Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 20/06/2018

SS 70 SW
2/170

DOWN ST MARY
Wistaria Cottage, St Georges Cottage and The Old Post Office

(Formerly listed as Wisteria Cottage, St Georges and Marydowne)

GV
II
Three cottages. Circa 1870-1880. Partly exposed rubble, partly plastered rubble, partly brick (now whitewashed); stone rubble stacks with plastered rubble chimney shafts; red tile roof.

Row of three contemporary cottages facing north east (backing on to churchyard) with irregular plans and built to appear as though it results from different periods.Wistaria Cottage at left (south east) end is two rooms deep with door in left gable end and axial stack in party wall with adjoining St Georges Cottage. St Georges Cottage comprises entrance lobby with large room with axial stack in party wall with adjoining The Old Post Office which also shares the same stack. The Old Post Office has two room plan, the right end (north western) room with end stack.

Two storeys. Tudor Gothic cottages ornee. Irregular frontage is largely original. Windows have heavy shoulder-headed timber frames containing casements with glazing bars and with timber ovolo-moulded hoods. Similar door frames include sunken spandrels. The stone front of Wistaria Cottage has an original single light window on each floor and an inserted C20 casement on first floor right. St Georges Cottage and adjoining half of The Old Post Office have unified original front comprising three ground floor single light windows, two first floor gabled half dormers in same style with single light to right and two-lights to left, doorway right of centre (to St Georges Cottage) and recessed niche above with hoodmould. The plastered front is enriched with two horizontal bands and a cornice of ornamental sgraffito plasterwork. Using layers of buff, blue grey and red plaster repeating patterns both floral and geometric have been picked out. The shoulder-headed niche includes an attractive heraldic achievement in sgraffito plasterwork. This section and Wistaria Cottage have continuous gable-ended roof with large plastered chimney shafts with soffit moulded coping. At right end is a brick pilaster buttress and right end room of The Old Post Office has brick front and includes original doorway with C20 curving bay window to right and original first floor single light window. It has a hipped roof leaning against gable end of main block and plain brick chimney shaft. Left gable end (Wistaria Cottage) has original doorway and C20 casements. Rear elevation is mostly exposed rubble including C20 casements but two original windows to St Georges Cottage.

An interesting and attractive row of cottages and important for its revival of ornamental sgraffito plasterwork. They were undoubtedly built by W.T.A Radford who was squire, parson, patron and incumbent and also a founder member of the Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society. He had a great interest in surface treatment and proposed a sgraffito plasterwork revival although this is the only C19 domestic example known in Devon.

Source Devon C19 Church Project

Listing NGR: SS7431404471

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26551008

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 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  For the Record