Description

THROWLEIGH WONSON
SX 68 NE
3/253 Wonson Manor

22.2.67

GV II*

Farmhouse, former manor house. Mid-late C17, parts may be earlier. Granite stone
rubble with dressed granite quoins; granite stacks with C19 brick tops; slate roof
(probably thatch originally).
Plan: Tall L-shaped building. Since no internal inspection was possible at the time
of this survey a definitive plan cannot be described, nor is it possible to
ascertain whether the building contains any work earlier than the Cl7. Nevertheless
it seems that the south-east facing main main block has a 4-room plan with 2 axial
stacks and there is a 2-room plan wing projecting forwards at right angles from the
right (north-eastern) end and it has a gable end stack. -In the angle of the 2 wings
there is a turret which contains the entrance. On the end of the front wing there
is a 2-storey outshot which may be Cl? or C18. The house is 3 storeys.
Exterior: Irregular 3-window front to the main block. The ground floor includes a
C19 tripartite sash containing a central 12-pane sash. First floor right are 2
large late Cl7 oak mullion-and-transom windows containing rectangular panes of
leaded glass. A window alongside to left has been enlarged to a doorway containing
a C20 door which is gained by an external stone stair. The other windows are C20
casements with glazing bars. The front of the turret has a mid or late C19 6-panel
door and contemporary flat-roofed timber porch with moulded entablature and
octagonal section posts. The sides are infilled with trelliswork. The window above
and those on the inner side of the front block are C19 and C20 casements with
glazing bars. There are no second floor windows on these sides. The front of the
main block has a flat plaster eaves cornice with a shallow soffit moulding. The
main block roof is gable-ended to left and hipped to right. The front block is
gable-ended and the turret roof is hipped. The outshot has a lean to roof and has a
doorway on each floor, both containing old plank dooors and the upper one gained by
a flight of external stone steps. The outer side of the front wing contains C19 and
C20 casements with glazing bars and, ground floor left end, a C17 granite 2-light
window with chamfered mullion. The rear of the main block is exposed granite
rubble. The second floor windows here are boarded up and other below appear to be
blocked although the evidence is not clear. A doorway at the right end contains a
C17 plank door with the remains of applied coverstrip panelling.
Interior was not available for inspection at the time of survey but apparently
contains some high quality Cli craftsmanship. The previous list description
mentions 2 carved oak chimneypieces and a staircase with turned balusters. The
house appears to have had little modernisation in the C20 and therefore other C17
detail probably survives. Advice should be sought here before any modernisation or
alteration lest C17 work, such as moulded plaster cornices, panelling, doors etc, be
destroyed. From the outside this appears to be a well-preserved mid-late Cl7 house
built to a level of sophistication unusual in the Dartmoor area.

Listing NGR: SX6745689693

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537567

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

• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)