Pale House

Pale House is a late medieval house with 17th-century remodelling, situated in Broadhembury. It has been extensively repaired over the last 20 years by its current owner.

The house is built of rendered cob and stone, with the first floor of the south-east wing constructed as framed timber. It has a slate roof, gabled at the ends, with a stack at the left end and two axial stacks with stone rubble shafts, plus an end stack to the wing.

The plan is L-shaped, with the main range facing south comprising a three-room plan with cross passage. The lower end (to the east) contains the kitchen, with the hall in the centre and a high-quality inner room parlour at the left (west) end. A fourth unheated dairy room lies at the extreme east end. A one-room south-east wing adjoins at right angles to the lower end. The house originated as a medieval open hall house, though the roof was not inspected at the time of survey in 1987 to determine if it was originally open from end to end or part-floored. An unusual arrangement of ceiling joists at the higher end suggests the higher end partition may have been moved when the stack was inserted. By the early 17th century, the layout functioned as described above. A 17th-century stair rises adjacent to the inner room stack, with a probable second external stair from the rear hall wall. The south-east wing was added circa mid-17th century, providing a high-quality chamber on the first floor over a service room. The wing's first-floor framed construction is unusual in Devon. A third flight of stairs rises between the wing and main range. The dairy is probably an 18th-century addition, and a small rear room off the passage may have been a 17th-century buttery addition. The plan form remains largely intact, apart from alterations at the rear passage to accommodate a 20th-century main stair.

Externally, the house is two storeys with an asymmetrical five-window south front. A probably 20th-century gabled porch on posts covers the through passage, positioned right of centre, with a wide 18th-century panelled front door featuring glazed top panels. The windows are three and four-light casements with square leaded panes, mostly 20th-century replacements following earlier patterns. The wing has a first-floor oak mullioned four-light window on the inner (west) return and on the east side two unglazed two-light mullioned windows with 20th-century external glass.

Internally, the house is exceptionally rich in 16th and 17th-century carpentry, much of which has been exposed and repaired over the last 20 years. The passage features a plank and muntin screen on the lower side and a fine late medieval doorframe with rounded head to the rear, now opening into the former buttery which has a 17th-century mullioned window. The hall contains an open fireplace with a bread oven lined with extremely small handmade bricks. The ceiling carpentry is complex: the axial ceiling beam is cut into the top of the higher end plank and muntin screen, with exposed joists surviving. Joists about one metre in length project from the screen into the room, similar to a deep jetty, with studs of a first-floor partition projecting beyond, though these have now been trimmed (originally about half a metre long). A chamfered doorframe on the rear wall, now partitioned off, may have given access to a rear stair.

The inner room has an exposed crossbeam and joists and a high-quality moulded stone chimney-piece with a Tudor arch and good stops. A timber lintel, possibly from an earlier fireplace, has been exposed above the stone chimney-piece. A winder stair rises in the rear left corner with a good 17th-century door at its foot. The lower end kitchen has a large open fireplace with chamfered lintel and a bread oven with a recess or second oven in the fireback. The dairy retains a 19th-century pump. The first-floor rooms open into one another with some new partitions at the right end. The wing's first floor has a good moulded stone fireplace with Tudor arched lintel. The framing, unusual in Devon, is exposed internally and was exposed externally until 25 years ago. The east wall's two-light mullioned window is integral with the framing. A framed partition flanks the north side of the stair, with the stair cell open to roof timbers, the thatch being rough plastered. Several good 17th-century doors and doorframes survive on both ground and first floors.

The main range roof is of side-pegged jointed cruck construction. The apex was not seen at survey, but parts of the roof are smoke-blackened and sooted thatch may survive. The wing roof trusses have lap dovetailed collars and date to circa mid-17th century.

This is an exceptionally interesting high-quality traditional house with a wealth of internal features.