Stafford Barton

House, formerly a small manor house. Circa mid-16th century, probably with earlier origins, altered and probably extended in the 17th century, with further additions and alterations in the 19th century and circa 1920.

The building is constructed of stone rubble walls with small coursed dressed stone blocks to the porch, wall to its left, and inner face of the left-hand wing. A projecting rubble lateral stack at the front with offsets is a prominent feature, alongside small 20th-century projecting front lateral stack to the right of the porch and another 20th-century rubble stack axial to the rear right-hand wing. Four brick stacks are also present elsewhere.

The plan shows complex development, complicated by 20th-century alterations and additions. The basic form of three rooms and through-passage can be discerned, although the lower end to the right may have comprised two rooms. The hall is heated by the front lateral stack, with a small inner room beyond and a two-storey porch at the front of the passage. A wing projecting to the front of the inner room features similar stonework and may be contemporary or part of an early 17th-century remodelling, which probably included insertion of the hall stack, though no direct evidence survives for an open hall. In the 19th century, two rear wings were added, one behind the passage and one behind the lower end, with an outbuilding addition beyond the inner room. The house was further extended circa 1920 with a wing at the front and another large wing at the rear. Numerous old features were incorporated and re-used from other buildings in the area, with replica features such as windows, doorways, and beams inserted.

The exterior is of two storeys with an asymmetrical and very irregular front. The old part of the house forms the central five-window portion, with a wing at the left-hand end and two-storey gabled porch at centre. To the left of the porch is an early 20th-century three-light wooden mullion window on the first floor. Below is a contemporary moulded wooden mullion which retains its old cill, presumably a replica of a 17th-century ovolo-moulded wooden mullion window on the first floor, of which the cill at least is original. Below this is a Tudor arched stone doorway with half-roll moulding. The wide internal wooden doorway is carved with a trailing foliage motif and is reputed to have come from Loosedon Barton, Winkleigh, before its demolition. Windows to the right of the porch are early 20th-century two- and four-light wooden mullions. An early 20th-century wing projects to the front and right, castellated except for a small gable at the front with ball finial to coping stones and a single cinquefoiled light on the first floor—this may be a heavily restored earlier wing or may simply re-use earlier fabric. Windows to this wing are otherwise 20th-century one- and two-light wooden mullions. At the left-hand end is a lower 19th-century outbuilding extension with a two-storey addition to the original house behind it.

The rear elevation of the original part of the house to the right has 20th-century wooden mullions. That to the rear of the hall is four-light and transomed. A small pointed arch moulded stone doorway to its left, low down in the wall, is probably re-used. Dressed stone quoins extending halfway up the wall towards the right-hand end of this range indicate the extent of the original house. To the left, three gabled wings project; the end 20th-century one is much larger and crenellated at the sides. At its end on the first floor is a re-used 17th-century five-light wooden oriel mullion window on curved brackets. A small re-used medieval window with two pointed lights is above it. On the ground floor is a probably 20th-century seven-light wooden mullion window. A 20th-century conservatory forms the front of the central 19th-century wing, with a large two-storey window bay on its end wall to the right.

The interior is a mixture of new and old features, many of the latter re-used either from other houses or other positions. The lower partition of the screens passage is made up of a circa late 16th-century panelled screen with ovolo-moulded muntins and rails, chamfered on the reverse side, which comes from Loosedon Barton, Winkleigh. The hall fireplace has chamfered granite jambs and wooden lintel which has been cut into, with herringbone pattern to stones at the rear. The ceiling beams to the hall are very plain, suggesting there might formerly have been a plaster ceiling. Over the former passage are foliage-carved cross beams and joists which are probably early 20th-century. The rear passage doorway has an ovolo-moulded doorframe with decorative stops, of which the lintel and right-hand jamb have been renewed. The room to the left of the hall has an early 17th-century peaked head doorframe and two hollow step-stopped cross beams. The room on the lower side of the hall has a fireplace with plaster overmantle dated 1640 depicting various figures including soldiers. Adjoining the fireplace is a 17th-century moulded wooden doorframe and a good quality contemporary panelled door. The 20th-century rear wing contains the most impressive period feature: a very large and elaborate early 17th-century plaster ceiling and frieze taken from No. 7 Cross Street, Barnstaple. There is a simple 17th-century plaster overmantle to the fireplace with strapwork and heraldic devices. On the first floor are sections of re-used 16th- and 17th-century panelling.

Stafford Barton is mentioned in the Domesday Book and recorded as having a chapel in 1415. It was owned by the Irish family Kelaway from the 12th century, who changed their name to Stafford in the late 15th or early 16th century, and it remained in their ownership until 1890 when the family died out. The house was acquired in the early 20th century by C.F.C. Luxmoore, the famous explorer, who built the modern wing incorporating features from other houses such as Eggesform House. The house retains considerable historic interest, with its features giving evidence of the high status it retained into the 20th century, although it has become somewhat difficult to discern its original form.