Upcott Avenal

Upcott Avenal is a house dating to circa 1820-30, possibly incorporating elements from the 18th century. The structure is built of rendered stone with a gable-ended slate roof. There are three brick stacks to the main range – one at each gable end and one axial – and one lateral stack at the rear of the outshut and another to its side.

The house is planned with an entrance at the left-hand end leading into a passage that runs through the house to the opposite end, which contains three principal rooms to its front. The central room has a large bay window, and a smaller room is located to the rear, along with a kitchen and scullery. A staircase also opens off the rear of the passage. The rooms behind the passage are contained within a two-storey integral outshut.

The exterior is two storeys with a cellar. The front elevation is symmetrical, featuring a three-window arrangement. A large, central, ground-floor canted window dominates the facade. Most windows are original 12-pane sashes, except for a replacement window on the first floor to the left-hand side and a tripartite sash at the centre of the first floor. A modillion cornice is present under the window bay and below the eaves. The right-hand end wall has a decoratively glazed door with a semi-circular fanlight, and a 12-pane sash window above it. The left-hand end wall has arched-head windows towards the rear, and a later 19th-century porch with original double six-panel doors behind. The rear elevation has an 18th-century two-panel door with a fanlight above.

The interior retains good quality features. Two of the doorways in the passage have broken pediments, likely added later in the 19th century. Six-panel doors are present throughout. The two end rooms at the front have later 18th-century style classical chimneypieces, featuring moulded cornices and raised central panels to the frieze. Simple moulded cornices are found elsewhere, except for a Neoclassical plaster frieze in the central front room. The right-hand room contains an unusual built-in bookcase along one wall, with a cupboard below that includes reeded friezes and roundels in the corners. The rear left-hand room has a similar built-in dresser, both dating to the early 19th century. The house remains largely unaltered internally and externally, and forms an attractive group with its original outbuildings, rear courtyard, and walled gardens.