Description

SX 79 SE CHERITON BISHOP CHERITON BISHOP

10/31 Old Rectory including forecourt
26.8.65 walls

II*

Rectory, now house. Probably late C14-early C15; improved in C16 and late
C17th-early C18; modernised and extended circa 1820. Plastered cob on rubble
footings with plastered brick and cob extension; wheat reed thatched roof. Now a
double-depth plan, 2 storeys throughout. Faces north-west. The older front block
has a 3-room ground plan comprising heated rooms either side of central entrance
hall. with stairs off to left to rear: it is probably adapted from a 3-room-and-
through-passage plan with inner room to south-west (right of front). Single room
kitchen block added behind hall and inner room circa 1820. Main block has gable-
end stacks and rear block has gable-end brick stack to south-west. Unbalanced 4-
window fronte. Front door slightly left of centre behind late C19-early C20 porch
with slated, gabled roof. Windows are mostly C20: 2-light casement with upper
transom immediately right of porch and similar 3-light window at right end, a C19
tripartite sash 6 panes above 6 panes to service room at left end, and 4 first
floor windows - all 3-light casements with eaves rising to gables over. The house
has a complex multi-phase structural history. Roof of front block is the
original and virtually complete although some of cruck feet are cut away to rear.
There are 2 wide bays to the south west and 2 narrow bays to north east (left of
front). 2 of the 3 main trusses are true crucks, the central is a face-pegged
jointed cruck with the principal in 2 parts jointed above collar level with a stop-
splayed scarf and 4 face pegs. All 3 of large scantling with cambered collars and
unchamfered arch braces below. At the apex the principals are fixed into a saddle-
piece carrying a square-set ridge purlin (Alcock Type C). From the top of each
collar a central post rises to saddle-piece and longitudinal curving braces spring
from its base to support the ridge. The 2 wide bays have intermediate trusses of
lighter scantling. The principals are thought to rest on a buried wall plate; the
collars are flat with straight raking braces below; and principals meet over the
top of the ridge with a small lap-jointed yoke immediately below (a variant of
Alcock Type L2). There are single sets of unchamfered windbraces and evidence of
an original half-hip arrangement at south-west end. Most of the contemporary
common rafters survive and there is evidence for a smoke louvre near the centre of
the roof. This unusual devolved crown-post construction is probably the product of
a late C14-Early C15 local carpentry school (cf. Clifford Burton, Drewsteignton
and The Old Rectory, Lustleigh). The roof is heavily smoke-blackened from end to
end proving that the medieval house was heated by an open hearth fire and divided
by low partition screens. Any remaining contemporary features below are hidden by
later work. A late C16-early C17 granite fireplace with hollow-chamfered surround
is exposed in south western room (narrowed slightly on left side). This room and
entrance hall have C17 chamfered and stopped cross beams. The late C17-early C18
dogleg stair has a closed string on first flight but an open string with shaped
brackets above, square-sectioned newels, moulded flat handrail and turned
balusters. Some late C17-early C18 2-panel doors survive on both floors and
contemporary panelled wainscotting lines north east room. Early wide oak
floorboards to first floor. Entrance hall floored with chequer pattern made up of
small square blocks of elm and dark oak (probably laid circa 1820). From each end
of front high cob walls with pantile tops enclose front garden. This is an
important medieval house.

Listing NGR: SX7741293438

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17548319

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

• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  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)