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Summary

Tawton House originated as a three bay, open hall house in the later 15th century. It was altered and extended, and a first floor inserted in the 17th century. It was further extended and altered in the 18th century and again in the late 18th-early 19th century. An outbuilding to the east of the house is possibly a former detached kitchen.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II): Tawton House, with associated outbuilding, possibly a former detached kitchen

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (Built, XV to XIX - 1401 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

South West Heritage Trust, 1838-1848, Digitised Tithe Maps and Transcribed Apportionments (Cartographic). SDV359954.

Recorded as House and Court on the Bishops Tawton Tithe Apportionment (Plot 629) with a garden (Plot 630).

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

House depicted. Set within a garden with additional buildings alongside the road, eitherside of the entrance.

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Marked as The Cottage.

Ordnance Survey, 2023, Mastermap 2023 (Cartographic). SDV365227.

Marked as Tawton House, the roadside buildings are still extant.

Historic England, 2023, National Heritage List for England, 1486280 (National Heritage List for England). SDV365228.

Tawton House.
Summary
House, with associated outbuilding, possibly a former detached kitchen. Built in 1474 as a cross-passage house with an open hall. Altered and extended in the C17, and again in the C18, C19, and C20.
Reasons for Designation
Tawton House, with associated outbuilding, possibly a former detached kitchen, in Bishop's Tawton, North Devon is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest: for its origins as a late C15, regionally distinctive, local rubble stone and cob, cross-passage house with an open hall, characteristic of Devon vernacular building traditions; for its surviving smoke blackened late C15 roof structure and cob wall, which, with the cranked collars to the principal rafters, provide evidence for the ground floor being open to the roof; for its evidence for historic carpentry techniques including E-type apexes; for its adaptation in the C17 in the form of its rebuilt west wall with a new hall window and lateral stack, and evidence for a two-storey porch to the west end of the cross passage, both prestigious modifications to a medieval house that are characteristic of the C17 period; for the legibility of the building’s evolution in its surviving historic fabric and architectural detailing; for the survival of a possible former detached kitchen to the east and its potential to yield further evidence for the historic evolution of domestic arrangements.
Historic interest: for the evidence provided in its historic fabric for dating and understanding the building’s evolution and the changes in architectural fashions that occurred across the centuries; for its specific illustration of the evolution in domestic arrangements from the medieval open-hall house to the heated house of the early-modern period.
See listing description for full details. Date first listed: 6th December 2023.

Historic England, 2023, Tawton House, Bishop's Tawton (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV365803.

Notification that Tawton House, with associated outbuilding, possibly a former detached kitchen has been added to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest. The building is now listed at Grade II.

Historic England, 2023, Tawton House, Bishops Tawton, Barnstaple Devon (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV365611.

Notification that Historic England is currently considering if the buildings has special architectural or historic interest and have completed a consultation report on which they will base their recommendation.
Tawton House dates to circa 1474 and originated as a three bay, open hall house. The west wall was demolished in the 17th century and a new wall built forward of it, with a window and lateral stack. A first floor was subseqently inserted. The house was extended in the 18th century and in the late 18th-early 19th century the north range was rebuilt.
There is a service yard to the east of the house with two buildings on either side of an entrance from the street. To the north is a former coach house, now a garage and to the south is a stable block. There are also the remains of a kitchen garden to the north of the house.
See consultation report for full details.

Historic England, 2023, Tawton House, Bishops Tawton, Barnstaple, Devon (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV365433.

Notification of an application to add Tawton House to the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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