly how much of
the older house remains. It seems that the room left of the present passage was the
former hall and that the site of the earlier through-passage and service room is
occupied by the kitchen. Thus the earlier inner room end was rebuilt and enlarged
as the present passage, parlour and crosswing. The house is 2 storeys with attics
in the rear service wing, and C19 single storey outshot in front of the front left
end.
Exterior: regular 7-window front of C20 replacement casements without glazing bars.
The right 5-window section is symmetrical about the passage front doorway which
still contains its original circa 1700 2-panel door behind a C19 gabled porch. At
the left end there is a C20 lean to porch behind which is a circa 1700 service
doorway containing its original plank door with moulded coverstrips and this doorway
still has its original hood on shaped timber brackets (now incorporated into the
porch). The roof and the both wing roofs are gable-ended with shaped kneelers and
coping. There is a 2-window front on the inner side of the front part of the
crosswing and here most are circa 1700 oak mullion-and-transom windows but with
replacement glass. On the outer side of the crosswing the stair is lit by a circa
1700 mullion-and-transom window containing rectangular panes of leaded glass and the
first floor windows at the back of the main block are similar (some of them
containing old green-tinted glass panes). Alongside the stair window is a reset
early C17 oak 3-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions. The main passage rear
doorway contains its circa 1700 2-panel door under a contemporary hood.
Interior: was not available for inspection at the time of this survey.
Nevertheless a large C16 or C17 fireplace with chamfered oak lintel was seen in the
dining room and the main block parlour has a large bolection chimneypiece of circa
1700 and both these rooms have deeply chamfered axial beams. The circa 1700
staircases survives according to the farmer and the previous list description
reports "a banqueting hall with fine ceiling beams and half an original fireplace
with the date 1591". Circa 1700 joinery detail is suspected throughout the house.
A narrow strip of garden across the front of the main block is enclosed by a low
brick wall with plain C19 cast iron railings and with brick piers with Beerstone
pyramid caps.
This is one of the several Marwood family mansions in the area. Sutton was Sutuna
in Domesday.
Source: Devon SMR.

Listing NGR: SY2080498464

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26457620

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.

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  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
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