Vennemile

Vennemile is a house with late medieval origins, substantially remodelled in the late 16th century in two phases, with a late 19th-century rear addition and some late 20th-century alteration. It is a particularly handsome example of a cob and thatch house characteristic of the region.

The building is constructed of whitewashed rendered cob with a thatched roof, hipped at the left end over the former barn and gabled at the right end. The 19th-century rear addition is of whitewashed brick. A large stack with set-offs projects from the front wall, with a further stack at the right gable end. The present plan comprises a 3-room and through-passage house with the lower end to the right and an additional room at the left end (converted from a barn). A rear right outshut and a 2-storey rear centre addition of the 19th century complete the plan.

The origins of the house lie in a late medieval open hall that was floored over in at least two phases. First, a narrow unheated inner room was created to the left. Second, a front lateral stack was added to the hall, followed by the flooring over of the hall itself. The development of the heated right-hand end is unclear. The rear outshut, probably a later addition, was subsequently replaced in the centre with a 2-storey addition dating to the late 19th century. In the late 20th century, a barn adjoining the left end was converted as additional accommodation.

The building stands 2 storeys high with an irregular front elevation of 2+5 windows, the thatch swept down over the left-hand end. The main front elevation has a large, approximately central projecting stack with set-offs bearing a semi-circular bread oven, with the thatch eaves eyebrowed over the 2 first-floor left windows and gabled over the 2 right-hand windows. The first floor contains one 3-light blocked timber mullioned window, with other windows of 2- and 3-light construction with 3 or 6 panes per light. To the right of the stack is a 20th-century timber and glazed porch serving the through-passage front door. The converted barn at the left end has a separate entrance with a 20th-century gabled porch, 2 ground-floor 20th-century 2-light casements, and a first-floor arched fixed window, probably imported from elsewhere. The rear right outshut has a continuously thatched catslide roof.

The interior contains several early features of note. A fine oak plank and muntin screen between the hall and inner room is notable for having chamfered muntins on both sides with diagonal stops on the hall side and step stops on the inner room side. On the hall side, the hall bench and bench end with a curly profile survive, both carefully repaired. A square-headed doorway is set within the screen. The open fireplace in the hall has a chamfered lintel with step stops and jambs rebuilt in brick. The plain hall cross beam may be a replacement. The lower end room has a roughly-chamfered cross beam and exposed joists, a 20th-century grate, and some evidence of an earlier timber lintel to the fireplace. Although access to the roofspace was not available at the time of the 1985 survey, an inspection in 1983 by Peter Beacham of Devon County Council noted heavily smoke-blackened timbers and smoke-blackened thatch, with at least one roof truss identified as jointed cruck construction.

The house, slightly set back from the road, represents a particularly handsome example of an evolved cob and thatch dwelling with a fine hall screen and other significant internal features.