Docton House

Docton House

A house, partly used as a store which is now disused, located on Myrtle Street in Appledore. The building dates from the late 16th or early 17th century, with 19th and 20th century alterations to the rear wing.

The external walls are built of local stone rubble, with the left hand end and rear wing rendered. The roof is of slate with gabled ends and black glazed ridge tiles. A lateral stack at the rear has a tall stone rubble shaft with a moulded cap. Two stone rubble axial stacks rise over the rear wing.

The building has an overall L-shaped plan. The long two-storey front range contains a ground floor with two unheated rooms: a small room at the left hand end separated by a thick stone partition from a large unpartitioned room occupying the remainder of the ground floor, with a central entrance. The staircase at the right hand end is probably a later arrangement, rising from a ground floor doorway at the front to a doorway on the first floor at the back where the ground is at this level. There are also doorways at the bottom and top of the stairs into the ground and first floors respectively. The ground floor appears to have been a cellar or store, but the first floor must have been a great chamber with a moulded plaster ceiling and two lateral fireplaces at the back. A smaller chamber at the left end extends into a short rear wing adjoining the main rear wing. This is heated from a large axial stack with an enormous fireplace (now blocked) and a small unheated room behind at the end of the wing. The ground floor of the rear wing is at the same level as the first floor of the main range.

The exterior presents a two-storey long almost symmetrical five-window range. The first floor has early 19th century two-light twelve-pane sashes; the left hand first floor window is a late 19th or early 20th century two-light sash without glazing bars, and the right hand window is a large 18th or early 19th century three-light casement. On the ground floor there is a granite bead-moulded Tudor arch doorway at the centre and a similar doorway at the right of the front, the latter possibly reused because the lintel is wider than the opening. Between the two doorways is a later 19th or 20th century doorway, and to the left of centre a small two-light hollow-chamfered window. High up over the central doorway is the Docton arms, a finely carved stone in relief.

The right hand doorway leads into a passage with stairs up to a doorway at the back at first floor level where the external ground is at first floor level. Inside the passage there is a plank partition with a chamfered doorframe into the ground floor room and another doorway into the first floor at the top of the stairs.

The rear elevation has a slightly projecting stack to the left of centre with a weathered set off and a tall stone rubble shaft with a moulded stone cap. A partly blocked three-light chamfered stone mullion window to the right of centre with a small chamfered window at ground level to the cellar below and a blocked moulded doorway immediately to the right with a basket arch. The doorway at the left hand end has a plain granite lintel.

The rear wing appears to have been raised in the late 19th century and has two small gables with finials; a chamfered granite Tudor arch doorway to the left almost in the angle with the front range with a late 19th century slated canopy above; the windows at the left of the rear wing are late 19th century sashes and those to the right are late 20th century casements. A chamfered Tudor arch doorway is located on the outer west side of the rear wing.

Interior features include the large ground floor room with chamfered cross-beads with hollow step stops. The small ground floor room at the left end has unchamfered joists. There are no fireplaces on the ground floor.

The large first floor room has two moulded granite fireplaces in the back wall with simple roll moulding and back of herring-bone pattern slates; now partly blocked. At the left end of the first floor there are two ovolo and fillet moulded doorframes with bar and diabolo stops with quatrefoils and another ovolo-moulded doorframe reused in a later partition, dividing the large room. At the left end of the large first floor room remains an early 17th century moulded plaster ceiling with a strapwork frieze.

Most of the plaster ceiling on the first floor has collapsed, exposing the roof structure which is complete and has straight principals resting on the wall plate, notched or dovetail lap jointed straight collars, threaded purlins and threaded ridgepiece.

Stored in the house and belonging to it were some early 17th century panelled and studded doors, one door has twelve panels.