Adders Hole

This is a small house, dating from the early to mid-17th century, with a circa 18th century outshot, minor 19th century improvements, and a renovation in 1985. It is constructed of plastered cob on stone rubble footings. The original stack is cob, a later one is late 19th century brick, and both are topped with 20th century brick. The roof is thatched. The house follows a 3-room lobby entrance plan, facing south. The central room is the main living room, originally the only heated room, with an axial stack at the right (east) end, serving both this room and the first-floor chamber. The lobby entrance is positioned in front of this stack. A newel stair turret projects to the rear of the hall. A later kitchen was created in the room to the right, with a stack backing onto the original cob stack. The room to the left, the small inner room, was originally unheated but had a rear corner stack inserted in the late 19th century. A 20th century stair has been inserted into the front part of this room. The house is two storeys high, with a rear lean-to outshot, now used as a kitchen.

The exterior presents a regular, though not symmetrical, three-window front featuring 20th century casements with glazing bars; the first-floor windows rise slightly into the eaves. The lobby entrance doorway is to the right of centre and contains a 20th century part-glazed door behind a contemporary gabled, thatched porch. The corner at the left end is canted. The roof is half-hipped at both ends and extends over the rear outshot.

The interior was not accessible for inspection, but a previous listing description reported significant original 17th century carpentry detail. In the hall, the axial crossbeam is chamfered with scroll stops. The fireplace has an oak lintel, also chamfered with a mason’s mitre returning the chamfer down the side of an oak jamb; the fireplace is now lined with 19th century brick and includes an oven. The kitchen room to the right has an axial beam with worn stops, and a heavily cambered oak lintel above the fireplace. At the top of the newel stair, the wall plate has been cut with a curved profile matching the stairwell. The roof structure has been largely renewed in the 20th century, but two 18th century trusses with X-apexes remain. The house is situated in Feniton, a village with a good group of listed buildings.