Traymill Farmhouse

Traymill Farmhouse

A farmhouse, probably dating from the 15th century but substantially remodelled in the 17th century. The building is constructed of volcanic stone rubble with a thatched roof, gabled at both ends. There is a stack at the right end and a lateral stack to the rear.

Plan and Development

The present range runs on an east-west axis and contains the core of a very high quality late medieval open hall house. The medieval structure is remarkably complete and difficult to date with precision, owing to the rarity of its roof design in Devon. The original house was open at the left (west) end with a through passage positioned to the right of centre, and a smaller right end which may always have been storeyed or may have been unheated, as the roof timbers show no signs of smoke blackening. The medieval structure retains the doorways to the passage, the hall window, and the roof structure largely intact. Evidence indicates there was formerly a north-south crosswing at the left end, of which one wall remains embedded in a farm building, though it is unclear whether this wing was contemporary with the main range. The flooring of the open hall is also difficult to date and is carried on massive, rather rough axial beams. The right (lower) end has clearly functioned as a kitchen, though some disturbance to the north-east corner suggests the range may have extended further east at some point. The extreme west end of the medieval building now serves as a farm building, and the right end room is subdivided into two.

Exterior

The building stands two storeys high with an asymmetrical four-window south front. There is a gabled trellis porch to the volcanic ashlar double-chamfered two-centred arched doorway leading to the through passage. The windows are three-light timber casements with three or four panes per light. The north elevation, which may have been the original front of the medieval house, features a similar chamfered stone doorway to the through passage. To the right of this doorway is the medieval hall window, a rare survival demonstrating the quality of the original medieval construction. This is a square-headed two-light transomed stone window with double-chamfered jambs and cinquefoil-headed lights, with a relieving arch above. The sill of this window has been cut away where the opening was later converted to a doorway. There are four first-floor and two ground-floor 20th-century casements with glazing bars, and some evidence of possibly earlier blocked openings. The west gable wall includes a blocked window with an ogee-moulded surround on the exterior. The surviving wall of the old north-south crosswing retains a number of blocked openings.

Interior

The first floor of the west end (the former open hall) is supported on massive axial beams, while chamfered axial beams support the first floor of the east end. The ground-floor fireplaces have 20th-century grates, and earlier features may be concealed behind modern plaster. Internally, the medieval hall window has a splayed embrasure with a rounded segmental head and a hollow-chamfer along each side.

Roof

An outstanding medieval roof survives the full length of the range. There is an A-frame closed truss above the east partition of the through passage, with the infill apparently inserted afterwards. To the west of the closed truss there are six closely-spaced trusses, the sixth resting against the west gable, and two trusses to the east. All trusses are identical but those to the west are heavily smoke-blackened. The oak timbers of heavy scantling form A-frames which sit on short hammer beams supporting unchamfered arch-braces. The central part of each collar descends to form the apex of the arch. The hammer beams are supported by small braces on stone corbels. At the east end, the northern hammer beam has a tenon projecting from the end, possibly intended to hold some decoration. There are three tiers of through purlins, a diagonally-set ridge, and evidence of five common rafters in each bay, pegged over the ridge. There are also two sets of wind braces in each bay, though because the trusses are closely-spaced, there are trusses positioned between the arches of the wind braces. A layer of cob sits on top of the stone rubble walls.

This is an outstanding medieval house with a remarkable survival of medieval roof timbers. Hoskins and Finberg suggested an early 15th-century date for the building and traced a sequence of early owners.