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Summary

Early 16th century farmhouse with later 16th and 17th century improvments, modernised in late 17th century. Plastered stone rubble under smoke-blackened thatch.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II*) 1106400: HIGHER CHIEFLOWMAN FARMHOUSE INCLUDING FRONT GARDEN WALLS

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: ST01NW7
• Old DCC SMR Ref: ST01NW/24/1
• Old Listed Building Ref (II*)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FARMHOUSE (XVI to Post Medieval - 1501 AD to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

NMR, ST01NW7 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV340512.

Department of Environment, 1966, Uplowman (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV340511.

Higher Chieflowman Farmhouse, including front garden walls. Farmhouse. Early 16th century with major later 16th and 17the century improvements, and a thorough late 17th century modernisation. Plastered stone rubble, probably with cob; stone rubble stacks topped with 19th and 20th century brick; thatch roof, one end replaced with concrete tile, and slate to rear outshot.
Plan and development: originally a 3-room-and-through-passage plan house facing south-east and it is built across a gentle hillslope. At the left (south-western) end is an inner room parlour with a gable-end stack. The hall has a rear lateral stack. The rear of the pasage is now occupied by the main stair. At the right end a service end kitchen has a large gable-end stack with a projecting oven housing. The early 16th century smoke-blackened roof survives over the hall and inner room showing that the original house was open to the roof from end to end, divided by low partitions and heated by an open hearth fire. Apart from this roof there is no apparent evidence of any improvements to the house before the mid 17th century but presumably a hall fireplace had been inserted earlier and the inner room at least must have been floored over. Some evidence of such changes may be hidden. In the mid 17th century the service end was rebuilt as a kitchen. However the house is essentially the result of a major late 17th century refurbishment in which the rear of the passage was blocked by the stairs, hall and parlour fireplaces rebuilt and the rooms refurbished. All the first floor chambers were refurbished and a new higher roof built, some of it over he top of the original roof. A dairy/service wing built at right angles in front and overlapping the right (kitchen) end collapsed in the mid 20th century. It was either mid or late 17th century. The service outshot to rear of the kitchen is probably 19th century. The house is 2 storeys.
Exterior: attractive farmhouse with an irregular 4-window front. The right end bay (kitchen and chamber above) has mid 17th century oak-framed windows with ovolo-moulded mullions; 4-lights to the ground floor and 3 lights to the first floor. The other windows appear to be late 17th century. They are oak-framed 3-light windows with flat-faced mullLions. Each light contains a small 8-pane sashes which are presumably 19th century. These tripartite sashes are very attractive and most unusual. The front doorway is right of centre and contains a mid or late 19th century 4-panel door behind a contemporary flat-roofed porch with trellis walls. The roof is gable-ended. The rear wall is blind except for a secondary service door to the rear outshot and a small first floor window at the same end. Near the right end of the front wall a cob wall projects a short distance forward at right angles to the main block. It is all that now remains of the 17th century service wing and still contains a 17th century oak-framed window with chamfered mullion and a contemporary oak doorframe with chamfered surround.
Interior: apart from the roof the kitchen contains the earliest features and they are mid 17th century. There is here a crossbeam with deep soffit-chamfers and although the large fireplace is blocked its soffit-chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel show. The rest of the house contains late 17th century features and these make up an unusually complete set. Both hall and fireplaces have curving brick pentans (backs) and soffit-chamfered oak lintels. Also both have roughly finished crossbeams. These were probably intended to be clad with plaster and lengths of moulded plaster cornice remain in both rooms (and there is some more in the parlour chamber above. The ground floor doors are 19th century but all those on the first floor are late 17th century; they are 8-panel doors with scratch-moulded rails and muntins and hang on butterfly or H-hinges. The 2 first floor fireplaces (over the parlour and kitchen) both have bolection chimneypieces. The staircase is a plain straight flight. Cupboards in the kitchen and chamber over also late 17th century and have panelled oak doors hung on butterfly and H-hinges. The original roof over the inner room and hall is carried on side-pegged jointed cruck trusses. The whole roof structure here, including the common rafters and underside of the original thatch, is heavily smoke-blackened from the original open hearth fire. The rest of the roof is late 17th century and clean. It is carried on A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars.
The front garden is terraced a little above the surrounding ground and is enclosed by a 19th century low stone rubble wall.
This farmhouse has a most picturesque appearance featuring unusual tripartite sash windows. Also the interior is remarkably well-preserved from its late C17 phase.
Chieflowman was the Domesday manor of Lonnina. Source: Devon SMR. Other details: LBS No 96012.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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