Blagdon Farmhouse

Details

SX 39 NE CLAWTON

3/1 Blagdon Farmhouse - - II

Farmhouse. Early C17 origins, C18 and C19 alterations. Cob on stone rubble footings and stone rubble, partly whitewashed and plastered, partly hung with rag slates on the courtyard side. Slate roofs hipped and gabled at ends, 6 chimney stacks: the main (east) range has 2 axial stacks, a C19 brick chimney shaft to the rear and a gable end stack to the C19 wing; the west range has a massive axial stack and a gable end stack. Complex development. The plan is of 3 ranges round a narrow central courtyard, the south range is shorter, linking the longer east and west ranges. The east range has a crosswing at the north end. The evolution of the house is now entirely clear owing to the development of the east range in the C18 and C19. The east range may have been the early hall range served by a kitchen range at the west; alternatively, the west range, which is clearly early C17 in the origin may have been a hall range reduced in status to a kitchen when the east range was added in the later Cl7. The linking south range may also be C17 in origin. The east range was originally single depth and 3-rooms wide and the C17 axial stack to the north may have been the hall stack. There is no obvious evidence of a passage. In the circa early C18 a central rear stair projection and rear left and right single-storey lean-tos give an additional half room width to the earlier single-depth arrangement. in the C19 a cross wing was added at the right (north) end, and the internal partitions were altered. The west wing has also evolved; it is single depth and 3-rooms wide in plan but the south end is slightly set back and may be an addition of the C18 or C19. The middle ground floor room is early Cl7 with a massive fireplace at the south end, the north end of the C19 crosswing projecting at the right (north) end. Asymmetrical 4-window front with a C19 half-glazed door with margin glazing to the left and a large C19 porch into the left return of the crosswing. C19 sash windows throughout except for first floor window right which is C20. The sashes are 4-pane, ground floor window right is a paired sash. The right return of the wing has a canted bay window with a lead tent roof and sash windows, 1 ground floor tripartite sash and 2 first floor sashes with glazing bars. The west elevation of the west wing has a gabled stone porch on the front to the right, a first floor gabled dormer and C19 fenestration of casement windows with glazing bars and one 4-pane sash. The courtyard, paved with pitched stones is completed by a cob wall linking the east and west ranges. Interior: The east range has some C18 joinery and a C18 stair with boxed-in balusters. Ground floor room rear right has boxed-in cross beams and C17 joists with scatch mouldings are said to exist behind the ceiling plaster. The putative C17 hall has a good C19 chimney piece, some fragments of C17 and C19 panelling exist on the first floor, probably not in situ. The west range preserves a C17 ground floor room with a chamfered cross beam with runout stops and a massive partly blocked fireplace with stone rubble jambs. The right-hand room in the range has a chimney stack abutting the C17 stack, a large open fireplace with cloam oven and a feature that may be a smoking chamber. Roofspaces not inspected but may be of interest. Blagdon Manor is an extremely interesting example of an evolved house of C17 origins and high status. The interior has been very little altered since the C19 and the survival of the external slatehanging round the small courtyard is a particularly attractive feature of the building. The Domesday "Blakedon" formed a sub-manor of Claueton.

Listing NGR: SX3694096985

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

90656

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.