Moreleigh House

Moreleigh House is a rectory, later a private house, dating to circa 1830-40. It is constructed of roughcast stone rubble, with slate hanging on the right (west) side and the rear (south). The roof is slate, hipped, with paired brackets to the soffits of the deep eaves, and has a moulded cast iron gutter. Rendered chimney shafts are located on the left and right side walls.

The house is planned with a square, double-depth layout, featuring a central entrance passage that leads to a stairwell at the rear. The primary rooms are positioned on the left side, likely a drawing room at the front and a dining room behind. To the right of the stairwell is a smaller room, possibly a study. A living room or servants’ hall is situated at the front to the right of the entrance passage; it is smaller than the front left room due to two large cupboards integrated into the right-hand side of the entrance passage. An axial corridor behind the left-hand front room provides access to the kitchen and pantry within a contemporary, single-storey lean-to outshut on the right side of the house, with the kitchen at the front and the pantry at the back, separated by a short passage accessed via a side doorway with a porch.

The two-storey front elevation is symmetrical with five bays, featuring wide corner pilaster strips and a band at the first floor level. The original 19th-century 12-pane sashes remain. A central round-headed doorway incorporates a semi-circular fanlight with radiating glazing bars and a fielded six-panel door, with the bottom panels flush. The doorway is recessed and flanked by projecting pilasters with a Greek key motif, supporting a flat roof canopy with a moulded cornice and panelled soffit. Set back to the right is the parapeted front wall of the single-storey lean-to service range, featuring a blind corridor at the front within a shallow, segmental headed recess. To the side of the lean-to is a single-storey hipped roof porch with a flush panel door. The left side of the house has no windows. The rear of the house is entirely slate hung, with two ground floor and two first floor windows, symmetrical except for the mid-floor level stair window, which is slightly left of centre; all windows, including the stair window, are original 19th-century 12-pane sashes. Set back to the left is the rear wall of the single-storey lean-to service range, with a blind, slate-hung front wall. West-facing side of the lean-to has 19th-century casement windows.

The interior retains its original plan and 19th-century joinery, including moulded six-panel doors, panelled window shutters, and an open-well staircase with stick balusters and a moulded mahogany handrail wreathed over the curtail with a twisted wrought iron newel; the open string tread-ends have shaped brackets with scroll and flower designs. The rear left-hand room features a chimney piece made from local Devonian limestone.