Description

DIPTFORD
SX75NW Diptford Court
4/216
9.2.61

II

House, formerly a farmhouse. Probably C16, extended in the early to mid
C17 and possibly, again in the late C17 or C18; remodelled and extended in
the early C19 and extended again in the late C20. Whitewashed rendered
stone rubble; the black and the rear wing have painted stone rubble walls;
the C20 additions are partly slate hung at the back. Dry slate roof with
gabled ends and wooden modillion eaves cornice at the front. The right
hand east end of the front range and the rear wing have asbestos slate
roofs. rendered stacks with recessed tops with weathering; situated at
right and left gable lends of drain range, gable end of back wing and a
rear lateral stack at the rear of the main range now within the C20
addition.
Plan: A long main range with a wing at the rear of the left hand end. The
ground is lower at the left end and rises at the rear. The main range is
2 storeys and 5 rooms long. The right hand end room is a late C20 addison.
The central room (now the entrance hall) and the room to its left (now the
dining room) appear to be the original extent of this range; it has 4 early
or mid C17 roof trusses which may be the date of this section which is
defined by full height partition walls. Behind the left hand end of this
part there is a short wide wing with a gable end stack which judging by the
one surviving late C16 or early C17 roof truss, must have been built before
the front range when the latter was re-roofed in the C17. The rear wings
full-height south gable end wall at the junction of the 2 ranges supports
the hypothesis that the rear wing is the earlier part. In the inner angle
of the 2 ranges there is a turret with a probably C17 winder stair. But
above that stair and also in the angle a smaller newel stairs rises from
the first floor of the rear wing and winds back into the roof of the wing.
Therefore it appears that the wing was originally taller. The room to the
right of centre (drawing room) was probably added later in the C17 or C18;
it has a rear lateral stack and is contemporary with an earlier than a
further stair tower which is at the back of the entrance hall; this stair
tower contains an early C19 staircase and is integral with the small closet
that overlaps the back of the right hand room (drawing room). At the lower
left hand end there is a small service room with access from the rear wing
and was probably added in the early C19 when the whole house was re-
modelled and the eaves of the front range raised to form a fashionable new
front. The early C19 room plan was probably as it is now that is:- a
central entrance hall with the main stair in a tower at the back, a drawing
room to the right and a dining room to the left, the left end room was
probably the pantry; the wing behind the pantry and dining room was the
kitchen with the back stairs in the old stair turret in the angle.
Probably in the C18 or early C19 an outbuilding was added behind the
kitchen wing which was further extended in the C19 and converted into a
separate cottage in the late C20. Also in the late C20 a 2-storey addition
was added behind the right hand end and a 2-storey 1-room plan extension at
the right hand end.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical south front. Long range of widely spaced
windows. The 6 first floor windows not aligned over the 4 ground floor
windows. First floor 3 square 12-pane sashes to left and tripartite sash
to right of centre (4:46:4) and a larger tripartite sash to right. Ground
floor has 16-pane sash to left and tripartite (8:12:8) sash to left and
right of doorway. The doorway which is off centre to the left has early
C19 flush panel double doors, the top panel glazed and shallow early C19
porch with a slender wooden columns supporting a canopy with a panelled
soffit. All the windows at the front are early, C19 sashes complete with
glazing bars except for the ground floor left which is a C20 replacement
and the ground and first floor right hand windows which are in the late C20
addition, the ground floor right hand is a French door.
The rear wing has a C19 3-light casement with glazing bars on the first
floor is carried down over the projecting stair turret which has been
partly engulfed in the later stair tower which is stepped back to the left
and has a C19 fixed-light 9-pane window. To the left at the back the rear
lateral stack projects above the flat roof of the C20 2 storey addition
which is slate hung on the first floor. The outer side of the rear wing
has C19 casements land a C20 glazed door. The converted outbuilding at the
end of the rear wing has external stone stairs up to the blocked left
doorway; and late C20 glazed door land casements. 2 lead fire insurance
plaques, one on the east gable end, the other over the front doorway.
Interior: Ground Floor: room to left of entrance hall has glazed china
cupboard set into the front wall, moulded and panelled doors and panelled
window shutters. The room to right of the entrance has moulded and
panelled door, similarly panelled window shutters and rococo marble chimney
piece from another house. The right hand end room is in the C20 addition
but has reused Adam style white marble chimney piece with bands of yellow
marble and was in the frieze. The entrance half has a slate floor with
diamond-shape Devon marble insets and a stairwell at the back with an early
C19 framed closed-string staircase with stick balusters moulded handrail
and square newels. The hall doors are also moulded and panelled. The
kitchen has chamfered cross-beams the ends in the buried or unstrapped. On
the first floor of the rear wing a stone newel stair with wooden treads
rising from the first floor, the doorway at the bottom has a wooden frame
with true mitres and chamfered on the inside, the worn. Several early C19
panelled doors on the first floor.
Roof: Over the rear wing one early truss, the principals have straight
feet, morticed apex, mortices for threaded purlins, and the morticed collar
is missing. The other trusses over the wing have been replaced in C18 or
C19. The main range roof: 4 trusses between 2 full-height walls, the
straight principals have 2 tiers of mortices for threaded purlins and
crashed collars with notched lap joints, the apexes are and have
trenching for a diagonal ridgepiece. The ridgepiece, moat of the purlin
and all the rafters are missing. The roof over the west end of the main
range has one truss lapped and pegged at the apex. The roof over the east
end of the main range has nailed or bolted soft-wood principals.
Diptford Court is said to have been the court-house (W.G. Hoskins, Devon)

Listing NGR: SX7303257139

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26610561

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

• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy