88, High Street

This is a house, likely dating to the early or mid-17th century, with alterations from the early 18th century and an early 19th-century shop front. It is situated in Barnstaple High Street. The front wall is of painted brick in Flemish bond, while the rear and gallery walls were once rendered, possibly indicating a timber-frame construction beneath. The exposed side wall is of stone rubble. The roof is hipped and slated, with a rear gable set back from the rear wall. The back block has a roof parallel to the street.

The front block originally comprised one room width and two rooms in depth, with a staircase positioned to the right of the rear room. A gallery connects the rear room to the back block, and the courtyard and back block are now incorporated into a deep shop on the ground floor.

The front block and gallery are three stories high, while the back block is two stories high with a two-window front. The shop front features a projecting display window with rounded corners. A half-glazed shop door is on the left, with two moulded solid panels in its lower portion. A plain display window replaces the original house door on the right. Pilasters flank the shop front, supporting an entablature above. Upper-storey windows are sash windows with six panes in moulded flush frames; the second-floor windows have segmental arches, whilst the third-floor windows have iron window-box holders. A boxed cornice sits at the top, likely originally the eaves cornice, now superseded by a low parapet.

The ground floor has been extensively altered for retail use. A concealed early fireplace is reported to exist in the left side wall. On the second floor, the front room contains a late 18th-century cupboard with round arches on the left side wall, with double doors featuring 2-fillet ovolo-mouldings. Behind it is a piece of mid-17th-century panelling, comprising small oblong panels with bolection-moulded surrounds and strapwork frieze. The rear room retains its original fireplace with a heavy wooden lintel – the moulding has been cut away, but squared stone jambs remain. A blocked early fireplace lintel, chamfered with run-out stops, exists to the left, hidden by a partition wall. A wooden, geometrical staircase, likely dating to the 18th or 19th century, rises to the third floor and originally descended to the ground floor; it features thin, square balusters and moulded tread nosings.

The third-floor front room has a late 18th-century wooden chimney-piece with a moulded architrave and a segmental-headed surround. A 19th-century mantelshelf is supported by moulded corbels. A six-panelled door, likely from the 16th or 17th century, leads to the landing, with moulded stiles and rails on the landing side and butterfly hinges. The rear room has an original fireplace with a heavy, chamfered wooden lintel with scroll stops and squared stone jambs. The roof timbers are now concealed. The gallery and back block’s original features are not visible, potentially hidden under plaster.