Old Pizwell Farmhouse

Details

LYDFORD PIZWELL SX 67 NE 12/54 Old Pizwell Farmhouse - GV II*

Unoccupied farmhouse, in partial use as farm building. Circa early C16 partially rebuilt and extended in C19. Granite rubble walls. Gable ended corrugated iron and wood shingle roof. 2 granite stacks - axial hall stack is C16/C17 of ashlar with dripcourse and tapering cap; gable end rubble stack is considerably later. Longhouse plan of shippon to right with through passage, hall and inner room to its left. Dating from the circa early C16 it is possible that the building was originally open to the roof with a central hearth lathe hall but there is no direct evidence of this. The hall stack backs onto the passage. A doorway to the front of it suggests there may formerly have been a newel staircase in a projection at the front of the hall. The inner room appears to have been substantially rebuilt in the C19 and is of an equal size to the hall. It has direct entry forming a symmetrical front to the higher end. Along the rear wall of the building 3 separate outshuts have been added probably at various stages in the C18 and C19. Although the house is no longer inhabited the shippon still performs its original function. Exterior: 2 storeys. Shippon to the right is single storey formerly with loft. Roughly regular 2-window front to house part of C19 fixed small-paned lights with loading door to left on first floor. Central doorway. Leanto to right end of house which may incorporate lower part of former stair turret. It adjoins the leanto porch at the front of the passage with a wide doorway behind and C19 plank door. Doorway into shippon to right of porch. The gable end wall of the shippon retains its slits with one in the gable and 3 below. At the rear the outshuts extend from the lower end of the shippon almost to the higher end of the house though with a break at the rear of the passage. Interior: The rebuilt inner room has an open fireplace with plain granite lintel and granite jambs. The hall preserves its early fireplace with slightly cambered chamfered granite lintel and rough granite jambs. Substantial chamfered cross beam with hollow step stops. On the front wall adjoining the fireplace is a blocked doorway likely to have led to the stairs. Leading from the passage to the hall is original shouldered-head wooden doorframe. The fireplace back facing the passage is constructed of ashlar blocks with a plinth. At the lower side of the passage is a cob wall rising to head height with a substantial cross beam at the top. Directly above this is the only surviving original roof truss:- a raised or upper cruck with morticed cranked collar, trenched purlins, diagonal ridge and triangular strengthening block. Otherwise completely re-roofed in C20. This building is one of 3 early longhouses forming a very traditional moorland hamlet which survives in an unaltered form. Pizwell is one of the 17 Ancient Tenements of the Forest of Dartmoor, first mentioned in documents in 1260. Source: Devonshire Farmhouses III - Trans. Devonshire Assoc. 103, 1971: S R Jones (Interpretation differs slightly)

Listing NGR: SX6684278447

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

92786

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Transactions of the Devonshire Association in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, (1971)

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.