Description

CHULMLEIGH SOUTH MOLTON STREET, (west side), SS 6814-6914 Chulmleigh 7/103 Belle Vue and Abigails

GV II 202.67 2 adjoining cottages, originally in single occupation. Late medieval open-hall house, possibly mid C16, remodelled probably in early to mid C17 and later divided into 2 occupations, with C19 alterations. Painted rendered stone rubble and cob. Thatch roof with plain ridge and rendered gable end stacks. Rendered lateral stack with offsets to rear of Abigails. Slate roof with gable end to range to rear of Belle-Vue. Plan: Belle-Vue to left has single large ground floor room with winder staircase in shallow projecting rear stair turret to right of 2-storey attached outbuilding converted to form part of dwelling in late C20 and which extends at right angles to rear of front range. Abigails has entrance passage containing staircase at rear to left of principal room heated by rear lateral stack and narrow inner room at right end divided axially to create a small front room which is heated by fireplace across rear right-hand corner, the smaller rear room forming a kitchen/scullery which has been extended in C20 by addition of small single-storey rear outshot. Development: Roof structure over Abigails indicates its origins as an open hall house, the heavy smoke-blackening suggesting it remained open to the roof for a considerable length of time; the carpentry however, with halved and lapped straight collars and trenched purlins would suggest possibly even a late C16 date for its origins, and therefore by implication also a later date for the ceiling over the hall. The remains of a truss and the clean cob wall at the right gable end suggests the possibility that the house originally extended further to the right; the inner room end is remarkably narrow and the bressumer at the end is unchamfered. The timber sill between the hall and inner room end suggests a screen partition existed (the rear section may partly still be concealed) until the inner room end was modified in the late C18 or early C19 to create a small front parlour which encroaches further into the hall than the rear scullery/kitchen. To the left, lower end of the entrance passage is a solid cob wall which reduces at first floor level to a thin partition, the wattle work in the roofspace being remarkably well preserved and also heavily smoke-blackened. Unfortunately there is no access to the roofspace of Belle Vue, so it is not possible to tell whether the lower end was floored from the outset or before the hall proper. Probably in the late C18 or early C19 the house was divided into 2 occupations, the lower end (Belle Vue) being divided axially towards the rear to create a small rear kitchen, but this partition has since been removed. The front wall of Belle Vue also appears to have been built out at a later stage. Exterior: 2 storeys. 3 window range. All 4 paned sashes. C20 door to Belle Vue and 4 panelled door, the upper 2 panels glazed to Abigails. Interior: Belle Vue has 2 hollow step-stopped axial ceiling beams, the front beam chamfered on one side only and indicating front wall has been built out. Fireplace probably concealed by C20 grate. Treads to winder staircase replaced in C20. Abigails has single hollow chamfered cross ceiling beam resting on chamfered hall fireplace lintel with run out stops. Raised and fielded 4 panelled door to small front parlour. C19 4 panelled between hall and passage. Unchamfered bressumer at inner room end. Roof: No access to roofspace over Belle Vue, but purlins are carried entirely on the gable end wall and closed truss on lower side of passage. This retains its remarkably well preserved wattle-work infill, which can be seen to be smoke-blackened on the hall side only. This truss, the truss over the hall and the partially surviving truss at the right gable end all have heavy principals the feet boxed in, with 2 tiers of trenched purlins, diagonally set ridge purlin and straight halved and lapped collars with deep protuding pegs. Apart from a small section on the rear side replaced in C20, all the roof members including rafters, battens and underside of thatch are thoroughly smoke-blackened. Abigails and Belle Vue are situated on the west side of South Molton Street which retains a marked concentration of late medieval open hall houses.

Listing NGR: SS6865714335

External Links

• Wikidata Q26611309

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Recommended Books

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  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
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  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
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  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide