Monument Type(s):

• HOUSE (circa 1280, 13th century to Late 18th century - 1200 AD to 1799 AD) + Sci.Date

Summary

A house, reputed to have been the house of the King's forester, circa 1280, which is protected by Grade II* Listing.

Related records

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESA4109 - 1994 site visit as part of Listed Buildings Resurvey

Description

House. Reputed to have been the house of the King's forester of the Long Forest. c1280, with C16 alterations and C18 extension wing. Stone rubble walls with dressed quoins and moulded plinth, 2 metres thick at the base and tapering. Brick and coursed rubble later house extension. A rectangular block with gabled ends. The gable trusses are square panelled timber-framed, with painted rendered brick infill panels and central timber mullioned window. Plain-tile roof replacing thatch in early C20. C17 integral stone rubble eaves stack on east side.
EXTERIOR: north-west side partly rebuilt. Central doorway with rebuilt round-arched opening with ball-flower decoration and recessed boarded door: C20 casement to right set in moulded ashlar segmental-arched opening. North-east gable-end and south-east side each have single window in stone jambs with roll moulding and fillet, scalloped bases and capitals, with single mullion, that to the north-east with roll-moulded stone shaft, the south-east window mullion is timber.
Small C13 window on north-east side at lower level. South-west gable-end: 3 staggered C13 staircase slit openings to left. 2 wood casements to ground-floor right, blocked C16 3-light wood mullion window above stone-blocked C13 opening at first-floor right (probably the original entrance) . An C18 2-storey house with gabled and hipped tiled roof attached on south-east side to right: south-west face of brick on rubble plinth with brick dentil course eaves, axial brick ridge stack, 3-window range with brick segmental-arch lintels, central boarded door under slate gabled open porch; other faces of coursed rubble with flat lintel openings. All windows are C20 multi-pane casements.
INTERIOR: lower floor divided with C17 partitions, C13 large-section first-floor joists reset in C17; first-floor hall with C17 square-framed partition incorporating 3. low-arched door-heads, C13 mullion windows with flanking internal seats, C13 partly blocked corner winder stair built into the wall thickness, later C17 winding stair, C17 attic floor and 3-bay triple-purlin roof. (Architects Journal: Wood ME: C13 Domestic Architecture in Endland: 1950-). <6>

Stone built, first-floor hall house of late C13 with walls 6ft. (1.83m.) thick. Significant are two windows in the hall which have fitted window seats, decorative moulding - and draw-bolts. The massive joists of both floors, wrought from whole or half trees very closely spaced yielded dendro dates of 1450 and 1633. Presumably the latter date was when refurbishment took place and the carpenters simply copied the form of the original. Plan, section and sketches. <10>

Photograph taken 4th February 2017. It is reputed that the remains of a former chapel are incorporated into the buildings. (see <10>). <11>

The Forester’s Lodge, Upper Millichope, is a stone-built first-floor hall-house which has six-foot thick walls, an internal spiral staircase, sitting-windows with nail-head ornament, draw-bars and monolithic central mullions, and other features which suggest a date of c.1280 or earlier (Moran and James). The joists at both floor levels are made from whole or half-trees, roughly hewn and set closely (VAG Conf. Prog. 1982, 22). It was hoped that the sampling would clarify the dating of the stonework but the dendrochronology has shown that the first floor ceiling joists were felled in 1450/51, and the ground floor ceiling joists felled in 1633. It is clear that the whole of the north-west wall was rebuilt, and that this occurred at one of these two dates. It is surprising that as late as 1633 the floor would be replaced in a manner which, if not identical to the original, was clearly in the medieval tradition. <12>

Elevation and plans. Briefly described. <13>

Drawing of exterior.<14>

Sources

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