32-36, WOOLBROOK ROAD

A row of shops, originally a house, dating to the 18th century, with later additions and alterations. It was converted to cottages in the 19th century, and subsequently to shops in the mid-20th century. The ground-floor, left-hand bay to the rear of No 36, and the flat-roofed 20th-century extension to Nos 32-34 are not of special interest.

The building is constructed of painted and plastered cob walls with a thatched roof, half-hipped at its northwestern end. It comprises five bays and is divided into two shop premises, with a single-storey outshut and a flat-roofed 20th-century extension to the rear.

The main southwest-facing front has three modernized shop fronts on the ground floor, flanked by pilasters. Above, the windows are timber casements with leaded panes, and a sash window is set high in the northwest gable wall.

Internal alterations have occurred, although some original features remain. When the flat-roofed extension was added to the rear, part of the rear wall was removed, but the exposed ceiling beams remain. These spine beams are deeply chamfered and have run-out stops. The upper floor and roof carpentry were not inspected.

Lower Woolbrook, now part of Sidmouth, was previously a small hamlet. The building was probably constructed in the early 18th century, and is depicted on the 1840 tithe map as a rectangular building with a garden.

The building is designated at Grade II for its architectural interest, being an early 18th-century vernacular building constructed from local materials, and for its historic fabric, with the original core of the building surviving despite the insertion of modern shop fronts.