Description

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX76SE COLSTON ROAD
1011-1/4/17 (West side)
06/01/83 Rill Farmhouse

GV II

Large farmhouse. C17 origins, remodelled in 1790 (date plaque)
for J Edwards, C20 alterations. Local limestone rubble, the
1790 phase originally rendered; slate roof, hipped at left end
and end of rear wing; stacks with tall stone shafts.
Plan: overall T-plan. Main block is single depth, 3 rooms wide
with an entrance passage containing the stair between the 2
left-hand rooms, which are heated from front lateral stacks.
Right-hand kitchen is heated from rear lateral stack. Some of
the partitions at the right end have been altered and there
were formerly 4 rooms in this range. The present centre room
is heated by a probably C17 lateral stack, the left-hand stack
designed to match is part of the 1790s improvements which gave
a symmetrical elevation to the main block at the left end.
The house has front and rear service wings at right-angles at
the right end, the front wing is a former dairy, the rear wing
is heated and may have been a bakehouse with ovens blocked in,
or a laundry: both wings have accommodation over.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical entrance front, blind except
for one window bay. Centre front flanked by projecting lateral
stacks and gabled to the front with a 1790 eaves cornice to
the left and extending across the centre bay. Central front
door with timber doorcase and 6-panel door with flush panels.
The right-hand bay of the main block has one ground- and one
first-floor 12-pane horned sash.
Dairy wing projecting forward to right has 2-window front.
Doorway to right with timber lintel, one ground-floor 3-light
casement. One first-floor 2-light small-pane csement, one
16-pane sash. 4-window rear elevation to the main block with
doorcase 4-panel door, upper panels fielded and fanlight with
spoke glazing bars. Doorcase has deep brackets supporting a
flat porch hood. Door flanked by tripartite sashes, 12-pane in
the centre flanked by 4-pane. One 12-pane horned sash to
ground-floor left, said to replace door. 4 first-floor 12-pane
sashes, 2 are horned, the other 2 are in reduced embrasures. 3
hipped roof attic dormers.
Wing to left has lower roofline and outer lateral stack with
various casements including windows in the end wall. 2:1:1
right return of main block, the gable end wall of the main
range flanked by the service wings. One, 2- and 3-light
casements. Door to laundry/bakehouse block, heated by lateral
stack, to left.
INTERIOR: fireplace to right hand lateral stack has new
lintel, left-hand lateral stack fireplace has chimneypiece
missing. 1790 stair with ramped handrail and stick balusters.
Panelled doors and fine doorcases. Alterations include
imported panelling, doors changed to windows, partitions
altered. Partition between right-hand and centre room made up
of old shutters. Flag floor to kitchen. Dairy retains slate
shelves; bakehouse/laundry has open fireplace with slightly
chamfered lintel.
Roofspace has one C17 truss, original pegged collar removed
and replaced with higher collar. Roof over 1790 section has
one truss with halved collar and metal fixings.
Historical note: A painting owned by previous owners of the
house shows a very smart late C17 house with end pavilions.
This may have been a planned remodelling of Rill, never
executed.

Listing NGR: SX7509364995

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26505061

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)