Cruwys Morchard House And Walls To Walled Garden

Cruwys Morchard House and Walls to Walled Garden

A manor house and the seat of the Cruwys family, Cruwys Morchard House dates from circa the mid 16th century and was described as "lately enlarged and modernized" in 1850 according to White's Devon. The building underwent significant remodelling in the early 19th century, which created much of its present form.

The house is constructed in ashlar masonry on the front, rear, and east elevations, with the rear and east elevations rendered. It is roofed with hipped slate behind parapets and contains eight stacks, some with rendered shafts and others with stone shafts. The plan is H-shaped, comprising a central heated entrance hall with left and right crosswings. The right-hand crosswing extends further to the rear than the left.

The earliest identifiable part of the house is the rear of the right crosswing, which contains a fine circa mid-16th-century parlour or hall on the ground floor, heated by a projecting lateral stack. It is possible this crosswing was originally the main range, though re-roofing and later alterations make the early plan difficult to establish. Hoskins suggests the present entrance hall may be "disguised Tudor". An old beam removed from the left-hand crosswing suggests the possibility of an early courtyard arrangement. The early 19th-century remodelling created the almost symmetrical plan visible today.

The house rises two storeys. The symmetrical front elevation faces south, with a 3-bay centre recessed between 2-bay crosswings. A plinth runs below, with a parapet above a deeply moulded cornice. A 1-bay block at the right end is set back from the right-hand crosswing. A shallow central porch with Ionic pilasters and a fanlight with spoke glazing was added in the late 20th century; this porch originated from a house in Tiverton. The windows are predominantly 12-pane sashes, except the right-hand additional block which has a ground-floor 6 over 9-pane sash. A 20th-century single-storey addition, set back from the main elevation, stands at the left end. A carved label stop with the date 1694 has been resited on the front elevation.

The east elevation appears to be earlier in date, featuring a gabled stair wing adjacent to the large projecting stack that heats the 16th-century parlour. The end of the right-hand crosswing is gabled, and beyond it a block with a lower roofline has a hipped end. The rear elevation includes a circa early 19th-century round-headed stair window lighting the rear stair.

Interior

The 16th-century parlour contains an exceptionally fine intersecting beamed ceiling with moulded beams and cross joists. The fireplace, partly rebuilt, has a timber lintel dated 1654. The parlour is divided from the block with the lower roofline by a narrow passage; both the passage and the room under the lower roofline feature plastered-over chamfered beams.

Good early 19th-century features are found elsewhere. The entrance hall is panelled with pilasters and has a marble chimneypiece and plaster ceiling rose. The main stair has turned balusters and deeply ramped weathed handrails of 19th-century date. The window lighting the rear stair contains 19th-century stained glass including the Cruwys arms. The roof structure throughout is a circa early 19th-century arrangement of king posts and struts.

The stone rubble, slate-capped walls of a walled garden to the north east of the house are included in the listing.

The Cruwys family has held Cruwys Morchard house as their seat since at least circa 1175. Margaret C.S. Cruwys's Cruwys Morchard Notebook of 1939 includes references to the house. Two drawings of the house are in the possession of the present owner, one a copy dated to the 1860s showing the front elevation with the parapet.

An evolved house with a handsome front elevation and good interior features.