Description

WIDECOMBE-IN-
SX 67 NE THE-MOOR
1/199 Rowden Farmhouse
-
GV II

Dartmoor Expedition Centre, formerly a farmhouse. Late C17 or early C18 with minor
C20 addition at the rear; former shippon at right-hand end is of a different build
and could be the remnant of an earlier longhouse. Granite rubble; left-hand gable
covered with roughcast. Half-hipped wheat reed thatched roof; large granite ashlar
chimneystack with plain flat cap at each end of ridge, a little way in from the
half-hip. Shippon to right mostly covered with cement-rendered slate, except for a
patch of corrugated asbestos. 4-room plan. Front door opens on to a staircase;
large room with fireplace at either side and a small unheated room beyond that. 2
storeys, with single-storey lean-tos. House part has a symmetrical 4-window front.
Windows are of 3 lights in the 2 centre bays and 1 light at each end; wood
mullions, possibly original, with C19 small-paned glazing. Plank door in centre and
at each end of ground storey, the centre doorway having a gabled stone porch with
stone seat at either side internally. The ground-storey openings, except for the
left-hand doorway (which has a plain granite lintel) have flat arches with roughly-
shaped voussoirs. The shippon end has a plank door at the left-hand end; to left
of it is a C20 upper-storey window and to right of it a blocked ventilation slit.
There is a stone lean-to against the right-hand end. The lower gable-wall, fronting
the road, has 3 ventilation slits in the ground storey and 1 above, in the gable;
all are now glazed. At the base of the wall is the outlet for a drain. There is a
single ventilation slit in the rear wall.
Interior: left-hand ground-storey room has large fireplace with flat arch having
voussoirs like those on the exterior; chamfered upper-floor beams with run-out
stops. Right-hand room has Victorian cast-iron grate with good patterned tiles.
Roof has trusses with collars pegged to the faces of the principal rafters; no
common rafters, just heavy thatching spars. Former shippon has cobbled floor with
central drain; on rear side feeding trough stones with slots for tethering posts.
There is no connecting door between the house and shippon, nor evidence that it ever
existed. Roof rebuilt in C20.
On the opposite side of the farmyard, to south-east, are a good barn and stable (the
latter converted to living accommodation). Both are separately listed. They make a
good group with the farmhouse.

Listing NGR: SX6996876375

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535619

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

• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)