See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

A two storey granite building likely to date to the 16th or 17th century. Major renovation in 1842, according to the date plaque above the door, which may have been due to a fire. Lean-tos built against the rear of the property. House is plastered granite with a slate roof.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1106167: YEO FARMHOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• National Buildings Record: 29958
• National Monuments Record: SX68NE196
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 510008
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX68NE/34/6
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 94622

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FARMHOUSE (Built, XV to Early 20th Century - 1500 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))
• OUTBUILDING (Built, Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD (Between) to 1901 AD (Between))

Full description

Griffiths, D., 10/01/1989, Yeo Farm, Chagford, 8-9 (Report - Interim). SDV351692.

The stone-built farmhouse dates from 1842 and is believed to have been rebuilt after a fire. It has a four room plan with a central through passage and a line of probably later lean-tos at the back. The two rooms on the left side of the passage are now combined into one. The first, the former hall, has its fireplace and chimney backing onto the through passage in the characteristic manner of 16th and 17th century Dartmoor houses. The second, inner room has a gable fireplace. On the other side of the through passage is the former kitchen with a large fireplace in the rear wall. The fourth room, at the right hand end, is now a garage. The left hand lean-to, now a kitchen, was originally a dairy with granite channels and a trough, which are now outside on the patio. The right hand lean-to is the pumphouse with granite troughs still in situ.

Unknown, 1949 - 1957, Yeo Farm (Photograph). SDV263838.

Photos of various buildings at Yeo including school, taken in 1949 and 1957. Plans of buildings also in National Monuments Record. Photographs and plans in National Monuments Record, London (photocopies taken by S. Timms). Other details: AA 49/9906 and BB 69/889.

Bagenal, H., 1956 - 1958, Early farming at Yeo Farm, Chagford, 260-264 (Article in Serial). SDV274809.

Yeo Farm. It was rebuilt after a fire in the 18th century though some old walls are retained. It was built on a longhouse-type plan, perhaps its original form, with the kitchen to the left of the cross-passage, (where tradition has it the cows were once kept) and the other rooms to the right. One of the outbuildings looks, possibly medieval. In 1600 John Perryman was tenant, with venville rights.

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1963, Monuments Threatened or Destroyed. A Select List: 1956-1962, 30 (Monograph). SDV289739.

Building of granite, two storeys. Of medieval origin: built to provide dwelling on first floor, byre beneath; fireplace on upper floor in end wall. Outbuildings of granite, two storeys. Built probably in late 16th century as house with one room on each floor.

Laithwaite, J. M. W., 1988, Yeo Farm, Chagford, 8-9 (Un-published). SDV226613.

The farmhouse at Yeo is a roughcast stone built structure which style-wise appears to fit the 1842 date carved above the door. The current owners believe it was rebuilt after a fire and that it originated as a longhouse. This is quite possible but there is no conclusive evidence as yet to confirm/deny this theory. The exterior was rernovated in 1963, the work included adding new windows and sills and a new roof and chimneys.
The house has a four-room plan with a central through-passage. At the back is a line of lean-tos which were probably added later. Part of the house appears to have been used for farm storage as a diary entry from 1944 notes that there was a ‘corn chamber’ inside at that time.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

English Heritage, 2011, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV347072.

(Listing description December 1986) Farmhouse, perhaps former Dartmoor longhouse. Probably 16th or 17th century origins but original house appears to have been rebuilt on the old plan in 1842, according to date plaque. By family tradition it was rebuilt after a fire. At the time however outshots were built along the rear. Plastered granite; granite stacks with plastered brick and granite ashlar chimney shafts; slate roof.
Plan and development: 4-room-and-through-passage plan house facing east-south-east, say east, and built down a slight slope. The inner room is at the left (southern) end and has an end stack with a winder stair alongside. The hall has an axial stack backing onto the wide passage with present main stair to rear. The service end or former shippon contains a kitchen with a rear lateral stack and there is a store at the right (northern) end. According to family tradition this was a shippon before 1842. Outshots right across the back. Behind the inner room is the dairy, the former cider store behind the hall is now converted to a bathroom, pump house to rear of the passage, and behind the service end a coach house (now garage) with pigsties behind. House is two storeys.
Exterior: Regular 4-window front of mostly 19th century casements with glazing bars. A fifth window on the right end would make it symmetrical. The front passage doorway is roughly central and now contains a 20th century door and gabled slate-roofed hood. Directly above this is a datestone commemorating the 1842 rebuild. A doorway to the inner room at the left end now contains a 20th century French window and there is a plank door at the right end to the store there. This roof is gable-ended and carried down to rear over the outshots. The coach house/garage outshot also includes a row of three pigsties facing backwards. Each has a low doorway with a feeding hatch alongside containing a granite trough. Interior has been little altered since the 19th century. Nowhere do earlier features show. The fireplaces have 19th century grates except for the large but plain granite kitchen fireplace. No structural carpentry is exposed and all the joinery is 19th century. The roof was not inspected but is reported to have a 20th century replacement structure. There are some interesting and rare features. The dairy outshot for instance is terraced into the slope. Around the outer two sides is a granite ledge with a shallow channel in its top. Water can be fed by an iron pipe from the nearby stream into the channel and this was used to cool the cream pans. There is a drain and granite trough at the end and there is still the original (and now uneven) brick floor. In the pump house spring water is still drawn from a 19th century pump and there are two large granite troughs. Although the house was connected to mains electricity in 1986 the nearby mill (q.v.) had provided hydro-electricity since 1893. By the front door there is still a wheel for starting the dynamo (connected to the mill by an underground chain) and there is the original voltmeter in the wall. Although Yeo Farmhouse is essentially 19th century it is a remarkably complete farmhouse with nearly all its 19th century fittings. The Perryman family have lived on the site since circa 1450. It is also important to regard this farmhouse along with the well-preserved group of listed buildings associated with it such as the office and garden railings (q.v.), mill (q.v.), smithy (q.v.), and the Old School House (q.v.). Other details: LB UID: 94622.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.