Slees

438/14/123

STOKE GABRIEL FLOOD STREET Slees

(Formerly listed as: FLOOD STREET SLEES, Formerly listed as: FLOOD STREET THE OLD COTTAGE)

21-5-1985

II House, C17.

MATERIALS: Rubble stone walls, some rendered with smooth cement. Welsh slate roofs and mainly C20 timber fenestration.

PLAN: A main single-depth range, probably originally a single-room house, with a series of enlargements, including the addition of cross-passage and corridor. By the principal entrance is a large chimney with inglenook and winder staircase. A further bay to the north is set back from the principal building line. A south range, probably mid-late C19 in date, acts as a cross-wing and projects to the roadside. A single-storey lean-to structure is attached to the main range and forms a corridor, incorporating a porch and, possibly, a former bread oven. Slees is orientated to face northeast.

EXTERIOR: A two-storey house under a hipped roof. The three-bay principal range incorporates wide external chimney stack and stair bay with window, and a lean-to porch/corridor. The variety of building line, roof height and form, dominated by the central chimney stack with offsets, characterises the road front, which otherwise has few window openings and sparse detailing. Road front windows are timber casements. The cross-passage is entered through a wide plank door. The garden front has more window openings, many being modern.

INTERIOR: Understood to contain areas of cobble stone and stone flag flooring, and an inglenook fireplace. Not inspected (2009).

HISTORY: Slees stands beside an historic lane in the village of Stoke Gabriel, which lies close to the River Dart. A tidal pool, which historically powered a milling industry, gave employment to the village inhabitants. Slees is one of two historic cross-passage houses in the village. It is built in the vernacular tradition of the area and is considered to be of C17 construction, although its varied footprint indicates that it may be of multi-phased construction. Slees appears on the Ordnance Survey Maps of 1888, 1906 and 1933 with its current footprint. The building has been updated in the C20. In the C21, it continues to serve as a single dwelling house.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION Slees, Stoke Gabriel is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

• Architectural Interest: it is a good example of a C17 vernacular house with later extensions and distinctive details: a large chimney stack with offsets and small window openings to the road front.
• Setting: it makes a strong contribution to the character of the village, providing evidence of the historical development of Stoke Gabriel.

SOURCES South Hams District Council, Stoke Gabriel Conservation Area Appraisal