Description

ST STEPHENS BY
SX 38 NW LAUNCESTON
9/145 Disused farmhouse 250 metres to
east of West Menheniot Farm
20.10.87
II

Disused farmhouse. Circa early to mid C17. Stone rubble footings with thick cob
walls. Corrugated iron roof replacing and partly covering thatch with gable end on
left and hipped end on right. Stone rubble end stack on left.
Plan: Built down slope with ground rising to left. Two room and probably cross
passage plan with entrance slightly to right of centre. The hall-kitchen to left is
heated by an end stack and the lower room on right is unheated. The hall-kitchen and
passage are floored with C17 joists whilst the lower end is open to the roof and has
been used in recent years as a shippon. The original purpose of the lower end is
uncertain; there does not appear to be a drain hole in the lower end wall, the ground
floor partitions have been removed and the roof structure above the lower end is
probably of the C18 or C19. However, this room is larger than other unheated service
rooms found in similar two room plan houses in the area and it is unusual that it is
unfloored. The lower end wall appears to have been partly rebuilt probably in the
C18 or C19 and has the remains of a roughly moulded stone rubble plinth at the base
and straight joints at the junction with the front and rear walls. The house was
extended to the rear with a service outshut and dairy in the circa C18 and there is a
circa C19 lean-to outshut on the right hand end wall.
Exterior: Built down slope with ground rising to left, the house in 2-storey on the
left and single storey on the right. Asymmetrical one-window front with remains of
C19 2-light casements on ground and first floor to left of the entrance which is
slightly to right of centre and has a C19 plank door. Remains of circa C17 timber.2-
light mullion window on ground floor to right with what is probably scratch moulded
or much eroded ovolo-moulded frame with two mortices for stanchion bars. Left hand
side wall to front of end stack partly rebuilt.
Interior: Ground floor partitions removed. Fireplace in left hand end wall has
chamfered and stopped timber lintel and stone rubble jambs and cloam oven. C19 stair
against rear wall near fireplace; the position of the original stair is uncertain.
Hall kitchen and passage ceiled with C17 chamfered and stopped joists which
apparently rest on slate pad-stones in the cob walls.
Roof structure above hall kitchen partly obscured by later circa C19 boarded
ceiling. At least one original truss survives probably with a morticed apex and with
chamfered cambered collar which is halved, lap-jointed and pegged. Roof structure
above lower end is probably C18 or C19; it has A-frame trusses halved, lap-jointed
and pegged.
The house is in a particularly picturesque setting and has an interesting and unusual
plan. Although empty and disused at time of survey (1987) it retains several of the
original C17 features and has survived unaltered and unspoilt. Closer inspection of
the roof should be made before any structural work is started.

Listing NGR: SX3033886506

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26613356

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

• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects by Harwood, Richard (2012) Paperback
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)