Well

Details

IDEFORD OLCHARD LANE SX 87 NE 4/97 Well 23.8.55 II*

Large house, divided into 3 in the late C20. Circa 1700, but possibly a remodelling of an earlier building, some refurbishment of the late C18, circa mid C19 refenestration. Roughcast stone; slate roof, gabled at ends with sprocketted eaves, rear stair wing gableted at end stacks with tone shafts, rear lateral stack to main range projecting through the roof at the junction with the outshut, stack to stair wing projecting through roof. A high status 3 storey house consisting of a main range, 3 rooms wide, with left and right rear outshuts under catslide roofs on either side of a large stair wing. The main range has a central entrance into a large heated panelled entrance hall, a principal room to the left (north) and a kitchen to the right (south). The entrance hall is heated from the rear lateral stack, a doorway to the right of the stack opens on to a fine dogleg stair in the rear wing, which has an outshut on the north side, the stair rising to a landing on the second storey. The rear right outshut to the main range provides an access corridor to the kitchen with a doorway in the entrance hall adjacent to the stair doorway. The left hand ground floor room was also panelled, although the panelling is said to no longer exist. 3 first floor panelled rooms form a kind of piano nobile. The plan form suggests an intriguing development from the traditional earlier 3 room arrangement; the kitchen, to the right, corresponding to the lower end; the traditional C17 'hall' recast as a fashionable entrance hall but still heated by a lateral stack and the left hand ground floor room corresponding to the inner room. The building could be a thorough remodelling of a late C16 or early C17 house or a transitional plan type of circa 1700. Although some of the interior joinery is of circa 1700 other details indicate a partial refurbishment of the late C18. In the circa mid C19 the front elevation was refenestrated and a new porch was added. The subdivision of the house into 3 has involved the provision of a new external stair to the rear wing, but little alteration to the principal rooms. 3 storeys. Symmetrical 5-bay front, the bays flanking the central front door with windows to the ground floor only, presumably providing more scope for the panelling in the first floor central room. Central Roman Doric porch with engaged columns and a triglyth frieze, front door with fielded panels. Ground floor windows, 2 on either side of the front door, are tripartite sashes, 12 pane in the centre and 4 pane in the outer lights; paired 12-pane sash above front door. Central second floor window is a pair of 6-pane sashes, flanked by small tripartite sashes, 6-pane to the centre lights, 2 to the outer lights, (some glazing bars missing). The rear elevation has a plank and stud door leading into the kitchen outshut. Interior Remarkable survival of panelling. The central ground floor room is panelled throughout. The door surround is bolection-moulded and circa 1700 but the 2 leaf door to the stairs below a blind round-headed arch with a key block and a blind lunette feature appears to be late C18. The chimney-piece is C20 but otherwise the room is entirely intact. The left-hand room of the front range not inspected at time of survey but is said to have lost its panelling. The wide dog-leg stair has a panelled dado and 3 flights with a moulded handrail and fine splat balusters with a vase-shaped profile. The slightly odd construction of the balustrade on the first flight suggests the possibility that it may have been applied to an earlier staircase. The landing on the second storey is especially handsome with halved balusters at the newel post. First floor rooms right and centre also have intact panelling: the right hand room has a bolection-moulded chimneypiece, the centre room has an Adam style chimneypiece including marble work and delicate orders of moulding. First floor room left not inspected but said also to be panelled. The second floor has been repartitioned. The old list description refers to "a hearth of slates placed edgeways in diamond patterns" in the attic, this feature was not seen at time of survey (1986). The kitchen has a high ceiling with 2 chamfered cross beams; the fireplace has been adapted for a range but is massive in scale. A chamfered stopped doorframe between the kitchen and kitchen outshut is probably mid/late C17 and, if not re-used, indicates the early origins of the building. A fine house with a particularly impressive interior and an extremely interesting plan form. Well was formerly the property of Torre Abbey. Seymour, D., Torre Abbey (1977), p.p. 269-272.

Listing NGR: SX8797877006

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

85354

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Seymour, D, Torre Abbey, (1977), 269-272

End of official list entry