7 and 9 New Street and outbuildings

Summary

This 17th century building, now divided into two houses, has the layout of a medieval hall house, with three rooms plus a passage formed by distinctive oak screens, but appears to have always had a first floor, unlike a medieval house which was usually open to the roof. 7 New Street, to the north of the passage, has historic outbuildings attached to the rear and 9 New Street has good carpentry including C17 doors and a stone stair turret. There are traces of sealed former doorways visible in the traditional wall plaster to both houses.

Reasons for Designation

7 and 9 New Street and outbuildings, Chagford, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural and Historic interest:

* as a pre-1700 vernacular house with an intact historic layout that survives well with a through passage and rear stone stair turret;
* the building retains C17 high-quality carpentry, including plank and muntin screens to the through passage, doors in chamfered doorframes and stop-chamfered beams;
* the building retains a substantial proportion of its historic fabric including interior wall and ceiling coverings and C17 roof trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars.
* the rear outbuildings, built around the same period, show the common requirement for functional and non-domestic structures close to dwellings with the tight historic grain of this stannary market town on Dartmoor.

History

This pair of cottages was probably originally a single dwelling, and likely of C17 origin, although the medieval layout with through passage is usually found in earlier open hall houses. It has good quality carpentry, notably to the passage screens, doors, doorcases and cross beams, which hints at the wealth of some merchants in this Devon stannary town at the time. The courtyard outbuildings to the rear are of C17 or C18 origin, albeit with later alteration and replacement, showing that the whole plot was in use from a relatively early period. The outbuildings extend into the rear of the adjoining 11 New Street, but these parts do not survive well (and do not form part of the listing). 11 New Street is believed to have been used in the C19 or C20 as a shop and bakery. The set of buildings, 7-11 New Street and the outbuildings, is shown under a single ownership and occupation on the tithe map and apportionment of Chagford Parish in 1840.

By 1880, the buildings appear to have been split into at least five different residences, as shown on the First Edition Ordnance Survey Map, but by the Second Edition in 1904, 7 and 9 New Street had been consolidated into a single dwelling with outbuildings to the rear. 7 and 9 appear to have been adapted to two separate dwellings by the mid-C20. In the later C20 there were alterations including changes to the roof structure and the insertion of bathrooms to the first floor.

Details

Two houses, formerly one of C17 date with later remodelling and C20 alterations, and part of courtyard outbuildings to the rear.

MATERIALS: rendered granite stone rubble with large boulders in the footings on the front and under the building. There are granite and brick stacks and the roof is covered in slate, but was formerly thatched. There are brick alterations and minor additions. The plank and muntin screens to the through passage and other joinery are oak. The interior wall and ceilings appear to be plastered using traditional materials.

PLAN: the two cottages were probably built as a single house on a three room and through passage plan, along the street, facing south-east. Both cottages are accessed via the through passage. Number 7 has an axial stack to the end wall and a service wing to the rear. Number 9 comprises the equivalent of medieval hall and inner room. The hall has an axial stack at the south end backing onto the inner room (now a kitchen) and a newel stair turret projects from the rear wall. It is of two storeys and the roof of the house runs parallel with the street between the adjoining properties. A rear courtyard is formed by adjoining outbuildings (only those to the north of the plot are included in the listing).

EXTERIOR: the irregular six-window road front has C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars. The front passage doorway is set to the right of centre and contains a C20 plank door in a frame that is narrower than the original. The rear passage doorframe is original with some repair and is painted. At the right end of the rear elevation the stair turret is rubble to the lower half and rebuilt in brick above. There is brick infill and rendering to the upper floor of the main rear elevation. The ridge stack to 7 is rendered and set within a tall, coped verge. Number 9 has a red brick ridge stack. The courtyard elevation of the service wing to 7 is brick with a C20 door and window below the corrugated metal covered, steeply-pitched roof.

INTERIOR: both sides of the through passage are lined by oak plank-and-muntin screens, their muntin edges given shallow ogee mouldings. The lower side contains a C20 doorway to 7, but an earlier doorway to the right has been planked over. The ground floor of 7 is laid with concrete and has a granite fireplace, a timber window seat in the front wall and a chamfered crossbeam with runout stops. To the first floor, the feet of the roof trusses sit below the ceilings. Room divisions have C20 match boarding and incorporate the roof truss tie beams. There are two rooms over the through passage; the bedroom has traces of former openings to the adjacent room in 9 New Street. The two bay rear service range has a kitchen bay and a lofted west end with a pegged oak roof structure with lapped apexes to the trusses and curved collars. The east wall is rubble stone with cob above. To the west end, the roof turns the corner to align with the adjacent outbuilding and there is a wide braced and ledged plank door. There are unfinished rubble stone walls to wallplate height, in which the roof principals are set and there are additional secondary timbers including some braces. The loft has machine-sawn joists and boards and is accessed by a ladder.

The upper passage doorway (to 9) is C17 and unaltered and has a chamfered surround and scroll-double nick stops. In the hall, the oak bressumer of the granite fireplace and the crossbeam are both soffit-chamfered with bar-scroll stops. To the left of the fireplace an inserted stop-chamfered beam indicates a former door to the inner room that is now sealed. The doorway to the right side of the inglenook is like that from the passage with scroll-double nick stops and its plank door, like some others in the house, has strap hinges and is likely of C17 date. The end wall of the inner room (kitchen) has an almost full-width bressumer above the opening to a former inglenook fireplace. The left end of the bressumer is set within the masonry of a former bread oven. In the back wall is a sealed door to the rear courtyard/ privy. The ceiling is boarded and other ceilings and walls across the house have early plaster. The timber newel stair has been truncated at the first floor and has a light chamfer to the newel. The feet of the roof principles sit in the wall below the ceiling levels on the first floor and there is the suggestion of earlier fabric around the bedroom doorframes.

The six-bay roof has C17 A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars and at least one has an applied yoke at the apex. Some trusses have been strengthened with additional timber principals and the roof has been raised slightly under a C20 replacement structure.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: attached to the rear outbuilding of 7 New Street and on a north-south orientation forming a courtyard behind 9 New Street. The lofted north end, in the ownership and use of 9 New Street, is constructed of hand-sawn joists of large scantling supporting floorboards, and a jointed truss above with a collar with long pegs. The other roof principals are machine sawn and continue to the other end of the building (not listed), beyond a plank partition. There is a brick privy with a corrugated sheet roof at the south end of the courtyard.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

94680

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
Heritage Gateway: MDV33175 - 7 and 9 New Street, Chagford, accessed 13/03/2025 from https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MDV33175&resourceID=104

End of official list entry

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