Conen Cottage, Oak Apple Cottage, Primrose Cottage and The Cottage

Row of four small cottages on Station Road in Newton Poppleford, formed from subdivision of what was originally a single large house. The building is probably early 17th century in date, with alterations from the later 17th century. It was rearranged and divided into the present cottages probably in the late 18th or early 19th century.

The structure is built of plastered cob on stone rubble footings. There are two stacks of plastered stone (probably ashlar) with original ashlar chimney shafts exposed; a third stack of cob; and a fourth of stone rubble or brick topped with plastered 20th-century brick. The roof is slate, though it was formerly thatched.

The original house appears to have been a large three- or four-room-and-through-passage plan, facing north with the inner room at the left (eastern) end, now Oak Apple Cottage (No. 1). The end stack here has been rebuilt in the 20th century. The hall, which was floored from the beginning and has a large lateral stack projecting from the front, is now divided between Conan Cottage (No. 2) and the adjoining passage of No. 1. The through passage appears to survive in its original position. The first of two service end rooms, also with a large projecting front lateral stack, is now Primrose Cottage (No. 3), and The Cottage (No. 4) occupies the second service end room, which has a projecting end stack built of cob and probably dating from the late 17th century. The original staircase no longer survives, though a curious beam arrangement in No. 2 might suggest it rose from the lower end of the hall. All cottages have 20th-century rear outshots; that of No. 2 is two storeys.

The main block is two storeys throughout and appears to have been so from the beginning. The front elevation is an irregular six-window facade, mostly with 20th-century casements with glazing bars. Two original windows survive at first floor level at the left end (No. 4); they are oak-framed with three lights and ovolo-moulded mullions. All except one of the first floor windows are half-dormers with flat roofs. No. 1 has a 20th-century front door; No. 2 has a 19th-century part-glazed panelled front door with overlight; No. 3 has the original front passage doorway, a wide oak frame with flat-arched head containing a 20th-century plank door; and No. 4 has a 20th-century door in the right end wall.

The two original stacks project boldly from the front and appear wholly original, with weathered offsets and tall ashlar chimney shafts. The hall stack in No. 2 has a double shaft and ground floor fire windows on either side; the right one is arch-headed and may be the doorway of a removed oven. The other stack, serving the inner service room in No. 3, is unusual in being built to include a projecting oriel bay, as shown by the chamfered plinth continuing below the window. The window itself is 20th-century but has an oak frame with pegs showing the positions of the original mullions. In the right end wall of No. 4 there is an oak two-light window frame with a chamfered mullion, probably late 17th century.

Interior: Despite the internal rearrangement caused by subdivision, the original fabric appears relatively well-preserved and, unusually for Devon, appears to be entirely early 17th century. The arrangement of the roof trusses implies the building once extended further at both ends, which might explain why the end stacks are secondary. All rooms have soffit-chamfered and scroll-stopped beams; those in the hall (No. 2) and inner service room (No. 3) have broader chamfers and larger stops denoting higher status for these rooms. Only the oak-framed partition between the service end rooms (now the party wall between Nos. 3 and 4) is partly exposed, though other original framed crosswalls and the original passage screens probably survive behind 19th and 20th-century plaster. The inner service end room fireplace (in No. 3) has been rebuilt in the 20th century, as have the end fireplaces. In the hall (No. 2), however, the original fireplaces survive on both ground and first floors. The ground floor fireplace is large with Beerstone jambs and soffit-chamfered oak lintel. The first floor fireplace is small with Beerstone jambs and oak lintel, and a double hollow-chamfered moulded surround with urn stops. There is a curious beam arrangement in the hall: the passage side crossbeam does not span the full width of the building but is supported on an oak post well short of the rear wall, though this appears deliberate as the rear end is neatly scroll-stopped. This may be because the original stairs rose behind.

The original roof is intact from end to end, supported on seven side-pegged jointed cruck trusses with cambered collars morticed, tenoned and pegged to the principals and carrying two sets of massive threaded purlins and a ridge. The roof is in excellent condition.

This row of cottages is very attractive and typical of Devon vernacular with its plastered walls and large projecting stacks. However, it is a single-phase early 17th-century building, which is unusual for the county. The original house is also unusually large and may once have been even larger. Further discoveries may require reassessment of the above interpretation.

According to the owners, it was once a school and before that the Paradise Inn.