The Beehive And Beehive Cottage

THE BEEHIVE AND BEEHIVE COTTAGE

A house and adjoining cottage on the north-east side of Beaford Exeter Road, probably built in the early 16th century and remodelled in the early 17th century, with further alterations and additions in the late 17th or early 18th century, some late 19th-century internal changes, and a rear addition.

The building is rendered over cob with a thatched roof, gable-ended on the left and half-hipped on the right. There is a stone outshut with a slate roof. Two brick axial stacks stand to the right and a lateral stack to the rear with a rendered stone shaft and brick cap.

The house originally followed a three-room and through-passage plan. It consisted of a central hall with an external lateral stack to the rear, a former through passage to the left with opposed central doors in screens (the right-hand screen is now mostly removed), a former unheated service room to the left of the hall, and a former inner room with an end stack to the right of the hall. The house was probably originally open to the roof throughout, with the first floor inserted in stages. The hall stack was probably added in the early 17th century when the hall was still open to the roof, indicated by a high lintel. The first floor in the hall was likely not inserted until the late 17th or even early 18th century. One-roomed additions were made to both the left and right ends, probably in the 17th or early 18th century. The right-hand addition projects slightly to the front and has an end stack. The former inner room was remodelled in the 18th century. A new entrance with lobby and staircase was inserted between the hall and inner room, probably in the late 19th century, occupying space taken from the hall and possibly replacing an earlier stair—a projection visible at the rear suggests this. The front doorway to the former through passage was probably blocked when the new entrance was created. A late 19th-century lean-to outshut was added at the rear of the right-hand end. The 17th-century alterations apparently included a total replacement of the roof, as no smoke blackening was observed at survey in December 1987, though it is also possible the house was always floored or only the hall was open to the roof and heated by the rear stack from the beginning. A one-room cottage, probably from the 18th century, occupies the right-hand end and was probably formerly part of the house or an outbuilding, suggested by its later fenestration. A 20th-century flat-roofed addition has been added to the rear of this end. The building is two storeys with a one-storey outshut.

The front elevation displays a nearly symmetrical five-window front. The mid- to late 19th-century windows are two-light casements, all of three lights except for a two-light ground-floor casement to the left. A mid- to late 19th-century Gothic four-panelled door between the second and third windows from the right has chamfered upper panels and is sheltered by a late 19th-century gabled wooden porch. The cottage to the right has a ground-floor 20th-century two-light wooden casement to the front and a pair of first-floor 20th-century two-light casements in the right-hand gable end. The rear of the house has a full-height shallow staircase projection with a first-floor 19th-century margin-light casement.

Interior: The hall contains probably late 17th-century plain ceiling joists spanning front to back. An early to mid 17th-century stone fireplace to the rear has stone jambs and an ovolo-moulded wooden lintel with ogee stops. A 16th or early 17th-century plank and muntin screen between the former through passage and service room consists of chamfered muntins with run-out stops (no middle rail), a sole plate, and a head beam. The head beam is chamfered above the central doorway with returns to former chamfered jambs. The doorway was widened, probably in the 18th century, and has an old boarded door with wrought-iron strap hinges, also probably 18th-century. The tops of some muntins are curved. Only the head beam of the screen between the passage and hall survives, showing mortices of former muntins and a chamfer above the former central doorway with return to former chamfered jambs. The front doorway to the passage is blocked, while the rear doorway has a probably 18th-century boarded door. A 19th-century staircase stands to the right of the hall. An entrance hall at the foot of the stairs has encaustic floor tiles and a 19th-century four-panelled door into the hall with a moulded architrave. The former inner room, to the right of the staircase, was remodelled in the mid 18th century, including a doorway into the entrance hall with a moulded architrave and a door with six raised and fielded panels, and a doorway into the right-hand ground-floor room with a moulded architrave, moulded cornice, and probably early 19th-century four-panelled door (rehung). The room also features a picture rail, window seat, and plaster ceiling. A 20th-century fireplace has an 18th-century wall cupboard to the right with raised and fielded panels. The roof trusses are probably 17th-century, consisting of principal rafters and pegged lapped collars. A 17th-century truss visible in the right-hand bedroom has principal rafters and a pegged notched lapped collar.