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Summary

Site of Lower Dunscombe medieval farmstead with two buildings surviving. Earliest map records Dunscombe OS 1st edition 1 inch map of 1809. Also shown on the Cheriton Fitzpaine tithe map 1839.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• FARMSTEAD (XI to XXI - 1001 AD to 2009 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Ordnance Survey, 1880s, Ordnance Survey (Cartographic). SDV848.

Site of 'Lower Dunscombe' farmstead shown on OS 25" (1880s & 1906) maps as a long rectangular building on the west side of the track with a rectilinear enclosure to the south. A rectangular building is shown to the northeast on the east side of the track with another to the southeast. The two buildings to the east consisting of a linhay & threshing barn are present on modern maps. Other details: Also on OS 25" (1906) map.

Gover, J. E. B. + Mawer, A. + Stenton, F. M., 1931, The Place-Names of Devon: Part One, 414 (Monograph). SDV1312.

'Lower Dunscombe' was mentioned as 'Danescoma' in 1086, 'Denescumbe' in 1198, 'Dynescumbe' in 1283 & 'Donescumb' in 1303.

Parker, R. W., 2014, Documentary Research and Assessment of Lower Dunscombe Farm, Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon (Report - Assessment). SDV360263.

This report describes the results of documentary research and assessment of a settlement site at Lower Dunscombe, Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon. The site lies a short distance to the east of Cheriton Fitzpaine and includes the site of a farmhouse (now demolished) two historic farm buildings and earthworks relating to other structures and features.

The division of the estate into two farmsteads perhaps occurred in the mid 18th-century though, of course, ownership of both properties may have been held by a single individual and tenanted separately at a much earlier date without this fact necessarily being recorded.

The earliest maps to record the name ‘Dunscombe’ in Cheriton Fitzpaine, such as the OS 1st edition 1” map of 1809, and the OS Surveyors’ Drafts give the name without distinguishing Higher and Lower Dunscombe, but do not show the site in sufficient detail. The earliest detailed map known to the author is the tithe map of Cheriton Fitzpaine dating from 1839. This shows Lower Dunscombe as an ‘L’-shaped complex of buildings with the farmhouse occupying the western wing.

At the southern end of the building, to the rear, is a very large structure with a curved eastern wall; this almost certainly represents a horse engine house for powering a threshing machine or apple crusher.

Later maps show that, by the late 19th century, both farmhouses had been destroyed and that the number of farm buildings had been much reduced.

The farmhouse appears to have been a large rectangular building, much larger and perhaps older than that at Higher Dunscombe, which was smaller and had a more compact footprint.

The linhay to the north of the barn did not exist in 1838 and was perhaps constructed in the mid 19th century, though whether before or after the destruction of the farmhouse remains unknown.

Ordnance Survey, 2017, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359962.

Ordnance Survey, 2017, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359962.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV7299 - Documentary Research and Assessment of Lower Dunscombe Farme, Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon (Ref: 2014.01)

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