Description

THROWLEIGH WONSON SX 68 NE 3/253 Wonson Manor

22.2.67

GV II*

Farmhouse, former manor house. Mid-late C17, parts may be earlier. Granite stone rubble with dressed granite quoins; granite stacks with C19 brick tops; slate roof (probably thatch originally). Plan: Tall L-shaped building. Since no internal inspection was possible at the time of this survey a definitive plan cannot be described, nor is it possible to ascertain whether the building contains any work earlier than the Cl7. Nevertheless it seems that the south-east facing main main block has a 4-room plan with 2 axial stacks and there is a 2-room plan wing projecting forwards at right angles from the right (north-eastern) end and it has a gable end stack. -In the angle of the 2 wings there is a turret which contains the entrance. On the end of the front wing there is a 2-storey outshot which may be Cl? or C18. The house is 3 storeys. Exterior: Irregular 3-window front to the main block. The ground floor includes a C19 tripartite sash containing a central 12-pane sash. First floor right are 2 large late Cl7 oak mullion-and-transom windows containing rectangular panes of leaded glass. A window alongside to left has been enlarged to a doorway containing a C20 door which is gained by an external stone stair. The other windows are C20 casements with glazing bars. The front of the turret has a mid or late C19 6-panel door and contemporary flat-roofed timber porch with moulded entablature and octagonal section posts. The sides are infilled with trelliswork. The window above and those on the inner side of the front block are C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars. There are no second floor windows on these sides. The front of the main block has a flat plaster eaves cornice with a shallow soffit moulding. The main block roof is gable-ended to left and hipped to right. The front block is gable-ended and the turret roof is hipped. The outshot has a lean to roof and has a doorway on each floor, both containing old plank dooors and the upper one gained by a flight of external stone steps. The outer side of the front wing contains C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars and, ground floor left end, a C17 granite 2-light window with chamfered mullion. The rear of the main block is exposed granite rubble. The second floor windows here are boarded up and other below appear to be blocked although the evidence is not clear. A doorway at the right end contains a C17 plank door with the remains of applied coverstrip panelling. Interior was not available for inspection at the time of survey but apparently contains some high quality Cli craftsmanship. The previous list description mentions 2 carved oak chimneypieces and a staircase with turned balusters. The house appears to have had little modernisation in the C20 and therefore other C17 detail probably survives. Advice should be sought here before any modernisation or alteration lest C17 work, such as moulded plaster cornices, panelling, doors etc, be destroyed. From the outside this appears to be a well-preserved mid-late Cl7 house built to a level of sophistication unusual in the Dartmoor area.

Listing NGR: SX6745689693

External Links

• Wikidata Q17537567

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Recommended Books

• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living