Rill Farmhouse

Details

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX76SE COLSTON ROAD 1011-1/4/17 (West side) 06/01/83 Rill Farmhouse

GV II

Large farmhouse. C17 origins, remodelled in 1790 (date plaque) for J Edwards, C20 alterations. Local limestone rubble, the 1790 phase originally rendered; slate roof, hipped at left end and end of rear wing; stacks with tall stone shafts. Plan: overall T-plan. Main block is single depth, 3 rooms wide with an entrance passage containing the stair between the 2 left-hand rooms, which are heated from front lateral stacks. Right-hand kitchen is heated from rear lateral stack. Some of the partitions at the right end have been altered and there were formerly 4 rooms in this range. The present centre room is heated by a probably C17 lateral stack, the left-hand stack designed to match is part of the 1790s improvements which gave a symmetrical elevation to the main block at the left end. The house has front and rear service wings at right-angles at the right end, the front wing is a former dairy, the rear wing is heated and may have been a bakehouse with ovens blocked in, or a laundry: both wings have accommodation over. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical entrance front, blind except for one window bay. Centre front flanked by projecting lateral stacks and gabled to the front with a 1790 eaves cornice to the left and extending across the centre bay. Central front door with timber doorcase and 6-panel door with flush panels. The right-hand bay of the main block has one ground- and one first-floor 12-pane horned sash. Dairy wing projecting forward to right has 2-window front. Doorway to right with timber lintel, one ground-floor 3-light casement. One first-floor 2-light small-pane csement, one 16-pane sash. 4-window rear elevation to the main block with doorcase 4-panel door, upper panels fielded and fanlight with spoke glazing bars. Doorcase has deep brackets supporting a flat porch hood. Door flanked by tripartite sashes, 12-pane in the centre flanked by 4-pane. One 12-pane horned sash to ground-floor left, said to replace door. 4 first-floor 12-pane sashes, 2 are horned, the other 2 are in reduced embrasures. 3 hipped roof attic dormers. Wing to left has lower roofline and outer lateral stack with various casements including windows in the end wall. 2:1:1 right return of main block, the gable end wall of the main range flanked by the service wings. One, 2- and 3-light casements. Door to laundry/bakehouse block, heated by lateral stack, to left. INTERIOR: fireplace to right hand lateral stack has new lintel, left-hand lateral stack fireplace has chimneypiece missing. 1790 stair with ramped handrail and stick balusters. Panelled doors and fine doorcases. Alterations include imported panelling, doors changed to windows, partitions altered. Partition between right-hand and centre room made up of old shutters. Flag floor to kitchen. Dairy retains slate shelves; bakehouse/laundry has open fireplace with slightly chamfered lintel. Roofspace has one C17 truss, original pegged collar removed and replaced with higher collar. Roof over 1790 section has one truss with halved collar and metal fixings. Historical note: A painting owned by previous owners of the house shows a very smart late C17 house with end pavilions. This may have been a planned remodelling of Rill, never executed.

Listing NGR: SX7509364995

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

392250

Legacy System:

LBS

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.