Building Behind Number 19 High Street

This building, located behind No.19 High Street in Barnstaple, is an outbuilding that was originally the back block of No.19. It dates from the 17th century and features rendered mass wall construction, with the front wall facing the churchyard partly made of brick in the upper storey. The left-hand side wall contains some stone. The roof is covered with asbestos slates, and there is a red brick chimney at the rear on the right-hand slope.

The building has a plan that is one room wide and two rooms deep, and it formerly had a doorway leading into a gallery at the back of No.19. It stands two storeys tall. The front facing the churchyard has a central plank door on the ground storey, with a 20th-century louvred door to the left and a 20th-century window to the right. The upper storey slightly jetties out and features a two-light window, with each light containing six-paned sashes. The rear gable wall has small-paned casement windows.

Inside, the building has heavy upper-floor beams and joists, some of which are reused. The roof trusses have through purlins that are barely trenched, and halved collars are applied flush to the faces of the principal rafters.

Historically, the gallery and back block houses, including this one and No.19, are rare. Across a small courtyard to the north is the 17th-century back block of No.20 High Street. Together, these houses provide an interesting example of how buildings have developed in the centers of old towns.