East Hele Farmhouse

Details

KINGS NYMPTON SS 62 SE 1/117 East Hele Farmhouse 20.2.67 - II Farmhouse. Late C16 or early C17 but possibly earlier fabric concealed, much altered in C20. Part rendered stone rubble and cob. Hipped thatched roof. Tall front lateral stone rubble hall stack, brought to courses with offsets and tapered cap. Rendered stack to gable end of rear wing, and demolished stack at right end. Plan: A possible longhouse type of 3 rooms and through-passage, the long lofted lower end to left used as outbuilding within living memory. Wing of single room plan added to rear right end in late C17. No evidence of hall having been open to roof but roof structure replaced probably in C18 or C19. Stair turret immediately to left of through-passage, converted to straight-run staircase, and staircase to right of parlour stack removed in c20. Additional staircase to rear wing running up rear wall of inner room. C20 2-storey extension to rear of lower end. Lower end stack inserted in C20. Exterior: 2 storeys. 6-window range. 4-light ovolo mullion window to inner room, C17 2-light timber casement on each floor to right end, and two 2-light timber casements towards left end. All other fenestration is introduced in C20, re-used from various North Devon buildings. The fine ovolo moulded through-passage door surround with 4-leaf and rams horns stops came from Barnstaple. The 2-storey extension to rear is built to rememble a 2-storey porch and incorporates 2 C17 doorways, on C17 carved string course and carved apex finial from the stables at Dartmouth Castle. The 1675 dateplaque has also been re-used. Interior: Much re-used C17 fabric. The original fittings include 2 chamfered hall cross ceiling beams, chamfered axial ceiling beam to inner room, 4-centred arched doorway with chamfered surround between hall and inner room, 2 moulded plasterwork cornices to the rear wing ground floor room and chamber over, the latter with 3 decorative plasterwork panels on each end wall; the wing 'stairhall' also has a moulded plaster cornice and small central roundel. Both rooms originally had decorative plasterwork ceilings but these no longer survive. The majority of roll- moulded door surrounds to the chambers are probably late C17. The remainder of the fittings, mostly C17, are re-used; the plank and muntin screen on the hall side of the through-passage came from a house in East Street in South Molton, the leaded glass and some of the windows from the Blue Coat School in Barnstaple, and the staircase, panelled window seats and some of the door surrounds from other demolished Devon buildings. East Hele had remained unoccupied for a number of years until circa 1980, the previous owner having removed many of the fittings and destroyed the plaster ceilings.

Listing NGR: SS6709121005

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

97294

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

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