Lower Ridge

Details

The following building shall be upgraded to Grade II*:-

ST 20 NE CHARDSTOCK LOWER RIDGE

2/105 Lower Ridge

8.5.67 II

and the description shall be amended to read:

Farmhouse, now a private house. Late Medieval, thoroughly remodelled and extended early/mid C17. Stone and knapped flint rubble; front wall to right of entrance coursed and squared. Thatched roof; wing slated. Four C19/C20 red-brick chimneys on ridge. Plan: Through-passage plan with hall and 2 further rooms to right; 2 kitchens of different dates to left. Former farm building (converted to dwelling in C19) at left-hand end. To left of entrance a long wing set at right-angles to front wall; part abutting the house domestic and probably at least C17, the rest a former farm building. C17 square stair-turret behind central room adjoining hall to right. Hall clearly open to roof originally; former internal jetty at upper end. Exterior: 2 storeys, except second kitchen from left which is single- storeyed with loft. 3-window range to right of entrance remodelled as a distinct architectural unit in C17, though possibly in more than one stage. Ground storey, has 3 Beer-stone windows with ovolo-moulded mullions and hood-moulds; 3 lights in centre, 4 at either side. In upper storey 3 similar windows of 3 lights, but without hood-moulds; the 2 right-hand windows differ in having hollow-moulded mullions. All windows have rectangular leaded panes tied to a vertical diamond- section metal bar (replaced with round ones in right-hand upper-storey windows); each window includes an opening iron casement with decorative catch. Chamfered plinth. Stepped stone coping with kneelers on each gable-end. Front door (to left) has chamfered wood frame with run-out stops and cranked head. Plank door with scratch mouldings, strap-hinges and knocker. Round-arched brick porch with chamfered stone plinth, the latter perhaps surviving from an earlier porch. Left-hand end of house and front wing have C18/C19 wood-mullioned windows with leaded panes; some have opening iron casements with decorative catches. Similar windows in rear wall; on the stair turret the mullions are chamfered internally and probably date from mid/late C17. At the base of each side-wall on the stair-turret is a small 2- light wood-mullioned window, the mullions chamfered on the outside; centre mullion missing on left (west) side. Gable of stair-turret has shaped bargeboards and pendant. Rear door to through-passage has plain wood frame; bead-moulded plank door with strap-hinges having fleur-de- lis terminals. Interior: Hall has wide fireplace backing onto passage; chamfered stone ashlar jambs, chamfered wood lintel. Against opposite wall C17 panelled back to former seat; frieze with inlaid diamond pattern; top cornice. Deep chamfered beams with large step-stops; that at upper end masks rounded and chamfered joist-ends of former internal jetty. Stone-flagged floor. Similar beams in the 2 rooms to right, but with shallower chamfers; end room has exposed plain joists. In gable- wall a large original fireplace with Beer-stone slab cheeks painted with black and white chequer-pattern. The 3 rooms and stair lobby have between them 4 plank doors with scratch-mouldings and decorative strap-hinges. The 3 rooms above have similar doors, but with plainer strap-hinges on the backs. Fireplace in gable-wall similar to that below, but with chamfered, segmental-headed stone surround retaining traces of black and white decoration; cheeks have pattern of chequered circles and diamonds with a red border at the bottom. Left-hand room has mid C19 moulded wood chimneypiece with round-arched iron grate. Through-passage has stone-flagged floor; chamfered step-stopped half- beam. Ovolo-moulded door-frame into hall. First kitchen has similar beams; projecting into the wing a newel staircase with wood-block steps. In left gable-wall a wide fireplace with jambs and lintel matching those in hall; right-hand end blocked. Second kitchen has wide fireplace backing onto that last described; slightly curved wood lintel; brick jambs; oven in back with iron door marked C DENING & CO CHARD. The fireplace is a later insertion, since it blocks a lime- plastered wall in the loft. Former farm building has beams of what appears to have been a linhay; marks of former loft-posts visible in upper-storey masonry. Wing has stone-slab floor in ground storey adjoining house; cobbled floor in agricultural part. Roof over hall and 2 rooms to right has trusses probably of C17/C18 with collars pegged to the faces of the principals; through-purlins and ridge. Similar trusses over left-hand end of building. Over division between passage and first kitchen an older closed truss with tenoned collar having original infill above it. Front section of wing has posts of former jointed crucks. Foundations of former farm buildings visible near house. An exemplary model of,this type of Devon farmhouse, notable for its representation of multi-phase development and for its retention of many interior features such as the black-and-white decorated fireplaces and hall bench.

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ST 20 NE CHARDSTOCK LOWER RIDGE 2/105 8.5.67 Lower Ridge

II

Former farmhouse. Circa early C16 house, floor inserted and remodelled in C17. Stone rubble. Thatched roof with stone coping to gable ends. Stone quoins. Two storeys. Three window range. Three and four light ovolo moulded and hollow chamfered stone mullion windows, ground floor with hood moulds. Chamfered cambered arch doorway to left hand cross-passage. Later brick porch. At rear: wooden mullion windows, all with leaded panes. Short gabled rear wing. Rebuilt brick and end chimney stacks. Including converted outbuildings adjoining west. A long two storey stone rubble range with thatched roof. And including outbuilding adjoining south forming T-shaped plan, stone rubble with wood shingle roof with half hipped end. Interior: Mutilated remains of jointed cruck truss. Internal jetty and wainscott seat. Stopped chamfer ceiling beams and fireplace lintels. Fireplace at west end has jamb with painted returns. Similar but segmental arched fireplace above with similar painting both probably C17. Ovolo moulded door frame in cross-passage with carved stops. C17 panelling.

Listing NGR: ST2993805946

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

87791

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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