Bell Cottages

SS 90 NW BICKLEIGH BELL HILL, Bickleigh 5/12 No 1, Bell Cottages - GV II House adjoining Nos 2 and 3 (q.v.) Bell Cottages. C17 origins, C18 addition, C20 renovations and additon. Whitewashed and rendered ; thatched roof, hipped at right end, gabled at left end with a gabled projection at the right end ; axial stack with brick shaft. Plan: The main range, facing consists of a C17 room to the right, heated by the axial (formerly end) stack and a C20 addition at the left. At the right the accommodation extends to the rear at right angles to the main range under a separate roof and adjoins No 2 Bell Cottages. A gabled projection adjoining the right end is said to have had an C18 datestone on the gable. The building was formerly in use as a Post Office and at that date the projection was probably used as the Post Office. C20 porch on right end in the angle between the main range and the projection. 2 storeys. 4 window east elevation with C20 casements with glazing bars. The elevation, facing the road consists of the blank right end wall of the main range to the left with a C20 lean-to porch with a slated roof; the gabled projection to the right with 1 ground and 1 first floor 2-light casements, 2 panes per light. To the right of the projection, adjoining no 2 Bell Cottages there is 1 2-light casement, 2 panes per light and 1 ground floor 1-light window with 2 panes. Interior The right hand room has an open fireplace with a C17 lintel with scroll stops and a chamfered scroll-stopped cross beam. The door into the gabled projection is chamfered and pegged with runout stops and a 3 plank door. A 1922 sale catalogue mentions that "the tenant claims the partitioning in the living room to screen off the Post Office, the tailor's stove in the tailor's workshop and a wood and iron linhay in the garden". One of a group of thatched cottages on Bell Hill.

Listing NGR: SS9408607183