Description

TALATON
SY 09 NE
6/193 Stoney Court
-
GV II*

House. Late C15 - early C16 with major later C16 and C17 improvements, modernised
circa 1980. Local stone rubble, parts including cob and also some late C17 red
brick; stone rubble stacks topped with C19 and C20 brick; thatch roof.
Plan and development: the main block faces north and has an altered 3-room-and-
through-passage plan. At the left (east) end a small unheated inner room, probably
a buttery or dairy originally. In the C20 it was united with the hall bay removing
the partition between them. The hall has an axial stack backing onto the passage.
The lower end is a parlour crosswing which projects at right angles to rear. The
parlour has an axial stack backing onto a narrow unheated service end across the
front. A newel stair rises alongside the parlour fireplace. A wing projects
forward in front of the inner room end. It was originally detached but is now
connected to the main block. It was a detached kitchen/bakehouse with servant
accommodation over and has a disused front end stack.
The train block is the historic core of the house, and here the lower end has been
rebuilt. The original roof survives over the passage hall and inner room proving
that the late C15 - early C16 house was open to the roof, divided by low partitions
and heated by an open hearth fire. It is not clear when the inner room was first
floored over since that end appears to have been refurbished again in the mid - late
C17. The lower end was probably floored in the mid C16, certainly before the hall
fireplace was inserted, probably in the late C16 -early C17. The lower end was
rebuilt as a parlour kitchen in the early - mid C17 and the detached
kitchen/bakehouse was provided in the mid - late C17. The hall was floored about
the same time.
House is 2 storeys with C20 lean-to outshot on right end of the front.
Exterior: irregular 3-window front of various casements, the first floor windows
are half dormers. The hall windows are mid - late C17 oak-framed windows but only
the first floor window retains its ovolo-moulded mullions. The first floor right
window is contemporary but nas chamfered oak mullions. The ground floor right
window is late C17 oak with flat-faced mullions. The central first floor window is
a C19 casement with glazing bars. The other windows contain mostly rectangular
panes of leaded glass, some very old. The passage front doorway is right of centre.
The frame is mid - late C17 and has a moulded surround; the door is C20, so too is
the thatch-roofed porch with rustic trellis sides. The roof is hipped both ends.
The former detached kitchen has a 2-window front of C19 casements with glazing bars
and central doorway containing an old plank door. The roof is half-hipped both
ends.
Interior: although the hall has been enlarged by removing the upper end screen it
is still in the house; it has been moved back to line the end wall and is an oak
plank-and-muntin screen. It is very similar to the screen still at the lower end
(between the hall and passage). Both have round-headed doorways, apparently altered
from original shoulder-headed arches. Both may have been original low partition
screens. Former hall and inner room have chamfered axial beams with pyramid stops.
The hall stops accommodates the hall chimneystack. The fireplace is lined with C20
brick, its chamfered oak lintel is original. The lower side of the the passage is a
C16 oak-framed crosswall, the lower section includes the remains of an oak plank-
and-muntin screen. The roof over passage, hall and inner room is mostly original
and includes 2 jointed cruck trusses, the one exposed is face-pegged. Both have
small triangular yokes with diagonally set ridge (Alcock's apex type L1). The whole
roof structure is remarkably complete with original purlins (missing the inner room
hip cruck), common rafters couples, and the underside of the thatch is lined with
wattling. It also includes a simple smoke louvre, a couple of pitched boards set
transversely across the top of tne ridge into and through the thatch ridge.
The roof once continued over the service but was replaced here in the early - mid
C17 when the parlour wing was built. The parlour crossbeam is chamfered with step
steps. The fireplace is plastered and the oak lintel has the same finish as the
crossbeam. The newel stair has ancient oak stops. The roof is, of clean side-pegged
jointed cruck trusses and A-frame trusses with simple lap-jointed collars. The
former detached kitchen has very similar constructional detail. Here the stack has
been removed to create more room on the first floor but its full width chamfered oak
lintel remains.
Stoney Court is a very interesting place. Not only is the surviving late medieval
house a very good example but also surviving detached kitchens are very rare.

Listing NGR: SY0670199585

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17547485

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

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings