Description

SX 99 SE CLYST HONITON

2/19 Higher Holbrook (formerly
11.11.52 listed as Holbrook Farmhouse and
barn)
- II

House, former farmhouse. Early C17 with late C17 refurbishment and late C19
modernisation; barn rebuilt circa 1980. Main walls of plastered cob on rubble
footings, late C17 stair and dairy extension of late C17 brick and part of rear
block rebuilt with late C17 brick-nogged timber framing; stone rubble stacks with
late C19 brick chimney shafts; thatch roof, replaced with tile to former barn.
L-shaped house with the main block facing south-west and having a 3-room and cross-
passage plan. The inner room at the left (north-western) end has a slightly
projecting end stack. The hall has a front projecting lateral stack and the service
end room has a rear lateral stack. Both passage partitions have been removed.
There is a contemporary 3-room rear block at right angles to rear of the service end
room although the front partition has now been removed. The rear block fireplace
backing onto the service end fireplace was rebuilt with late C19 brick. A stair
turret in the angle of the 2 wings blocks the rear of the passage. A late C17
extension to rear of the inner room and overlapping the hall houses the main stair
and a dairy. A former barn at right angles to the right (south-eastern) side of the
rear block was rebuilt as a large parlour circa 1980. Main house is 2 storeys.
Irregular 4-window front of circa 1984 casements with glazing bars. The ground
floor left (inner room) has contemporary French windows. The ground floor windows
all have low segmental arches over suggesting that the embrasures are built of
brick. The front doorway lies right of centre and contains a late C19 4-panel door
and overlight with glazing bars behind a C20 porch with hipped and thatch-roofed
porch. The roof is gable-ended to left and hipped to right as it returns along the
rear block. The outer (south-eastern) side of the rear block has an irregular 3-
window front of C20 casements, most with glazing bars and a contemporary central
door. There shows internally a blocked late C17 oak 3-light window with flat-faced
mullions and internal ogee mouldings. The rear end of the rear block has a C17 7-
light oak framed window with chamfered mullions and iron glazing bars, now reduced
to 3-lights by the removal of alternate mullions. Above are 2 C19 horizontal-
sliding sashes under half-hipped end of the roof. On the inner side of the rear
block the roof is extended to form a pentice. Here there is another C17 4-light oak
window frame with chamfered mullions and a timber-framed first floor.
Interior: the structure is essentially early C17. The hall is ceiled by a series of
upended joists which are thought to be original. It has a red conglomerate ashlar
fireplace with a soffit-chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel. The rear wall has
a late C17 cupboard with shaped shelves but missing its doors. The inner room shows
only its late C19 finish. The service end room also has upended joist ceiling but
here the joists are scratch-moulded. The fireplace here is limestone ashlar with an
oak lintel which is soffit-chamfered with scroll stops and rests on oak pads. It
has some curious blockings around the sides and rear and also hollows carved or worn
on the chamfered sides, all of unknown function. In the rear block the kitchen
fireplace is of late C19 brick, and all C17 features are hidden by C19 plaster. The
winder stair to rear of the passage is probably late C17 since it rises from the
corridor between rear and front blocks rather than rising from the cross passage.
The late C17 main stair rises from the rear of the hall at its upper end. It is an
open well stair with closed string, square newel posts, moulded flat handrail and
turned balusters.
Although some of the first floor crosswalls are probably early C17 the layout was
adapted in the late C17 and most of the joinery detail is also late C17. There are
lobbies on both stair heads and a corridor between. Most of the doors on this level
are 2-panel and many are still hung on H-L hinges. The roof structure is early C17
and intact throughout both wings; A-frame trusses with low pegged lap-jointed
collars to the main front wing and similar with higher collars to the rear wing.
The trusses have carpenters assembly marks. The barn, though rebuilt, reuses its
original C17 truss members in the present roof.
A well-preserved C17 house with an unusual layout and good late C17 added detail.

Listing NGR: SX9940991954

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26498862

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

• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (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)