Description

SS 90 SW THORVERTON
8/103 Dunsaller
-
II*
Large house. Circa early C16 origins, remodelled and extended in the C17, early C20
rear addition. Whitewashed and rendered, probably local stone rubble; thatched roof,
gabled at left end, hipped at right end; wing hipped to front, gabled to rear ; left
end stack, projecting local stone right end stack with a stone shaft and moulded
cornice, axial stack to right of entrance, rear lateral stack.
Plan and Development T plan with the main range on a rough east-west axis and a north
south crosswing at the eastern (right) end. Complex evolution. The main range is a
3 room and through passage arrangement, 2 rooms to the left, 1 to the right of the
passage. The core of this range is a medieval open hall house, apparently with 2
open hearths, an unusual feature and one which makes it difficult to establish which
was the lower end of the medieval house. The smoke-blackened roof timbers extended
over the room to the left (west) of the passage and partly over the left hand room
suggesting that this may have been the higher end of the medieval house. The
medieval roof clearly also extended over the room to the right of the passage which
is now heated by an axial stack truncating the sooted timbers. The house was
presumably floored in the early C17 when stacks were added. Perhaps later in the C17
the north-south 2 room plan crosswing was added at the (east) right end as a parlour
wing. The 2-storey porch to the through passage is also a C17 addition. In the
early C20 a rear addition in brick brought the rear of the main range flush with the
rear end wall of the wing, the present main stair is in this addition.
Exterior 2 storeys, asymmetrical 4:2 window front, the 2 windows in the crosswing,
with a gabled 2 storey porch to the through passage. The outer door of the porch has
a richly-moulded wooden frame with a double ovolo on the inside and a single ovolo on
the exterior. The inner doorway has an ovolo-moulded frame with urn stops and a
timber door with studs. 2-light casement in porch gable with square leaded panes.
The windows in the front of the wing are C20 with metal frames and square leaded
panes; the other windows are of various designs and sizes including several probably
C18 3-light casements with square leaded panes, 1 first floor probably C18 sliding
sash to the right of the porch and timber sashes and casements with glazing bars.
The east elevation has several sliding sashes; the left return of the main range has
a moulded thatched bread oven.
Interior The room to the right of the passage, which is paved with C18 black and
white stone slabs, has a partly blocked massive C17 fireplace with a chamfered C17
lintel and local volcanic stone jambs with pyramid stops. The rear of the stack,
backing on to the passage is fine ashlar masonry of local volcanic trap. The room to
the left of the passage, heated from a lateral stack has a small, probably rebuilt
fireplace with stone jambs and a timber lintel; chamfered axial beam with runout
stops resting on a shoulder-headed post against the plank and muntin passage screen
which has chamfered muntins and a shoulder-headed doorway into the passage. The left
hand room of the range has a plastered over cross beam and large C17 kitchen
fireplace of volcanic stone with a bread oven and chamfered lintel with scroll-stops.
The east crosswing has been repartitioned ; the southern room has a fine fireplace
with moulded volcanic stone jambs with cushion stops and an ovolo-moulded oak lintel.
Roof The smoke-blackened roof is of side-pegged jointed curck construction with a
butt-ridge, 2 tiers of purlins and some sooted thatch. A large-framed partition
above the passage/service screen is smoke-blackened on both sides, indicating 2 open
hearths. The roof over the present hall is of x apex pegged construction and may be
an C18 replacement which has a higher roofline than its medieval predecessor. The
eastern wing has pegged collar rafter roof trusses with 2 sets of threaded purlins
and a diagonally-set ridge. The principals rest awkwardly on very short jointed
cruck posts which may be re-used.
Dunsaller is documented in 1238 as Dunneshalre. A substantial evolved house of late
medieval origins.
Thorp, J. MS notes.

Listing NGR: SS9210601406

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17530985

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

• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability