Sir Walter Raleigh Public House

The Sir Walter Raleigh Public House is a public house, originally a house, dating back to the early 16th century. It was rearranged and refurbished in the late 18th century and converted to a public house in the 20th century. The construction is of plastered cob on stone rubble footings, with stone rubble or brick stacks topped with 19th and 20th century brickwork, and a thatched roof.

The building has a 2-room plan and faces west onto the High Street. A central passage provides access to the stairs with stacks at either end. The left-hand (northern) stack is a 20th-century addition, and there appears to have been a service passage connecting to it originally. 20th-century outshots extend to the rear. The main block is two storeys high and has an irregular 4-window front featuring 19th and 20th-century replacement casement windows with glazing bars. There are three doorways: the main one is right of centre, another was inserted into the left room, and the third leads to the former left-end passage. All doorways contain 20th-century panelled doors.

The roof butts the party wall of 24 High Street to the left and runs continuously with that of 20 High Street. Inside, only 18th-century and later features are visible, except for the roof. The roof is 4 bays and the lower sections of the trusses are partly obscured by first-floor partitions, suggesting they are jointed crucks. The roofspace reveals smoke-blackened timbers running the full length, indicating the original house was divided with low partitions and heated by an open hearth fire. The hip arrangement at the southern end confirms it was always the end of the house. The arrangement at the northern end suggests the original house might have extended further north; two trusses were closed in the 16th century and the infill is blackened on the inner faces. The space between these trusses is narrow, and its purpose is unclear; it may be a smoke bay, an unusual feature for Devon, or a reduced section of a former hall with a jettied or part-floored chamber.

Later alterations make a complete interpretation of the original 16th-century layout impossible, but care should be taken during any modernization work as some crosswalls might contain 16th or 17th-century oak framing. On the ground floor, each room has an axial beam, now boxed in. The staircase is from the 19th century. In the right-hand room, the fireplace contains a 20th-century grate, but alongside is an 18th-century cupboard with fluted pilasters, moulded caps, and a dentil cornice.

The Sir Walter Raleigh Public House is an intriguing building, and its roofspace provides the most significant evidence of its antiquity. It is part of a group of attractive, mixed buildings, most of which are listed, that line the High Street as it rises towards the Church of All Saints. Formerly known as the Kings Arms.