Parsonage Farmhouse

Parsonage Farmhouse

This is a farmhouse, possibly originally a manor house, with late medieval origins and later alterations dating from the late 17th, early 18th, and circa mid-19th centuries.

The building consists of colourwashed rendered stone rubble walls beneath a 2-span asbestos slate roof. The main south-facing block has a roof hipped at the west ends, while an east wing has a similar roof gabled at the north end. Both the main block and east wing have projecting stone rubble end stacks; the east wing also has an internal end stack. The plan comprises a double-depth south-facing main block, an east wing at right angles abutting it, and a west wing also at right angles but projecting to the front with no internal access to the main block.

The building's evolution is complex and evident in its roof structure. The east wing is the earliest dated section, originating as a medieval 2-cell open hall range of high status. It contains a 2-bay hall to the south and one bay of the lower end to the north, divided from the hall by a closed truss heavily sooted on the north side, suggesting there were probably 2 open hearths. An early 16th-century doorframe survives on the inner east return. According to White's Devon (1850), a barn on the site—probably the west wing—was described as having a "carved ceiling" and was believed to have been a chapel. The present owner has heard that this carved ceiling was moved, though some evidence may remain beneath plaster not visible at the 1987 survey. Although the main south block appears externally to be 19th-century, its front span has a mid- to late 17th-century roof structure and the rear span a probably 18th-century roof structure. By the mid- to late 17th century, the building comprised at least 3 separately-roofed blocks. The house is reputed to have been the site of the Bishop's manor house at Bishop's Nympton.

The exterior displays 2 storeys. The south elevation of the main block has 3 bays arranged symmetrically, with a central 20th-century porch flanked by mid- to late 19th-century tripartite sashes with glazing bars. Mid-19th-century 20-pane sashes light the first floor left and right, with a central 16-pane mid-19th-century round-headed sash. The right return, belonging to the medieval range, has very irregular walls at the right end with scattered fenestration of various designs: 2 first-floor and 2 ground-floor windows. The inner east return of the west wing has a shouldered early 16th-century doorframe to the left, now blocked. The south end of the wing has a garage door and 20th-century window above. The west elevation of the east wing has a slate pentice roof.

Interior features include chamfered crossbeams in the right-hand room of the main block and a large, partly blocked open fireplace at the north end of the east wing. Other features may exist beneath plaster. The first floor contains a set of 18th-century 2-panel doors.

The roof structures are particularly significant. The east wing retains a probably 15th-century sooted roof structure from its open hall phase. At the south end of the wing is a 2-bay roof with one main arched brace truss featuring chamfered purlins, 2 tiers of wind braces, and no ridge. The rafters no longer exist and a post-medieval hip at the south end has truncated the roof structure which might once have continued further south. A closed truss to the north is heavily sooted on the north side with remains of 2 further bays; the main truss has a collar rafter with wind braces but no arched braces. The feet of the medieval trusses are not visible but are presumably crucks of some kind. The front roof of the main block has a 17th-century collar rafter roof structure with collars lap dovetailed into the principals. The rear roof is probably 18th-century with X apexes. The west wing roof was not inspected at the time of survey, though medieval timbers may survive.

This is a house of high quality medieval origins with a long and complex building history.