17 And 19, Meddon Street

This is a mid- to late 17th-century house, with minor alterations from the early 19th century, located on Meddon Street in Bideford. The left-hand section of the building (No. 17) has been converted into a shop. It is constructed of solid rendered walls, largely brick, with a red brick gable-end, partially painted. The roof is slate-covered. There are two brick chimneys; one, rebuilt in the 20th century, sits just behind the ridge, and the other on the right-hand end wall, also heightened in the 20th century.

Originally planned as a double-depth house of three rooms, the middle room was likely extended to the left in the late 18th or early 19th century to replace an original entrance passage. A short early 19th-century rear wing is positioned centrally, while a longer late 19th-century wing extends to the left. The right-hand section of the front range (No. 19) was converted into a separate house in the 19th century. The building has two storeys with a garret, and a six-window front. A broad band course runs above the ground storey, and a bracketed eaves cornice is mostly hidden behind a later fascia board.

The ground-floor shop on the left has 20th-century display windows and a doorway. No. 19 features a segmental-headed doorway with an early or mid-19th century four-panelled door and knocker. The upper-storey windows are triple-sashed with three panes per sash and two upright glazing-bars. An unmoulded, two-light wood-mullioned window is partially blocked by the adjacent house in the gable to the right.

Inside, a prominent feature is the wooden staircase, likely dating from the 1660s or 1670s. The staircase has closed moulded and pulvinated strings, square newels, treads with moulded nosings, stout turned 'urn' balusters, a broad flat handrail, and previously continued to the garret, which would have blocked a window, suggesting it was not original. A large fireplace with a bead-moulded wood surround, probably late 18th or early 19th century, is located in the front room on the left. The middle front room contains a cupboard with panelled doors of a similar date. Upstairs, a fine cast-iron grate and surround are present, though now detached from the chimney. Most of the roof trusses are from the 17th century, with short curved feet resting on tie beams; butt-purlins and a ridge. Two trusses have been replaced or altered. The centre rear wing has a small-paned wood casement window with an iron hinge, possibly from the early 19th century, and a cast-iron grate with a round-arched surround. The left-hand rear wing contains kingpost-and-ridge roof trusses. A 19th-century half-glazed door leads to the main range. No. 19 was not inspected. The building is significant as part of a group of 17th-century houses that demonstrates the early development of Meddon Street, which is now predominantly 19th-century in character. The house preserves what is likely the earliest framed staircase in the old town centre.