Town Tenement Farmhouse

Farmhouse. Early 16th century with major later 16th and 17th century improvements, and some 19th century modernisation. Plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with much brick patching to the rear wall; stone rubble and cob stacks topped with 19th and 20th century bitumen brick; coated slate roof, formerly thatch.

The house follows a 3-room-and-through-passage plan, facing south-south-west. The left (west) end contains a small inner room parlour with a gable-end stack. Next to it is the former hall with an axial stack backing onto the passage. The passage has been widened to accommodate a 19th century stair at the expense of the lower end room, now the kitchen with a gable-end stack. These room functions result from 19th century modernisations.

The original early 16th century building was an open hall house. Only the inner room was floored over initially, with a chamber jetted into the upper end of the hall. The inner room was slightly smaller and unheated, probably a dairy or buttery. The rest was open to the roof, divided by low partitions and heated by an open hearth fire. The lower end appears to have been lengthened early on, as evidenced by two phases of smoke-blackened roof timbers. Around mid to late 16th century, an oak-framed fire hood or smoke bay was built over the hall fireplace. The service end was probably floored over at the same time, though evidence was lost when it was heavily altered in the late 16th century, when the service end room was converted to a parlour with a new gable-end stack. The hall itself was floored over in the early to mid 17th century. When the parlour was built, the smoke hood was replaced by a stone rubble stack and a new kitchen fireplace was built below. In the 19th century, a stair was inserted alongside the passage, removing part of the 17th century parlour. The parlour was then converted to kitchen use and the former hall and late 17th century kitchen became the dining room. The inner room was given a stack and converted to a parlour, apparently enlarged by moving the upper hall partition to sit below the jetty bressumer.

The farmhouse is two storeys with 19th century lean-to outshots across the rear. The front features an irregular 5-window arrangement of 19th and 20th century casements, most without glazing bars. The passage front doorway sits right of centre and contains a late 19th to early 20th century part-glazed 4-panel door. The roof is gable-ended.

The interior is well preserved with features from all main building phases. The passage was lined both sides with oak plank-and-muntin screens. The lower side screen is of uncertain date, as most planks and muntins were removed in the 19th century when the present staircase was inserted. The upper side screen is much better preserved and represents an original low partition screen, with the hall stack built behind it. The lower end room (present kitchen) contains a late 17th century crossbeam and half beams, chamfered with bar roll stops. The fireplace here is blocked but its chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel remains visible. A cupboard alcove to the right was built for a newel stair.

In the hall, the early to mid 17th century crossbeam has deep chamfers and pyramid stops. In the back wall, the beam is propped by a chamfered and scroll-stopped post of 17th century date, possibly secondary. An alcove in the back wall may represent the position of a former stair turret. The fireplace is late 17th century with local brick jambs and a chamfered and scroll-stopped oak lintel that includes an oven. The back wall of the fireplace is stone rubble and may be earlier, since the oak screen behind would have needed protection during the smoke hood phase. Part of the mid to late 16th century oak-framed smoke hood survives at first floor level over the back wall of the fireplace. The studs have individual holes drilled in their sides to take individual lathes, providing a ladder backing for cob infill. It is heavily sooted on the hall side, though insufficient structure remains to enable reconstruction of its original form.

At the upper end of the hall is another original oak plank-and-muntin screen. The posts are chamfered with cut diagonal stops (the pointed arch is a 20th century insertion). This screen appears to have been moved forward a short distance in the 19th century. The inner room shows no carpentry detail, having probably had its ceiling raised in the 19th century.

The roof was built in two phases. The original roof remains over the passage, hall and inner room, carried on side-pegged jointed crucks with feet apparently descending to ground level. An original closed truss sits between the hall and inner room chambers. The roof structure is clean on the inner room side but smoke-blackened from the original open hearth fire elsewhere. The 2-bay section over the lower end has timbers of lighter scantling with minor constructional differences, yet the entire structure is smoke-blackened, indicating it was built before the smoke bay.

Town Tenement is a good example of a multi-phase Devon farmhouse with late medieval origins.