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Summary

House dated to the 17th century or earlier, refronted and refurbished in the early 18th century. Courtyard plan, with ranges around a small yard. The rear range is a former stable now converted to a separate cottage.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1385010: BELLAIRE HOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS53SE/244
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (XVII to XVIII - 1601 AD to 1800 AD)

Full description

Department of Environment, 1973, Barnstaple, 4 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV89941.

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

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

Bellaire House. C17 or earlier, refronted and partly refurbished in the early C18. Smooth-plastered, said to be cob and stone (Reed); natural slate roof with sprocketed eaves, hipped at ends; end stacks with brick shafts and old pots. Courtyard plan with 4 ranges round a small rear yard. Main range is a 3-room and through-passage plan, 2 rooms to the right, one to the left with rear outshut and a rear stair projection. Rear left wing contains a dairy/pantry, rear right wing contains the kitchen. C17 or earlier features in both rear wings indicate that the basic U-plan is C17 or earlier. Rear range on the other side of the courtyard is a former stable, now converted to a separate cottage in the same ownership as the house. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window range with rusticated quoins and a moulded eaves cornice. Front door to right of centre has Tuscan doorcase and panelled door, the upper panels glazed. 2 French windows to right of the front door with glazing bars and margin panes. Late C19 canted bay to left with moulded cornice and 4-pane sashes. 4 first-floor 12-pane sashes. Rear elevation has gabled stair projection and one ground floor C17 3-light oak chamfered mullioned window lighting the dairy/pantry. INTERIOR: pre-C18 features include a moulded oak beam in the kitchen, along the wall to the courtyard, and what is likely to be a garderobe, now reused as first- and ground-floor cupboards. It is said to have a drain and grating below the boards on the ground floor. Early C18 features include 2-panel doors, a bolection-moulded chimneypiece and the stair, which has turned balusters. Plaster cornices and frieze to passage and principal ground-floor room. One first-floor room has a coved ceiling. Later C19 marble chimneypieces. Dairy/pantry has slate shelves. Roof: apex not accessible at time of survey but steep pitch and staright principal rafters suggest a C17 date is possible. HISTORICAL NOTE: according to Reed, the house was owned by the Howard family after the Dissolution and in the C18 it was probably owned by Richard Parminter, a rich Barnstaple merchant. It was occupied by the Parminter family until 1776. (Reed MA: Pilton, its past and people: Barnstaple: 1977-: 161).

Cramp, C., 2015, North Devon Relief-Decorated Ceramics in the Household, 212 (Article in Monograph). SDV365391.

In 2003 a builder clearing rubble beneath the later brick hearth of a large living-room fireplace found a tile decorated with design N8.
The initials at the upper corners are unclear; those in the two lower corners are I and I. The design is similar to K16 which is in the church at Barnstaple, and which appears to have in addition to the initials A?H the initials I and I in each of the lower corners, all within a double border. This is one of three known variants in which the fleurs-de-lis are all virtually the same but the initials differ. The nearby property Broadgate House, was bought in 1611 by William Palmer, merchant of Barnstaple; both these houses were later in the possession of Richard Parminter, merchant, who bought nearby Broadgate House in 1675. An Edward Parminter was taxed on four hearths in 1674.
A small lower corner piece of tile matching design K2 (which is initialled WA and dated 1655) was found in 2002 in a cob garden wall at the rear of the house.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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