Nutcombe Manor

Details

ST 02 SW
7/80
5.4.66

CLAYHANGER
Nutcombe Manor (formerly listed as Nutwell Manor)

GV
II*

Manor house. Late C16/early C17 with some late C17/early C18 refurbishment and
modifications of the 1950s. Dressed stone, brought to course with Ham Hill
dressings; 1986 slate roof to main range, gabled at ends, rear left wing slate roof,
half-hipped at left end, tiled roof to left end lean-to; rendered rear lateral stack
to main range, right end stack with brick shaft, corner stack to rear left wing.
Plan: Incomplete. The present arrangement is a single depth main range, 2 rooms wide
with a rear centre stair wing, a rear left wing with a roof parallel to the main
range, a rear right former dairy under a lean-to roof and a single-storey lean-to at
the left end of the main range. 2 fine principal rooms to the front and a fine first
floor chamber to front left, present entrance into left end lean-to. An early C18
painting of the house in the possession of the owner shows that the building formerly
extended further to the left under a lower roofline, presumably the service wing, and
illustrates a 2-storey porch on the front.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Handsome 3-bay front with Ham Hill ovolo-moulded mullioned 4-
light windows, with rounded relieving arches, the ground floor windows transomed with
hoodmoulds and label stops, all glazed with square leaded panes. There is a straight
joint between the main block and left end lean-to; late C16/early C17 plank and stud
front door with strap hinges into lean-to it a later doorframe. The rear elevation
has a 2-light timber moulded mullioned first floor window to the left of the stair
wing which has a first floor 3-light mullioned window; a 2-light circa early C18
window with square leaded panes lighting the landing below and a 2-light timber
mullioned window to the ground floor. The right return of the main block has 3
probably late C19 casement windows with brick arches.
Interior: Splendid plasterwork and other high quality features of interest. The left
hand front room on the ground floor, the C17 hall, has a fine early C17 plaster
moulded rib ceiling (French, period two) with floral sprays, a central pendant and a
good ornamental frieze. The open fireplace has a chamfered lintel and a plaster
overmantel in 2 sections with heraldic shields within cartouches flanked by rustic
figures. The inner faces, of the jambs and the hearth seats are painted in imitation
of stone in black and white. Early C18 features include a pretty round-headed
cupboard door with a keyblock and fielded panels and a fine shell hood above the door
into the hall from the stair wing, on the stair wing side. The right hand room has a
probably C18 decorated plaster ceiling rose and an C18 chimneypiece. Good circa late
C17 dog-leg stair with barley-sugar balusters and a heavy handrail, the balusters
becoming stick for the upper flights. Above the hall a high quality first floor
chamber with a circa late C17 decorated plaster ceiling, slightly damaged in the late
C20, with a frieze and plastered-over crossbeams. The bolection-moulded chimneypiece
is late C17/early C18 with an integral painting showing a deer, hounds and a man and
reputed but probably too early, to illustrate the poaching incident at Nutcombe which
prompted the culprit, Bampfylde Moore Carew to leave home and become the 'King of the
Gypsies': The left end wall of this room has circa early C18 panelling including
doors, from floor to ceiling, panelling said to have been introduced from elsewhere
in the 1950s.
The rear left room on the ground floor has introduced C17 panelling and Jacobean
style chimneypiece to the corner stack. 2 chamfered step-stopped beams date from the
late C16/early C17.
Roofspace not inspected but may be of interest, the main trusses at the left end are
said to be smoke-blackened, possibly the result of a fire that destroyed the west
wing.
Nutcombe is an important late C16/early C17 house with an outstanding survival of
high quality interior features.

Listing NGR: ST0159323408

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

96725

Legacy System:

LBS

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