Description

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX7466 FORE STREET
1011-1/7/89 (North side)
06/01/83 No.55
including walls of rear plot
(Formerly Listed as:
FORE STREET
(North side)
No.55)

GV II

House with shop. Main block probably late C18/early C19; rear
wing c1700, late C19 shop front; shop used as bakery. Ground
floor probably stone, upper storeys slate-hung, rear wing
partly stone rubble, partly timber-framed and rendered; slate
roof, hipped at left end, gabled at right end; stacks to main
block not seen on survey; end stack to rear wing.
Plan: main block double depth, one room wide with cartway at
the left end. Rear associated with narrow courtyard and long
rear plot that runs down to River Mardle. Rear left wing at
right-angles probably c1700 in origin with jettied pentice.
Beyond the wing a small 2-storey 5-bay building in poor state
of repair, possibly originally a cottage or with some
semi-industrial use.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys. Asymmetrical 2-window front with regular
fenestration. Ground floor has cartway to the left with a C19
plank door with strap hinges incorporating a wicket with strap
hinge. Good late C19 shop front (identical to one in
Moretonhampstead) with plate-glass windows with fluted
cast-iron columns with moulded bases and lively foliage
capitals canted in towards a recessed glazed shop door with a
low panel and deep overlight. Lattice ironwork ventilation
grille above windows. 2 first- and 2 second-floor 16-pane late
C18 or early C19 16-pane hornless sashes.
The rear elevation has 2 large probably c1800 20-pane sash
windows with brick arches and a C20 doorway. The 3-storey rear
wing is partly blocked off following a fire and clad in
corrugated-iron on the courtyard side. It has an end stack at
the junction with the cottage.
The elevation facing the court is timber-framed with a deep
jetty or pentice, supported on 2 stone rubble piers running at
right angles to the main block and flanking the narrow rear
courtyard. The pentice has chamfered cross beams and chamfered
axial joists and the framing of the outer wall above it is
quite substantial, though fixed with nails. The rear elevation
is stone rubble.
The 5-bay cottage or industrial building beyond is stone
rubble, roof hipped at end, most of the slate roof missing at
time of survey (1992). The courtyard elevation has 2
ground-floor windows with timber lintels, 2 ground-floor
doorways and 2 loft doors. One ground-floor window and one
loft door on the rear wall.
INTERIOR: ground floor of rear wing is plain with C20 lining
to the walls, upper floors also quite plain, fireplace appears
to be quite small but not completely available for inspection
at time of survey. Cottage/industrial building retains a slate
floor and first-floor fireplace knocked into back of rear
wing's stack. Floor of upper storey is missing. 5 roof trusses
with bolted collars and halved apexes.
Subsidiary features: stone rubble rear walls extend along rear
plot to River Mardle.
This is an important example of rear urban development on what
is probably a medieval plot. Presumably the pentice
arrangement gave dry access to whatever industrial use was
carried out in the smaller rear block.

Listing NGR: SX7401366145

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26512588

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

• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide