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Summary

Possibly a 17th century remodelling of an earlier house, extended and refurbished in circa 1700, and again in the 1830s.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1325847: LOWER LEIGH FARMHOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST11SW/29
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FARMHOUSE (Unknown date)

Full description

Unattributed, Lower Leigh Farm, BH188011, BH188021-BH188022 (Un-published). SDV352686.

MHLG LIST, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV38831.

Lower leigh. 'plastered walls and thatched roof. Brick and stone stacks. L-shaped plan.2 storey. Sashes and casements. Irregularly spaced three window front, one with rounded head. Doorway has bracketed hood. Probably 17th century and later. ' (mhlg list).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV38832.

Mhlg/rural district of tiverton list/5 april 1966.

Devon and Somerset County Councils, 2000-2002, Historic Farmsteads Database, BH188H (Machine readable data file). SDV349681.

No information supplied.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

English Heritage, 2013, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV350785.

Lower Leigh Farmhouse

Detached house, formerly a farmhouse. Possibly a 17th century remodelling of an earlier house, extended and refurbished in circa 1700, and again in the 1830s. Roughcast cob and stone mix; gable end roof, thatched to front, pantiled to rear; pantiled continuous outshut, largely of stone.

Plan: a puzzling house. Originally probably a 3-room, through-passage plan house, the service end to the left of the passage. The roof has been almost entirely rebuilt since the war, and the only early truss surviving is unlikely to pre-date the late 17th century. However, the stack (now partially dismantled) gives every impression of having been inserted into the passage, so that the present entrance leads into a lobby, with a very narrow passage running behind the stack. An extension to the service end was added, slightly out of alignment with the main range, and heated by an internal end stack with bake oven. The original service end is heated by a deep stone (formerly end) stack, also with bake oven, and with a recess for either winder stairs or a smoking chamber. The hall presents several problems: the first floor looks 18th century, and is at 2 levels, taller immediately forward of the fireplace then at the higher end, a feature that forms a platform in the chamber above, about 48' square, and 2' high. Its function is uncertain, but it creates 2 distinct spaces in both rooms, probably reflecting different activities taking place in structurally undivided rooms. 18th century stairs have been inserted along the front face of the hall, which are lit by a pair of contemporary pegged 2-light casement windows which, externally, give the impression of being one tall window. A wing built to the front of the inner room and heated by an external end stack, retains some mid-17th century wall decoration in the upper chamber, contemporary or a little earlier than the 17th century joinery elsewhere. In circa 1831 (the date of an object found in the wall) a wing was added to the rear of the inner room; it is wider than the front wing, allowing for an axial corridor running along the lower-end side, which gives access to the principal 1830 room from the old hall, by way of a short but elegant flight of stairs - a satisfying and imaginative piece of design. 2 storeys.

Exterior: front: a real jumble; the paired casement windows to hall and hall chamber (described above) to the right of a 19th century timber porch with boarded gable; to the left of the porch is an early tall 19th century round-headed 2-light window, with decorative glazing bars in the head; the lower part of this window has been renewed, or extended, and it now straddles both floors. Left of this two large buttresses, one of which partially conceals a piece of rusticated quoining; 3-light casement window to service end chamber, set in a slightly projecting stretch of walling. 3-light casement window to service-room extension, ground floor. Front wing: one 2-light casement window to first floor inner face; 19th century door flanked by 12-pane hornless sash windows to ground floor. Front angles in rusticated quoining. Outer face of wing with 2 late 18th century pegged 2-light casement windows, with a large 16- pane hornless sash window lighting principal room of rear wing. The rear of the axial corridor of this wing is lit by a round-headed sash window. 19th century casements elsewhere. Interior: (1) mid-17th century mural decoration survives (apparently largely intact) under later panelling in the front wing chamber; where revealed it is made up of formal floral patterning with a series of associated arcs. (2) Much joinery of circa 1700, mainly large fielded panelled doors, including doors of wall cupboards, some with brass H-hinges. (3) Ceiling beams, where exposed, have very shallow chambers or bead mouldings, and look 18th century. (4) Some attractive early 19th century joinery including the stairs to the rear of the hall with ramped rails and turned newels: fielded panel doors, and in the principal room of the rear wing, internal panelled sliding shutters; panelling elsewhere.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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