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Summary

Former manor house, acquired for parish rooms and hall in 1947. The manor house itself dates to about 1480. It was extended in 1914 with 20th century alterations. The original manor wing is two storeys, of ashlar stone with large single rooms on each floor. The single storey 20th century parish hall, at right angles to the manor house, is of rubble stone.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1306870: THE MANOR HALL

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS54NE/3
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MANOR HOUSE (Built, XV - 1401 AD to 1500 AD (Between))
• PARISH HALL (Built, XX - 1901 AD to 2000 AD (Between))

Full description

Department of Environment, Untitled Source (Report - Survey). SDV325793.

Manor house in bad repair. Broken arches and damaged roof, panelling and ornamentation removed from ground floor rooms. Vestiges of coloured cornices in the bedrooms. Rooms well proportioned and lofty but nothing of architectural interest remains. Good archway at right angles to the front. Door has remains of napkin-pattern carving. Off the court is the wreck of what may have been the banqueting or dining hall with large fireplace. The date on the wall above the latter, 1634, may refer to repairs etc. Remains of smaller apartments on the other side of the court are perhaps offices and servants quarters. Greater part of the present structure is of james i period but some is much older. Slanting loophole just inside archway is akin to a church hagioscope. Spaces where escutcheons and coats-of-arms once were. Monogram or letters 'b' (family of berry or bury) at the finials of some of the windows. Roof raised by placing brickwork on the original wall. Pencil drawing of front of house was done by charles webber of ilfracombe. Remains believed to have been originated in the 13th century (hawker). Vis=estimated 1951 (pevsner) windows early tudor. Only a fragment remains. Porch dated 1634ad was transferred to westaway nr. Barnstaple (pevsner). Vis=estimated 1640 (risden) richard de biry was lord of the manor in the reign of edward i, and his posterity have dwelt here twelve descents (risden). Vis=24/9/1953 (os) remains consist of a rectangular building of stone blocks with early tudor windows, all in fairly good condition, and have been incorporated into modern buildings and used by the british legion (os). Vis=former manor house, acquired for parish rooms and hall in 1947. Manor house circa 1480, extended in 1914 with 20th century alterations. Original manor wing of ashlar, top courses above string in brick, with ashlar dressings. Slate roof hipped. Manor wing with single large rooms on each floor. Two storeys. See doe list for full details (doe).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV62140.

Hawker, t. /tda/11(1879)494/the manor house, berrynarbor.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV62141.

Osa= ss 54 ne 5.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV62142.

Pevsner, n. /buildings of england/4(1952)51.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV62143.

Risden, t. /chorographical description of devon 1580-1640/(1811)347.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV62144.

Doe/hhr:berrynarbor/(9/4/1987)24.

Collings, A. G. + Manning, P. T. + Valentin, J., 2007, The North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Phase 1. Archaeological Survey. Summary Report, No. 804 (Report - Assessment). SDV339712.

Former manor house, c. 1480. Extended in 1914 with 20th century alterations. Acquired for parish rooms and hall in 1947.

Parker, R., 2015, Berrynarbor Manor Hall, Birdswell Lane, Berrynarbor, Devon (Report - Survey). SDV359592.

This report has been prepared with the aim of understanding the site, the structures, their development and their significance, and to serve as a heritage statement of support for an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Berrynarbor Manor Hall is a community hall lying in the centre of Berrynarbor village. The building is run by the Manor Hall Trust, a registered charity, who hold it in trust for the benefit of the inhabitants of the parish. The building currently serves as a venue for a wide variety of groups and activities, from the local pre-school classes to upholstery groups, Pilates classes, theatre groups, art exhibitions and also for school and community groups such as the Men’s Institute. The hall is unusual among such facilities in that it occupies the remains of the historic Manor House of Berrynarbor. The property is a Grade II Listed building of medieval origin, once part of a larger complex of manorial structures lying in Birdswell Lane, immediately west of the Parish Church of St Peter. Berrynarbor village lies to the east of Ilfracombe within the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of the village, including the site of the manor house, was designated as a conservation area in February 2011.

The original medieval house appears to have been an architecturally ambitious building, and was improved by the addition of rich ornamental features which survive both in the existing building and ex-situ, elsewhere. Only the western wing now stands, but the remaining physical and documentary evidence suggests that the house conformed to the usual medieval plan for high status houses, with a western service end and projecting wing (containing some impressive rooms), separated by a screens passage with a porch entry from a central great hall and a further eastern wing beyond this containing the main state apartments. (See report for further details).

Map object based on this source.

Ordnance Survey, 2016, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV359352.

Map object based on this source.

Historic England, 2016, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV359353.

The Manor Hall. Former manor house, acquired for parish rooms and hall in 1947. Manor house circa 1480, extended in 1914 with C20 alterations. Original manor wing of ashlar, top courses above string in brick, with ashlar dressings. Slate roof hipped at left end, gable end to right. C20 wing of random stone rubble with gable-ended slate roof. Plan: Manor wing with single large rooms on each floor, formerly heated by demolished stack to centre of rear wall, with C20 staircase at right end and outshut to rear. C20 parish hall at right angles forming overall L-shape replaced the former entrance wing and 2-storey porch in the angle, which were demolished in 1889, the porch and some of the internal fittings being re-erected at Westaways, West Pilton (q.v.). Manor wing 2 storeys. Parish hall, single storey. Manor house wing has 2-window range of 4-centred arched 4-light mullions, cavetto moulded and with Bassett initials to the labels of the continuous hoodmoulds. Left-hand window has small- paned casements. 2 ground floor windows have identical architraves, labelled hoodmoulds and relieving arches, but mullions replaced in C20. The left-hand window had been blocked up and a door inserted, but in mid C20 a new doorway was punched through at the right end and the window reinstated. Above the right hand window is a square stone inset and traces of a similar lozenge to left, which formerly contained coats of arms. To the rear, above the outshut are 2 cavetto mullion windows of three 4-centred arched lights. Single storey parish hall has two 3-light transomed windows flanking porch with gable-ended slate roof. Interior of manor house wing largely altered in C20, but late C15 plain chamfered 4- centred arched doorway survives to rear right-hand wall to ground floor, and a flat- arched stone chimneypiece with ogee-flanking hollow-moulded surround and herringbone slates to the back of the hearth to the upper storey.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6962 - Historic Building Survey, Berrynarbor Manor Hall, Birdswell Lane, Berrynarbor, Devon (Ref: 2015 .0 6)

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