Description

BROADHEMBURY DULFORD
ST 00 NE

2/66 Bakers Farmhouse and Bakers Dairy
Cottage

GV II*

House, divided into 2. Late medieval origins, presumbly modernized in the C17, early
C18 upgrading including refacing in brick. Cob on stone rubble footings, the front
elevation faced with Flemish bond brick with blue headers; corrugated asbestos roof,
gabled at ends (thatched until at least 1956, old list description); end stacks and 2
axial stacks, all with C18 brick shafts.
Plan: The present arrangement is T plan: a west-facing single depth main range, 4
rooms wide with a cross passage to left of centre in Bakers Dairy Cottage. Complex
evolution. The house originated as a late medieval open hall: the position of the
surviving smoke-blackened truss suggests that the left end (Bakers Dairy) was always
the lower end. Presumably the house was floored with stacks added in the C17, the
hall stack backing on to the passage, although C18 alterations have obscured this
building phase. A surviving cruck truss at the right end of Bakers Farmhouse
suggests that the main range may have been extended at the higher end in the C17,
giving a higher end 3 rooms wide. In the early C18 the house was upgraded : the
front elevation was refaced in brick and refenestrated and the centre room of the
higher end was remodelled as an entrance hall. The lower end room was refurbished as
a high quality parlour, the extreme right end room functioned as the kitchen. The
rear wing may also be of this date, it includes an C18 stair. Axial passages were
also introduced on both the first and ground floors. A dairy with granary over at
the right end may also be C18 or perhaps later. This is rendered with a corrugated
iron roof. A C20 single-storey lean-to kitchen has been added in the south-east
corner between the rear wing and the main range and there has also been a C20
addition to the rear of Bakers Dairy Cottage.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3:4 window front with C20 porches in the 3rd and
6th bays. 7 first floor C20 2-light casements, 2 panes per light; 5 ground floor
sashes with segmental brick arches and boxed frames, the 2 pane glazing presumably a
C20 replacement of smaller pane C18 sashes or casements.
Interior: Rich in high quality early C18 features, Bakers Farmhouse is particularly
unspoiled. The entrance hall has a richly-moulded C18 plaster cornice and an early
C18 panelled wall cupboard. The left hand room has re-sited C17 or early C18
panelling on the crosswall and a massive, probably C17 open fireplace with a timber
lintel. The right hand room has a large open fireplace with a bread oven projecting
into the dairy. The left hand room (in Bakers Dairy) has a high quality early C18
decorated plaster ceiling with a richly moulded cornice, the mouldings returning
where they are interrupted by the window openings. A plaster frieze extends along
both sides of the central plastered-over crossbeam and an oval motif with a central
rose decorates the ceiling on the fireplace side. The C18 stair, sited in the rear
wing (Bakers Farmhouse), has turned balusters to the first flight and a Chinese
Chippendale balustrade to the second flight. Numerous C18 2-panel doors survive in
both houses, Bakers Dairy also retains an C18 fitted wall cupboard and drawer in one
of the first floor rooms and Bakers Farmhouse has a good early C18 first floor
fireplace with an eared architrave.
Roof: Of the late medieval roof one truss survives in Bakers Farmhouse, over the left
hand room. The truss is infilled, the plaster sooted on the left (north) side,
presumably marking the south end of the medieval open hall. The collar is mortised
into the principals which are mortised at the apex with a diagonally-set ridge.
Access to the ridge to the right (south) of this truss was very limited at time of
survey (1987) but the apex of the roof appears to be a replacement south of the
medieval truss. Nevertheless, the feet of a jointed cruck truss survive over the
extreme right (south) end of the range, apex not seen at time of survey.
An extremely interesting evolved house, rich in high quality early C18 features.
Early C18 brick is uncommon in the county of Devon. Local place names in Awliscombe
and Broadhembury parishes indicate that brick was made locally and, according to
local tradition, there was a brickfield at Dulford, just north of Bakers Farmhouse
and Bakers Dairy.

Listing NGR: ST0703405936

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17547506

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)