Bull Court House

Summary

Residential apartments, formerly a fellmonger’s premises, constructed around 1867 and converted in the early C21. The extension to north (Bowden House) is not included in the List entry.

Reasons for Designation

Bull Court House, a former fellmonger's warehouse constructed in around 1867, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* despite alterations, the building retains sufficient historic fabric to identify its historic use as a warehouse.

Historic interest:

* as possibly the last-surviving example of a building serving a once-thriving trade in Barnstaple.

History

Located on the line of Barnstaple’s medieval town walls, the site of Bull Court House is shown on the 1841 Tithe map as being owned by ‘Ballment’. Bull Court House was described by Gardiner (see Sources) as a fellmonger’s warehouse or premises constructed in around 1867 by Mr H Balment. The premises were later sold to the Barnstaple Bridge Trust and put into a different use.

The building is first shown on the 1890 Ordnance Survey (OS) map where it is depicted as being attached to a building to the south on Joy Street by a small extension. Other buildings, including a smithy, are shown built up against its east and west elevations. By the time of the 1904 OS map two buildings orientated north-south had been added at either end of the north elevation. The 1957 OS map shows that the building had been extended to the west, but by 1964 had returned to its historic footprint and was in use as a ‘works’. By 1978 the north-east extension had been divided into four smaller units, and the majority of the surrounding buildings had been demolished. The units were replaced with the current extension in 1988 (not included in the List entry), and the warehouse was converted into residential apartments in around 2001.

Details

Residential apartments, formerly a fellmonger’s premises, constructed around 1867 and converted in the early C21. The extension to north (Bowden House) is not included in the List entry.

MATERIALS: red brick and timber weatherboarded walls, slate roof.

PLAN: rectangular in plan and orientated east to west.

EXTERIOR: Bull Court House is of three storeys, with three bays east to west defined by red-brick piers with C20 horizontal timber-weatherboarding between. Between each storey the brick piers have a protruding brick band. The north elevation faces onto a courtyard set-back from Bull Court; the ground floor comprises C20 entrances to the apartments with a through carriageway to the right, above which is a C20 timber weatherboarded balcony. The first floor has two sets of C20 French doors onto the balcony with C20 timber casements above to the second floor. The east and west elevations are one bay wide, blind, with rendered stonework to the ground floor on the west side. The south elevation has C20 casements to the upper storey.

INTERIOR: Bull Court House was converted into apartments in the early C21; some of the roof structure appears to survive, but otherwise there are few internal features of interest visible.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

485537

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Gardiner, W F, Barnstaple 1837-1897, (1897), 86-87

Websites
Rightmove, Bull Court House sales particulars, accessed 26/10/2023 from https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135292256#/?channel=RES_BUY

Other
Tithe map, Barnstaple Town, 1841

End of official list entry

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