Hobbacott Down

Hobbacott Down is a house that was formerly an incline keeper's house and toll house for the Hobbacott Down incline plane on the Bude Canal. It was built in 1820, likely designed by James Green, who was the Engineer to the Bude Canal. The building has undergone later alterations and extensions. It is constructed of stone rubble and features two stone stacks with brick chimneys, topped with a renewed slate roof. The house has a single depth plan with two front projecting wings on the left and right, both having hipped slate roofs. It is a single-storey structure with an off-centre door at the front and a renewed timber sash window to the right. The left front wing served as the former toll house and has a separate entrance. There is a rear outshut and a lean-to extension on the right side of the right front projection.

The interior has lost its 19th-century features due to dereliction, although repairs were underway at the time of the last survey. Notable interior elements include a range labeled "T.BOX. MARHAMCHURCH" and a cloam oven in the former kitchen, as well as a blocked toll window in the former toll house. The Hobbacott Down incline plane was the longest of the canal incline planes, operated by two buckets, each capable of holding 15 tons of water, with one bucket descending a 225-foot shaft to raise boats up a 935-foot long plane in just four minutes. Between 1824 and 1832, John Honey, who was the clerk, acting agent, and acting engineer to the canal, lived in the house. His letters from 1830 to 1832 provide insights into the daily operations of the canal. The house has group value with the scheduled incline plane and associated buildings.