Melhuish Down Cottage

SX 79 SE 2/84

TEDBURN ST MARY GOLDCROSS HILL Melhuish Down Cottage

II

Small house. Late C17 or earlier. Whitewashed rendered cob on stone rubble footings; thatched roof gabled at ends; left end stack, front lateral projecting stack with rectangular bread oven. The present plan is 2 rooms and a cross passage with a rear outshut the entire length of the house under a catslide roof. The original plan may have been 2 rooms and a passage with a hall/kitchen to the right and a lower end room to the left, the left- hand end of the house has been rebuilt. There is some evidence of a former external rear stair turret which suggests that the outshut is a later addition. A straight stair has been inserted in the passage which may have been widened to accommodate it. 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 2-window front with the large stack with bread oven to right of centre and a large C20 glazed thatched porch to the passage to left of centre. A second door on the front to the right of the stack gives direct access into the hall. Fenestration of 2-light casements, 2 panes per light. Interior A number of C17 features survive. The hall fireplace has been largely rebuilt, the hall has 2 chamfered cross beams with bar and step stops, exposed joists, plank and muntin oak screen with chamfered muntins with step stops. The apex of the roofspace is ceiled but an early roof structure may exist. This house has an unusually small circa late C17 hall which shares the features found in larger co-eval houses. The continuously thatched outshut is an attractive feature of a building which backs directly on to Goldcross Hill.

Listing NGR: SX7920993582