Forstmill Wisteria Cottage

Details

SY 08 NE NEWTON POPPLEFORD HIGH STREET, AND HARPFORD Newton Poppleford 5/67 Forstmill and Wisteria Cottage - 30.6.61 GV II

2 cottages, formerly a single house. Late C17, possibly earlier core, modernised in late C18 and probably subdivided then. Plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with some brick patching, and timber-framed porch; brick and stone rubble stacks topped with C19 brick; thatch roof. L-shaped building. The main block faces south and is set back a little from the road and from the front of the Exeter Inn (q.v.) adjoining to right (west). It has a 3-room plan and there is a rear block projecting at right angles behind the left (east) end. Wisteria Cottage occupies the right 2 rooms of the main block. It has a lobby entry facing onto the side of a large axial stack serving back-to-back fireplaces and with the stairs rising from the left room behind the stack. On the right end there is a narrow through passage between the right roon and the Exeter Inn. The right room originally comprised 2 small rooms divided by an axail partition but now they have been knocked together; presumably they were service rooms. The other room may have been an entrance hall of the late C17 house since there is a 2 storey porch on the left end of the front of this room. However, the ground floor of the porch has been enclosed with brick and is said to have been used as a butchers shop in the late C19. Forstmill occupies the left (eastern) end room of the main block which is served by a rear lateral stack, and the 2 rooms of the slightly lower and probably secondary rear block. The back room here has a lateral stack on the outer side. 2 storeys throughout and the main block has disused attics in the roofspace. Irregular 1:1:3 - window front of various C19 and C20 windows. The main block of Wisteria Cottage has the 3-window section which is not quite symmetrical about a central doorway. To right is a late C19 - early C20 tile-roofed canted bay window containing casements with glazing bars; the rest are C19 16-pane sashes and there are thatch eyebrows over the first floor windows. The main doorway is late C18 and contains part-glazed double doors with lower fielded panels and a large doorcase with flanking Tuscan pilasters, a moulded entablature and bold pediment. There is a small plain plank door to the passage at the right end. The porch has C19 and C20 casements with glazing bars or C20 oculus-type window on the ground floor inner side. Its roof is hipped. The left end bay (Forstmill) has a horned 16-pane sash below a 12-pane sash. In the angle of the porch and main block is a small porch containing a plank door, the main entrance to Forstmill. Brick facing shows in places on the main front but the first floor level is painted with black lines in imitation of timber framing. So too is the porch which is plastered framing but here only the bressumer at first floor level shows. The roof has a half-hipped end. The left end return has an irregular 3-window front of various C19 and C20 windows mostly with glazing bars and includes a French window at the right end. The roof is on a lower level and gable-ended to rear. Interior of main block in both cottages is consistently late C17. All 3 rooms have an axial beam, plain in the right room, soffit-chamfered with scroll stops to the centre and left rooms. The fireplaces are either blocked or somewhat rebuilt. The roof of the main block is carried on a series of A-frame trusses with pegged and nailed lap-jointed collars. Original plaster is said to survive extensively and is backed onto water reeds instead of wooden lathes. Wisteria Cottage also includes a good deal of late C17 joinery. Several doorframes are solid with bead-moulded surrounds and some plank doors may be contemporary. Certainly the disused stair door is. It is hung on H-hinges with trefoil terminals. Also panelled cupboard doors in the first floor chamber are also hung on H-hinges. In Forstmill it was not possible to inspect joinery detail or the rear block at the time of survey. Forstmill and Wisteria Cottage form an attractive group with the adjoining Exeter Inn (q.v.), and all 3 properties once comprised a Chantry House founded in 1331.

Listing NGR: SY0860289736

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

352389

Legacy System:

LBS

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