Lower Dunscombe Farmhouse

CHUDLEIGH DUNSCOMBE LANE SX 87 NE 4/39 Lower Dunscombe Farmhouse

II

Farmhouse. C18, possibly a remodelling of an earlier house. Colourwashed and rendered ; asbestos slate roof, gabled at ends, lower roof at right end corrugated asbestos; left end stack, rear lateral stack with tall shaft, end stack to rear right single-storey lean-to. The main range is single depth with 2 principal heated rooms to the left of a through passage and an unheated room at the right end under a lower roofline. The centre and left hand of the main range is 3-storey with a projecting rounded stair turret on the rear wall adjacent to the stack that heats the centre room. The rear door of the through passage gives access to a single storey kitchen. The position of the stacks and the general arrangement suggests that this was a pre C18 3 room and through passage plan, the lower end to the right, remodelled in the C18 when the hall and inner room were given an additional storey but the lower end was left at its original height. The date of the rear right kitchen addition is unclear. 3 storeys. Asymmetrical 3 window front with regular fenestration; wide plank and stud front door at extreme right leading into through passage. Ground floor window left, 2-light casement, 8 panes per light; 1 from left, 2-light casement, 6 panes per light; to left of front door 9 pane fixed window. 3 first floor 2-light casements, 6 panes per light; 3 first floor 2-light casements, 2 panes per light. Interior: The principal room has a C20 grate, possibly concealing an earlier fireplace, wide newel stair with timber treads in rear turret. 2 first floor C18 2- panel dodrs and 2 C19 iron gates and C19 chimneypieces. The newel stair extends to the 2nd floor which is unheated and was presumably used for servants. A late vernacular farmhouse of unusual design. The survival of old casement windows and the rear stair turret are particularly attractive features.

Listing NGR: SX8856678939