The Priory

The Priory is a large detached house located in Halberton High Street. A small community of Augustinian canons was established on the site, and the building was converted into a dwelling after the dissolution of the religious house in 1539. The earliest surviving elements date to the late 16th century, with subsequent alterations made throughout its history. The house is primarily constructed of cob, with finely coursed sandstone for the front lateral stack, and has a gabled slate roof.

Originally designed with a 3-room through-passage plan, the lower end of the house is situated to the right of the passage, with later rear and lower end extensions. A large, prominent front lateral stack, featuring a moulded string course, cap, and paired moulded set-offs, serves to heat the main hall. Additional external stacks are present, heating the inner room and lower end, with a further rear stack also providing heating to the lower end. Evidence suggests a previous extension along the lower end axis. All stacks, except the front one, have brick shafts. The building is two storeys throughout.

The front elevation has a symmetrical 4-window range. First-floor windows are four-light, with a hood mould and separate gable above each, containing two- and three-light windows. All windows have 19th-century timber casements, with each light set under a shallow arch, and the four-light window features latticed leading. Ground-floor windows consist of two-light, a three-light and a four-light windows, with the four-light window to the hall displaying late 16th-century triple roll mouldings to the stopped mullions and jambs, and leaf decoration within the spandrels, each light set under a shallow arch. The other ground-floor windows are 19th-century replacements, designed to echo the original style but in a simplified manner, all under hood moulds. A wide, planked and studded door, with a chamfered surround, provides access to the passage. Two triangular-headed three-light dormers have been added in the 19th century. A projection forward, with a slated set-off, on the lower end extension may be the remnants of a former front lateral external stack. The rear elevation incorporates six 19th-century casement windows, while the right-hand end elevation features a slate hung wall with a 19th-century two-light window.

The inner room features intersecting beams with composite mouldings—cyma recta, ovolo, and roll—creating a grid of six ceiling squares, with a deeply chamfered axial beam to the rear. The hall is distinguished by elaborately moulded intersecting beams, composite mouldings with twisted leaf trails reminiscent of Devon church screen work, arranged in a nine-square grid, a motif that also appears on the cornice; the joists display roll mouldings and butt stops. The fireplace is adorned with a small roll moulding to the surround, with the mantel shelf supported by a reused cyma recta moulded timber. Original plank and muntin screens remain on either side of the through-passage, featuring chamfered bressumers and muntins, with carpenter's mitres and diagonal stops on the muntins. Square-headed door surrounds are present to the hall, lower end, with two original doors retaining fleur-de-lis hinges, and one with primitive fielded panels. The passage floor is flagged, and two smaller service rooms lead off the passage, each with a single chamfered beam. The roof is a 19th-century common rafter structure, entirely replacing the original.