Warbstow Manor

Warbstow Manor is a house, likely with origins in the 17th century, that was partly rebuilt around 1900 and altered in the 1960s. It is constructed of stone rubble, rendered and painted, with a slate roof, gable ends, and brick chimney shafts.

The original layout is uncertain; currently, the house has a two-room and passage plan. The two-storey porch on the right-hand side of the front originally led into a through passage, the rear door of which is now blocked. The hall to the left of the passage is heated by an axial stack backing onto the passage. An inserted 20th-century staircase is located between the hall and the inner room to the left, which has an end stack. The shippon on the lower right side of the passage was demolished around 1960; it may have been the earlier lower end of the house or a later building on the site. A stair turret to the rear, mentioned in a 1960 listing description, is not recalled by the current owner, although a dairy in an outshut to the rear of the hall has been demolished.

The external appearance presents a symmetrical three-window front to the left range (refronted around 1900) and a two-storey, unaltered porch to the right. The porch has a gable end with a segmental, hollow-chamfered granite arch with pyramid stops on both faces of the jambs. The existing door is probably 19th century, and the inner door is from the 20th century, set within a circa 19th or 20th-century frame. The porch has a two-light granite mullion window on the first floor with mid-20th-century leaded panes. To the left, the refronted range has a central 20th-century door flanked by two 20th-century six-pane sashes, with three similar sashes above.

Inside, the through passage is blocked at the rear. There was previously an early, shouldered arch to the rear door, similar to that at Trethin in the Advent parish. The former doorway has been blocked. The owners recall a narrow stair on the lower side of the passage within the entrance area. The hall features a large fireplace with a granite chamfered lintel and jambs, with remains of ball stops, and a cloam oven. The ceilings are plastered; the extent of the circa 1900 alterations is somewhat unclear. It’s possible that the 20th-century grate in the end fireplace of the inner room covers an earlier fireplace. The date and character of the floor joists are uncertain.

The roof structure has not been inspected.