Description

OKEHAMPTON HAMLETS CHICHACOTT
SX 69 NW

5/109 Lower Chichacott Cottage

GV II

House originally farmhouse. Early - mid C16 with C17 alterations, modernised in
C20. Plastered stone rubble walls with some cob to the wall tops. Hipped
reinforced plastic thatched style roof. Rendered stone rubble axial stack with
dripstones and late C20 brick shaft at right-hand end.
Plan: Longhouse derivative plan with shippon at the right end divided by a self-
contained stone from the domestic end of the house which consists of a cross passage
adjoining which is the hall to the left and a very narrow service room at the higher
end. There is a shallow 2 storey hall projection at its higher end which is
unlikely to be original. All the internal partitions in the building are solid
walls. The house was originally open to the roof over the hall and may have been to
the lower end but the lack of access to the roof space precludes evidence of smoke-
blackening for an original open hearth. The relationship of the hall fireplace to
ceiling suggests, however that the stack formerly heated an open hall and backed
onto the passage projecting hall bay is likely to have been added when the hall was
ceiled at this time to light the room above. Judging from its noticeably more
regular shape the lower end is likely to have been rebuilt and quite possibly
extended in the C18 or early C19. In the later C20 the shippon was converted to
domestic use and doorways inserted to give internal access to the lower end.
2 storeys, and single storey to former shippon. Asymmetrical 3 window front, 6
windows to ground floor. Former shippon to the right has lower roof-line and the 2
storey gabled hall bay projects towards the left-hand end. Windows are all C20 1, 2
and 3 light casements mainly with glazing bars except for the 1st floor window to
the projection which is a C19 3 light casement. The 1st floor right-hand opening
was a loading hatch to the shippon loft. C20 plank door to left of centre under C20
gabled doorhood.
Interior: 2 original roof trusses survive, one over the hall, close to its stack,
and one over the stone. The former is a true cruck with threaded purlins and
morticed cranked collar. It is stained dark but appears to have encrustation
resembling sooting from an open hearth. The other truss is likely to have been
identical but its front foot has been cut off and its collar removed. Over the
shippon the trusses are much lighter and rougher and likely to be C19.
The other original features are the doorway to the hall from the passage which has a
wooden frame with shouldered cranked head (a form distinctive to this part of Devon)
and the doorway to the inner room which has a shouldered segmental head and slightly
bowed jambs. The different forms may represent the different status of these 2
rooms. The hall fireplace may be later and has a very high wooden lintel higher
than the ceiling level, it has roughly dressed granite jambs and a stone ovenThe
ceiling has one chamfered cross beam with draw stops.
This house preserves a number of original features and despite recent alteration its
interesting and slightly puzzling original plan form has not been obscured. It
forms one of an unspoilt hamlet of early farmhouses.
Source: Report by N. Alcock (interpretation slightly different).

Listing NGR: SX6027896539

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26611796

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

• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)