Description

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX7467 BUCKFAST ROAD, Buckfast
1011-1/5/32 Guest House at Buckfast Abbey
10/01/51
(Formerly Listed as:
BUCKFAST ROAD, Buckfast
The Gate House and St Theresa's
Cottage)

GV II

Abbey guest house. Early C14 with later alterations. Local
stone rubble; slate roof, partly asbestos, partly natural laid
in diminishing courses, gabled at ends; stacks with stone
rubble or rendered shafts.
Plan: the entrance was on the east side at the SE corner of
the open hall, lit by 2 large windows on the east side and
presumably by 2 similar on the west side. The hall had a
domestic piscina in the south wall and 2 service doorways to
the south end service rooms which were chambered over. The
upper end probably contained dormitories on 2 floors. After
the Dissolution parts of the building were taken down, it was
narrowed when the west wall was replaced and it was reused as
farmbuildings and for modest domestic accommodation. In c1800
the building was converted into a row of cottages. There have
also been late C19/early C20 alterations.
EXTERIOR: Brown's published account indicates precisely how
much medieval and post-medieval masonry survives. 2 storeys.
4:1-window east front. Left-hand block, separately-roofed, has
pointed archway, original entrance to hall, to left and large
opening on first floor. Centre block, now the bookshop has 3
ground-floor 2-light casements; large entrance to late
C19/early C20 cross passage at left end and modern doorway to
booskhop to right of centre. Four 3-light casements to first
floor. Right hand block has one first-floor 3-light casement
and one ground-floor 2-light casement. The east wall has a
scatter of casement windows. The service end is preserved in
an unroofed condition, its features are described in detail by
Brown.
INTERIOR: refer to Brown's report. Historical note: this is an
important medieval survival, a rare surviving example of a
monastic building of this type. Pevsner points out that it
represents "an exceptional discovery, as little is known of
the buildings on the fringes of medieval monastic sites".
(Buildings of England: Pevsner N & Cherry B: Devon: London:
1989-: 222-226; Proceedings of Devon Archaeological Society:
Brown S W: Excavations & Building Recording at Buckfast Abbey,
Devon: Devon: 1988-).

Listing NGR: SX7405067393

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26504792

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

• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)