Description

LISKEARD

SX2564 BARRAS STREET 979-1/5/29 (East side) 23/09/50 Stuart House

GV II*

House. Late medieval, remodelled and extended in the C17, slightly altered mid C19. Slatehanging on masonry and on studwork to 2nd-floor left of front and at rear of original range, C19 stucco stripped from right-hand return elevation to reveal rubble walls, otherwise rubble walls to C17 wings; dry Delabole slate roofs; brick chimney over external lateral stack at rear left, brick chimney over gable end on right and gable stacks to rear wings reduced to roof level. PLAN: original 2-room and through-passage range at the front with approx 1m thick outside walls: hall on the left, lower end on the right. C17 porch fronting passage; mid C18 stair hall to right of porch, possibly in space of former C17 stair hall which probably replaced a C16 newel stair at its rear; masonry wall to either side of stair hall; pair of attached 3-storey wings added to rear of lower end in the C17 and possibly there were other extensions at the higher end, since removed. 3 storeys; irregular 4-window front range. 3-storey gable-ended C17 porch, left of centre with reused C15 moulded granite doorway with its 2-centred former equilateral-arched head reset in squat position; C19 wrought-iron gate; original 2-centred arched doorway similar to porch doorway, but undisturbed, fronts through-passage within porch and fitted with early C19 panelled door, 2 mid-C19 12-pane hornless sashes over doorway, 2 similar sashes to 2nd floor left of porch, 2 more to stair hall, right of porch and another to 1st floor right; C17 chamfered granite single light to cellar under stairs and 2 similar windows to 2nd-floor return walls of porch; late C18 tripartite sash to middle of wall to 1st floor left over early C20 three-light transomed casement with some coloured glass and similar but wider window to ground floor right. Rear of main range has 2 mid C19 12-pane sashes to 1st floor and another to 2nd floor left. Ground floor has full-width early C20 conservatory with wide, early C20 glazed doorway with glazed panelled door and round-arched overlight all with some coloured glass; right of chimney breast is doorway cut through former window opening which retains chamfered granite jambs and head. Rear wing adjacent to passage has remains of mullioned window to 1st and 2nd floor both to side wall and gable end including complete 2-light window with late C18 or early C19 casements to 2nd floor. Other wing has remains of where there used to be another wing beyond with former doorway blocked and blocked C17 window over. INTERIOR retains visible features and structure from many phases of its development and there are probably some C16 or earlier further features hidden. The only visible C16 feature is a reused fragment of morticed collar roof structure built into C17 heightened gable end on the right. C17 features include: panelled door between stair hall and lower end room (1 step down); floor structures for much of the house, canted cupboard remaining from former stair turret in rear right-hand wing within thickness of original rear wall, chamfered granite fireplace to 1st-floor roof of the same wing and chamfered roof structure with halved and lapped dovetail jointed collars to other rear wing and porch and vestiges of roof structure over lower end. C18 features include: open-well open-string stair with column-over-vase turned balusters, ramped mahogany handrail scrolled over newel and shaped tread ends with guttae, moulded plaster ceiling cornices to hall, the room above and stair hall, plaster coved ceiling to 2nd floor of rear right-hand wing; chimneypiece and cast-iron grate to left-hand wing; elliptically-headed doorway with fanlight to right of passage; and many 2-panel doors with raised-and-fielded panels. C19 features include many chimneypieces, most with hob grates, and a panelled door with Perpendicular-style tracery. Charles I is said to have slept here for 9 nights in 1644 (plaque). A well-preserved and important example of an early Cornish town house.

Listing NGR: SX2512464499

External Links

• Wikidata Q17532739

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Recommended Books

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)