Description

WIDECOMBE-IN- VENTON
SX 77 NW THE-MOOR
2/256 Higher Venton Farmhouse
23.8.55 including the garden wall in
front of the house (formerly listed
GV as Venton)
II
Farmhouse, formerly a long house. C16 or earlier; porch added 1739, north-west
wing in 1904. Granite rubble; front wall covered with roughcast. Thatched roof,
hipped on left; entrance-porch tiled, lean-to in front of former shippon covered
with corrugated iron. Old rendered ohimneystackon ridge behind entrance-porch and
another towards right-hand end. Later granite stack on right gable. Plan has 3
domestic rooms to right of through-passage, the right-hand 2 and the 1904 wing now
in separate occupation. Former shippon to left of passage has been converted to a
kitchen since at least 1948; the far end is still occupied by calves. Entrance-
porch has dairy built into right-hand side. 2 storeys; lean-to single-storeyed.
House-part is 4 windows wide. C19 casements with glazing-bars, except for right-
hand ground-storey window which is late C16 or C17; it is of 3 lights with hollow-
moulded granite mullions. Immediately to the left of it is a chamfered granite
doorway with an almost rounded arch. Above doorway is a metal sundial. Entrance-
porch has doorway to left with a rounded granite head made from a single piece of
stone; on it is carved the date 1739 and 2 illegible initials. Inside the porch to
right is a stone seat; to left is a round archway leading into the lean-to, this
being flanked by 2 more stone seats. Doorway to house has chamfered, straight-
headed wood frame; C16 or C17 plank door with moulded ribs and wrought-iron strap-
hinges. Shippon has a ventilation slit, now covered by the lean-to, and another one
in the rear wall. Gable-wall of shippon has a flight of granite steps leading to
the loft door; drain outlet runs under it. There seems to be a blocked ventilation
slit to left of the steps. The garden wall in front of the house is of massive,
mostly unmortared granite boulders.
Interior: Former hall has fireplace, probably of C16, backing on to passage;
chamfered granite jambs and lintel. Chamfered upper-floor beam with unusual,
deeply-cut step-stop. Upper floor and right-hand end of house not inspected, but
pre-1904 part of the latter is reported by the owner to have 2 stone staircases.
Roof over shippon end has plain principal rafters with collars pegged to their
faces. No common rafters.
Source: information from the present owner, who says the 1904 wing was built by his
predecessor.

Listing NGR: SX7216276069

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26551045

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

• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)