Outbuilding at Cadeleigh Court

Details

SS 90 NW CADELEIGH 5/53 Outbuilding at Cadeleigh Court II House, in use as outbuilding. Circa 1700, possibly a remodelling of an earlier building. Dressed local sandstone brought to course with ashlar dressings; corrugated iron roof, hipped at ends; projecting rear lateral stack with truncated shaft, left end stack and 2 axial stacks with dismantled shafts. Plan : Long single depth range, 4 rooms wide on a west-east axis, built on a sloping site with the result that the south elevation is taller than the north. The plan form is puzzling and interpertation is made difficult because "none of the interior partitions is certainly original" (Silvester and Richardson), and the position of the original doorway or doorways is not clear. The left (east) end room has what appears to be a kitchen fireplace of a C17 date while the room second from left was heated by the lateral stack on the south wall and may have been the hall. The stack of the right (west) end room projects into the putative hall and is probably a subsequent modification while both the partition walls of the first room from the left appear to be C19 including the former axial stack. Nothing of the original roof survives and it is not clear whether any of the openings on the south side are original. Nevertheless, the north elevation openings are high quality work of circa 1700 with flat ashlar masonry arches. Silvester and Richardson have suggested the possibility that the building could be a refronting by Sir Simon Leach (d. 1708) of an earlier house built by his great grandfather, Sir Simon Leach, (d. 1637) and may have functioned as an agent or farm manager's house for Cadeleigh Manor. Exterior 2 storeys. Long, asymmetrical north elevation (but possibly once symmetrical at ground floor level, (Silvester and Richardson) with 13 ground floor and 11 first floor openings. The west end has been partly rebuilt at first floor level and has a slightly higher roofline. The 13 ground floor openings have flat ashlar masonry arches. The first bays from left and right have doorways, the fifth bay from the east is a doorway but may originally have been a window and it has been suggested that the windows in the third bays from left and right may have been doorways. This would have provided a symmetrical front. The central window is crowned with a rather decayed coat of arms which may show Leach impaling Turberville, recording the second marriage of the first Sir Simon Leach (q.v. parish church) although it has been interpreted as Leach impaling Grenville. 5 of the ground floor windows retain wooden frames and mullion. The first floor openings have plain wood or stone lintels, some with probably enlarged embrasures. The south elevation has a truncated ashlar masonry lateral stack and 6 openings of various sizes including what is probably a modern doorway at ground floor level 2 metres above the level of the farmyard to the south. Interior The fireplace in the left hand (east) room has ashlar masonry jambs and a scroll-stopped lintel. A rounded recess adjacent to the stack suggests the position of a former stair. There is no internal access between this room and the rest of the range. The lateral stack fireplace is blocked and the lintel has been removed but the chamfered jambs are still visible. The right hand (west) room axial stack projects into the putative hall and has chamfered jambs and a relieving arch. The first room front the left has an C18 or C19 fireplace in a partition wall which is not bonded to the external walls of the building ; circa straight stair between this room and the putative hall. An intriguing house with a complex building history on an archaeologically important site close to 2 small earthwork enclosures. The house, in connection with the earthworks, is important evidence in the history of Cadeleigh Manor. Both the earthworks and the house have been discussed in detail by R. J. Silvester and I. J. Richardson. Silvester, R. J. and Richardson, I. J., "The Manor of Cadeleigh near Tiverton," T.D.A., vol 116, (1984), 13-27.

Listing NGR: SS9198107478

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

437302

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Transactions of the Devonshire Association in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol. 116, (1984), 13-27

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.