Plymtree Manor

Plymtree Manor

Former manor house, Grade II* listed. Built in the early 18th century, with substantial rebuilding and enlargement in the late 19th century, and renovation in 1987.

The front section is constructed of hand-made local red brick laid to Flemish bond with Beerstone ashlar detailing, though some has been replaced with Caen stone. The rear is late 19th-century Flemish bond brick with decorative burnt headers. The building has brick chimney stacks, with the older ones topped by stone ashlar coping, and a slate roof.

The house follows a large double-depth plan facing east. The three principal rooms occupy the front, with the larger central room serving as the entrance hall, containing two fireplaces fed by axial stacks at each end. The side front rooms have end stacks. Kitchen, services and main stair are located in the rear section, which also contains end stacks and an axial stack. A lower L-plan service wing is attached to the left (south) end, with faces to the rear. The building rises to two storeys with attics and cellar to the front, two storeys with basement to the rear, and the service wing is two storeys with its ground floor at basement level.

The early 18th-century front is notably impressive and unusual for Devon. It presents a symmetrical 2:3:2-window elevation with early 18th-century 18-pane sashes featuring elliptical arch heads to the top sashes and flat glazing bars, though some are 1987 replacements. The central doorway houses 19th-century double doors, but the doorframe and overlight are probably original. The stone doorcase features Corinthian pilasters with a moulded entablature bearing a carved coat of arms, likely that of the Harwood family. The front is divided into three bays by stone ashlar giant Corinthian orders with ashlar quoins at each end. There is a moulded eaves cornice and three attic dormers. Both ends of the roof are hipped.

The right end has a two-window front in matching early 18th-century style, with blind windows to the rear. Behind stands a late 19th-century two-storey brick porch containing round-headed sashes and a panelled door with fanlight. The left end also features a two-window front, though the rear windows here are smaller with segmental brick arches. The ground level drops here, revealing a cellar door with a two-light window with chamfered mullion. The late 19th-century rear elevation is designed in late 17th and early 18th-century style with mullion-and-transom windows, but also includes a large 25-pane sash serving the stairs. Both gables end contain oculus windows. Evidence suggests there was once a pent roof against the wall at basement level; one remains on the service wing side, which now contains 20th-century casements with glazing bars.

The original cellar features a brick segmental vaulted roof. Original features survive in the front part of the main block. All three ground-floor front rooms retain moulded cornices. The left room has a bolection-moulded chimneypiece. The right room preserves remnants of large field panelling. The first-floor right chamber contains a fine 19th-century ornamental plaster cornice. The original roof is notable carpentry: oak tie beam trusses with principals featuring curved cruck-like feet, sprocketed eaves and pegged mortise-and-tenoned collars. The carpenter's assembly marks were made with red wax crayon. The remainder of the joinery and carpentry dates to the late 19th century.

The house was built for the Harward family, who held the manor for three centuries. According to the research of Edwin S. Chalk, it had been "recently finished in the same style by the owner Mr. Leon."