Description

DUNSFORD
SX 89 SW

3/20 South Halstow Farmhouse

- II

Farmhouse. Circa early C16 origins, circa late C17 remodelling. Whitewashed
rendered cob; slate roof gabled at ends; projecting front lateral stack with brick
shaft, projecting right end stack, left end stack.
Complex development. The remains of 2 smoke-blackened medieval roofs at different
levels is puzzling, it is possible that the hall was enlarged and that the higher of
the 2 roofs (over the lower end) originally extended above the lower roof. There is
documentary evidence of the building being partly floored in 1539. The present plan
is 3 room and through passage the lower end to the left, the hall heated by a front
lateral stack the inner and lower end rooms heated from gable end stacks, small rear
left and right projections contain stairs and probably post date the fabric of the
main range. A rear lean-to between the projections is likely to be later still.
2 storeys. Asymmetrical 5-window front with a C20 flat-roofed porch to the passage
to the left of a projecting lateral stack with brick shaft. 16-pane sash windows to
the left of the porch, 2-light casements, 6 panes per light to the right.
Interior The hall has an open fireplace with stone jambs and a chamfered stopped
lintel, a stone paved floor and a chamfered stopped cross beam. The lower end room
has a chamfered cross beam and an open fireplace with Posbury stone jambs and a
chamfered lintel. There are 2 circa late C17 texts painted directly on to the wall
plaster on the first floor. One, on the wall-of the rear left stair well is a verse
with a painted border. A second text above a doorway has a painted border of
arabesques and foliage; the text may be repaintedbJtthe initials "G H" at the top
appear to be original.
Of the 2 medieval roofs below a C19 or C20 roof the lower roof survives as 1 jointed
cruck truss and the ridge which has been propped up on the cob wall between the inner
room and hall, which is also sooted. 2 trusses of a roof at a higher level survive,
1 truss over the lower end room.
A lease of -1539 refers to "one parlor within the hall there, with a chamber over"
(D.R.O. 21/16/33 [DD44277]).
An attractive evolved farmhouse with some rare survivals of late C17 murals. South
Halsow has been quoted as an example of a Devon Farmhouse of which "the entire
history from Domesday to modern times can be constructed from the appropriate
records"
T.D.A., VOL XIV (1962) p. 134.

Listing NGR: SX8234692319

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26509461

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

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)