Green

Green is an early 17th-century house, possibly a remodelling of an earlier building, located on the east side of Shute Hill in Bishopsteignton. The house has undergone several phases of alteration and extension, including work in the mid-19th century and very thorough remodelling around 1920. The structure comprises red sandstone rubble walls with 1920s timber framing (presumably cladding brick), a slate roof to the main block with gabled ends, and a red tiled roof of 1920s date to the rear block.

The plan is extremely complicated, with the original 17th-century arrangement largely obscured by the 1920s remodelling. The main block faces south as a single-depth structure with a fine early 17th-century parlour to the right, an unheated room to the left, and two high-quality rooms on the first floor. This block was remodelled in the 19th century with a symmetrical front elevation. A north wing, parallel to the main block and divided from it by a lean-to containing the main entrance, may also date from early origins. The 1920s remodelling was substantial and involved the addition of a clad timber-frame garden room now at the east end.

The south-facing front elevation is two storeys with a symmetrical five-bay design to the main block, featuring rusticated quoins. A 1920s roof dormer appears to the left and a larger gabled dormer to the right. The central entrance is a 19th-century half-glazed door flanked by canted bay windows with 12-pane sashes and hipped slate roofs continued as a verandah. The first floor has 12-pane sashes, probably with concrete architraves. To the right end is a set-back block with a lean-to roof containing a three-light high casement window above a segmental relieving arch. A 1920s garden room to the right is timber-frame clad with a large ground floor bay window with leaded panes. A castellated archway and wall further to the right are probably part of the 1920s remodelling. The west elevation facing Shute Hill is eccentric, with gables to left and right and a lean-to roof between. A 1920s front door enters the lean-to beneath a sloping porch canopy below a late 18th or early 19th-century bow window with a 12-pane sash in the centre and 4-pane outer lights. The left gabled block has deeply recessed wide windows with iron grilles at ground floor; the first floor is jettied and clad with timber framing, incorporating a 1920s bowed oriel window. The right gabled block is also timber-frame clad.

The interior contains outstanding early 17th-century plasterwork, presumably all dating to 1615 (the date appears on a chimney-piece on the first floor), combining enriched and single-rib patterns. The ground floor room ceiling is divided into three sections by moulded crossbeams, with an enriched rib design in the centre and elegant single-rib designs in the outer sections with floral sprays. The soffit carving is probably 1920s work. A frieze on the rear wall probably dates from the 17th century, as does a frieze of flower trails on the front wall above the bay window, though some decoration around the bay is clearly later. The timber chimney-piece has carved spandrels and considerable repair. The two first floor rooms above have single-rib ceilings. The right-hand room has a similar carved chimney-piece dated 1615 in the spandrels with the initials NC and MNC, possibly Nicholas and Michael Cave. The plaster cornice survives except against the party wall with the left-hand room. The left-hand room has a single-rib ceiling of different design, with cornice survival incomplete against the party wall.

The roof was not inspected at the time of survey. Green was the home of the Cave family from around 1612 until the late 19th century. The plaster ceilings are of outstanding importance.