Prysten House

Prysten House

Large merchant's house dating from around 1498, extended in 1635, built for Thomas Yogge who died in 1509. The rear was truncated when Abbey Hall was constructed, and some restoration work was undertaken in the 1920s.

The building is constructed of Plymouth limestone rubble with granite dressings to the openings, with dry slate roofs that are coped to the right of the taller roof at the front. There are lateral rubble stacks: one to the lower roof at the front left, which is hipped on the corner, and another to the left-hand return towards the rear.

The overall plan is U-shaped, comprising ranges of single depth with a gallery facing into the rear courtyard. The left-hand front room contains a well. The first floor serves as the principal floor, with a wide through-passage at ground level.

The exterior displays three storeys with a slightly asymmetrical three-bay front and a slightly projecting wing on the left. The front features mostly original windows with ogee-headed lights and hoodmoulds, alongside some 17th-century windows, some 20th-century copies of 17th-century windows, and some windows that have been repositioned or reset. A three-storey splayed central bay dominates the front, containing an original very fine four-light transomed window with sidelights beneath a moulded cornice at first-floor level, an original two-light window with hoodmould above and sidelights to the splays, and similar original single-light windows to the flanking bays. There is a ventilator slit to the left and two original single-light windows to the second floor left and right of the wing. The central four-centred arched moulded doorway features two orders with a squat quatrefoil to the tympanum and a four-centred hoodmould above. Original relieving arches appear above 17th-century chamfered single-light windows to the first floor left and right. Three original relieving arches are found at ground floor level: to the right of the wing above a small three-centred arched moulded doorway with carved spandrels; to the left of the main doorway above a squat 17th-century single light; and to the right above a 20th-century two-light window to an enlarged opening.

The left-hand return comprises a slightly irregular five-window range with original slit windows, otherwise 17th-century or 20th-century windows. Round-headed ventilator slits appear in the left-hand bay, with three original relieving arches above first-floor windows at the centre and left of centre, and slit windows to the second floor at centre and right. Most windows retain leaded glass.

The right-hand return is a four-window range with the gable end of the front range on the left and a porch on the right. Most openings are original, with windows featuring ogee-headed lights including a three-light window to the second floor on the left and a two-light window below and left of a four-centred arched doorway with square hoodmould. The porch contains a similar doorway, bears the date 1635, and is topped with an eroded coat of arms.

The rear elevations feature similar openings to the other elevations. A first-floor gallery is supported on oak corbels with carved ends, most of which have been restored. At ground floor level on either side at the rear of the courtyard is a two-bay arcade with moulded four-centred arches. The courtyard front of the wing has a restored doorway and windows with ogee-headed lights, along with four very small windows.

Internally, the building displays an oak raised cruck roof structure with chamfered principals, mortices, collars, and trenched purlins. The Frater room features moulded beams and joists. There are three stone newel stairs, granite fireplaces, some with corbels; the kitchen fireplace is particularly large, and the Frater fireplace features a cusped centre.

This is an excellent example of a large late medieval merchant's house, typically built to a courtyard plan.