Berry Farm

Berry Farm is a house, likely originating in the 17th century or earlier, with subsequent alterations and a rear addition constructed in the 1920s. The building is built of whitewashed and rendered cob and stone, with a gabled thatched roof covered in local reed; the left end has a plain ridge, and the right end features a brick shaft. An internal stack is located at the junction with the 1920s additions. Evidence suggests the original 17th-century layout consisted of three rooms and a through passage, with the lower end positioned to the right. The hall was heated by a lateral stack and included an unheated inner room, and there may have once been an external stair turret on the rear wall adjacent to the stack. The first floor room in the lower end retains a moulded plaster cornice and was likely the main room on that floor. A rear right wing may have originally served as a service room, kitchen or dairy, with an upper storey added later. A wide stair has been inserted into the passage, and the hall and inner room roof trusses may have been replaced. A two-span, rear left addition, added in the 1920s, provides additional living space. There is a possibility the house’s origins lie in the late medieval period, with a 17th-century remodelling of what was originally an open hall house.

The building presents an asymmetrical two-window facade. The eaves overhang the first-floor window on the right side. A shallow, gabled porch from the 20th century is positioned to the right of the centre, leading into the former passage, which is now the stair hall. Window openings contain 19th- and 20th-century casements with glazing bars, with embrasures likely dating to the 19th century.

Internally, several features of interest survive within a modernised layout. Both hall screens remain; the passage screen has chamfered muntins with low diagonal stops, while the higher-end screen is less complete and plainer. A blocked doorway near the hall fireplace has narrow, chamfered jambs with scroll stops and may have led to a stair turret. Thin, exposed ceiling joists in the hall and lower end room are likely 18th-century or later replacements. The ground floor of the rear right wing has a chamfered stopped cross beam. The two right-hand roof trusses are boxed in but appear to be jointed crucks, with a moulded plaster cornice running around the principals and extending into the cupboard over the stairs. The trusses above the hall and inner room have straight principals and are probably later replacements. Access to the roof space was unavailable during the 1986 survey, but the apexes of the roof trusses are considered noteworthy. Berry Farm occupies a prominent corner site in Kingsteignton and is a notable example of a former farmhouse near the town centre.