Westacott Barton

Details

NORTH TAWTON SS 60 SE 6/85 Westacott Barton 22.2.67 GV II* Farmhouse. Late C15 or early C16 with late C16 alterations and late C16, C17 and C18 additions. Rendered cob and stone rubble walls. Thatch roof hipped at left- hand end and front of outbuilding wing, gabled to rear wing. C20 rendered stack at right-hand end. C19 rendered axial stack; to left of centre is very unusual C17 brick stack with pilasters and moulded cornice. Plan: very complex development of plan. Originally probably 3-room and through passage plan but it is not clear where the passage was as it may have been moved. Open to the roof from end to end with central hearth to hall. In the late C16 the house was floored and the arrangement of rooms probably altered with a passage towards th right-hand end and one room beyond it. The arrangement to the left of the passage is more uncertain - at present there are 3 rooms but the left-hand one is likely to be a C17 addition. The 2 central rooms are divided by an axial fireplace heating the right-hand room but this is probably a C19 insertion whereas the room to its left has a fireplace with the C17 brick stack above. There must either have been 1 large heated room to the left of the passage or else 2 rooms with an unheated central service room, possibly with a passage to its rear. Probably at the same time that these alterations were effected a high quality parlour wing was added at the rear of the passage. An adjoining stair wing for a framed staircase was added slightly later when the plaster ceilings were inserted on both floors of the wing - these date to about 1600. In the early-mid C17 a 1-room heated addition was made at the left-hand end. In the C18 a linhay range was built on at the front of it. C19 outshut added at rear. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 5-window front with outbuilding wing projecting from left-hand end. The 2 left-hand first floor windows and the left-hand ground floor window are late C20 small-paned casements with top opening lights. Otherwise early C20 small-paned casements on first floor and early C19 20-pane hornless sashes to ground floor. 2 identical C20 part glazed gabled porches to left and right of centre. Outbuilding wing (originally open-fronted) has 2 C20 plank doors to left and C20 arched doorframe to right leading to passage from front to back of wing. On one side this passage re-uses some C17 panelling. The parlour wing at the rear of the right-hand end has a remarkable 10-light original wooden mullion window with central king mullion. This and the frame are richly moulded whereas the mullions are ovolo-moulded. Above it is a similar smaller 5-light window with gable above. To its left is a small simpler C17 2-light wood mullion window with old leaded panes. At rear is stair turret adjoining inner face of wing with separate roof and C19 outshut to its right. Interior has high quality late C16 or early C17 features. The most notable are the 2 decorative plaster ceilings in the rear wing - the ground floor one has a geometric single-ribbed pattern of kite-shaped panels with angle sprays and Tudor roses. In the chamber above is a canopied ceiling with a similar design distinguished by a central pendant at which the lines converge. Both ceilings date from the Period One of Devon Plasterwork - 1550-1600 and the design of the first floor ceiling is very similar to one in the nearby Cottles Barton (q.v.). Above the ground floor ceiling apparently are chamfered beams which strongly suggest that the ceiling is an insertion. A C17 wooden doorframe leads into this room. The room to the left of the passage has early C17 panelling on its partition wall to the passage and also along part of its front wall. It also has a large C19 kitchen fireplace with brick jambs and wooden lintel. The room to its left has 2 deep chamfered axial beams and fireplace which has wooden lintel with pyramid stops to chamfer. The left-hand room has chamfered cross beams with ogee stops. Small fireplace with cambered wooden lintel which has hollow step stops to chamfer. Roof: C17 roof over left-hand end room with straight principals which have collars halved on with notched joints. The original range retains its smoke-blackened medieval roof - the feet and the trusses are plastered over but some are curved. Over the left-hand end the original smoke-blackened thatch survives. The roof structure at this end was not available for a full inspection at the time of survey. Tnis is an important house which has a medieval core but is most interesting for its high quality late C16 and C17 remodelling with particularly good plasterwork. Externally, its elaborate C17 brick stack is a very unusual early example in Devon. Source : Devonshire Plasterwork - K and C French : T.D.A. 1957, Vol.89.

Listing NGR: SS6849002244

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

92968

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Transactions of the Devonshire Association in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol. 89, (1957)

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