Harris'S Farmhouse

TALATON TALATON SY 09 NE 6/188 Harris's Farmhouse - GV II*

Farmhouse. Dated 1876. Local hand-made Flemish bond red brick (in fact many of the bricks have black patches indicating how the bricks were laid in the clamp kiln); brick stacks and chimneyshafts; thatch roof. Plan: the layout is not clear since only the outside of the front was available for inspection at the time of this survey. It faces south-south-west, say south and appears to have a 3-room-and-through-passage plan. The left room is probably the former kitchen with a projecting gable-end stack. Unheated service room (former dairy/buttery alongside, then the passage and parlour at the right end with gable- end stack. 2 storeys. Exterior: is very attractive. Regular but not symmetrical 4-window front of C19 casements with glazing bars. The ground floor windows have brick arches over, the 2 left ones have low segmental arches. The passage front doorway is right of centre and contains a C19 door. The rear wall includes a Beerstone plaque inscribed with the date 1687 and the initials of Nicholas and Petranella Harris. Roof is gable- ended. Interior: was not available for inspection at the time of this survey. However it is thought to be structurally intact but modernised in the C19. Nevertheless the parlour fireplace is said to have a richly moulded oak lintel or mantel-shelf. Harris Farmhouse is a very important early brick building in Devon. There are other early brick buildings in the area, eg. The Old Manor (q.v) nearby, but they are grander buildings probably of lower gentry status. This is the earliest dated brick farmhouse in Devon. Furthermore it is an important component of a very good group of listed buildings in the vicinity of the Church of St James (q.v).

Listing NGR: SY0680599772