Collacott Collacott House

SOUTH MILTON SX 64 SE 4/107 Collacott and Collacott House 26.1.67 (Collacott only) II

Two houses originally a farmhouse. Circa early C16, remodelled and extended in early C17 and possibly C18. Slatestone rubble walls, partly rendered, and in these places probably incorporating some cob. Hipped thatch roof with gable ended slate roof to cross wing. Projecting rubble lateral stack at front and brick stack on rubble base axial to rear wing. Plan: complex evolution of plan form. The original house is formed by Collacott at the front which appears to have been built on a 2-room-and-through-passage plan, the hall probably to the right. It may have originally been open to the roof but evidence for this has been obscured by the rebuilding of the right-hand room as a short parlour cross-wing in the early C17. The left-hand room probably had its rear stack inserted at this time when another room was added behind it. In front of the left-hand room is an apparently self-contained 1-room wing which formerly had a large fireplace on its end wall and was built as a bakehouse in the later C16. Beyond the rear wing a further range was added parallel to the front of the house which may have performed a non-domestic function, judging by its lack of features. The house at one stage was 4 cottages but is now 2 houses, the L- shaped rear range forming Collacott House. Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 3-window front with cross wing at either end, the left-hand one longer. C20 small-paned casement windows. Those to the right- hand cross wing have old oak lintels and stone dripcourses above. Probably C17 gabled single storey porch to left of centre with cambered and roughly chamfered wooden lintel and stone seats inside. Behind is the original chamfered wooden doorframe with 2-centred arch. C20 plank door. Gabled wing at left-hand end had its end wall rebuilt in later C20 but retains its eaves cornice on the front wall. Late C20 casement on each floor with doorway to right. At the rear the ground drops sharply away giving the building the impression of being very tall. A C20 single storey addition extends to the rear as porch. Interior: in the front range the right-hand room has a chamfered crossbeam with chamfered and bar-stopped joists. Open fireplace with massive rough slate lintel and dressed stone jambs. The passage has roughly chamfered joists. The left-hand room has roughly chamfered cross beams with run-out stops. The small fireplace has rough stone jambs and a replacement wooden lintel. In the rear part of the building only the connecting wing has any old features in the form of chamfered ceiling beams and open fireplace with wooden lintel. The only early roof trusses are early C17 ones over the right-hand cross-wing which have slightly curved feet, threaded purlins and a morticed apex. The collars are nailed across but the original ones were probably higher up.

Listing NGR: SX6983542642