Description

SS 90 NW THORVERTON UPCOTT LANE
5/160 Upcott Barton
5.4.66
GV II
Farmhouse. C17 or earlier origins, C18 and C19 alterations. Colourwashed rendered
cob on stone rubble footings; thatched roof with plain ridge, half-hipped at right
ends, gabled at left end; axial stack to right of centre with brick shaft, projecting
rear lateral stack with C19 or C20 brick shaft, left end stone stack with set-offs, 2
bread ovens and brick shaft.
Plan: The main range is single depth, 4 rooms wide with a 2-storey porch on the front
to left of centre. The most obvious interpretation of the house is a C17 3 room and
cross passage arrangement, lower end kitchen to the left, the hall heated by the rear
lateral stack, the inner room rebuilt (change in plane on front elevation) and
extended by an unheated 1 room plan addition at the right end. This may be correct
but there is little in the way of exposed C17 interior detail to confirm it and a
chamfered stopped crossbeam in the right end room indicates a likely pre C18 date for
the right hand room and thus for the probable remodelling of the inner room,
suggesting that the 2 left hand rooms may have pre C17 origins. The 2-storey porch
leads into a short passage, a second porch to right of centre faces a straight stair.
2 storeys. Long asymmetrical 7 window front with the eaves thatch eyebrowed over the
first floor windows to the right of the gabled 2-storey porch. Second porch, single-
storey and gabled, to right of centre, C19 single-storey canted bay window to right
of second porch, separate doorway at extreme right into unheated right end room.
There are several changes in plane to the front elevation between the 2 porches.
Variety of C19 and C20 small pane timber casements except first floor window left
which is a probably C18 4-light casement with square leaded panes. A small single-
storey thatched block adjoins the main range at the front left corner. This block is
said originally to have had a stack and may have been a detached bakehouse or wash-
house, the front wall is Cl9 brick.
Interior: Surprisingly few visible early features although C17 carpentry and joinery
may be concealed behind later wall plaster. Chamfered scroll-stopped cross beam in
room with rear lateral stack; chamfered stopped cross beam in right hand room. No
access to roofspace at time of survey (1986) but the feet of the principal rafters
visible upstairs appear to be straight.
A handsome vernacular farmhouse conspicuously and very attractively sited. The
farmhouse is part of the Fursdon Estate.

Listing NGR: SS9256004073

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26551742

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

• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)