Wickington Farmhouse

Wickington Farmhouse

A substantial farmhouse on Wickington Lane near South Tawton, dating from the 15th century with significant 16th and 17th century improvements, refurbished and partially rebuilt in the late 19th century.

The house presents a striking appearance dominated by its impressive porch, which is unusually early in date. The porch is built in coursed blocks of granite ashlar, whilst the remainder of the building is plastered cob on stone rubble footings, or stone rubble, or a combination of both. Stone rubble stacks with plastered chimneyshafts rise from the roof, one topped with granite ashlar coping. The building was originally thatched but now has a slate roof.

The porch structure is particularly notable. Its lower stage is square in plan with narrow gun port slits on each side, framed by a 2-centred granite outer arch with moulded surround. The upper stage is octagonal except at the back angles, which are expanded to accommodate stairs on one side and an alcove on the other, with broached front corners. A granite square-headed front window with 2 lights and 2-centred almost round-headed lights sits above, with sunken spandrels. The roof is conical, though it formerly supported either another storey or a flat roof with parapet. The lower stage is thought to be original, whilst the top stage was rebuilt in the early to mid 16th century.

The building follows a 3-room-and-through-passage plan facing east, with a 2-storey porch to the rear of the passage. The left southern end room is an inner room. An axial stack between the hall and inner room served back-to-back fireplaces, whilst the service end originally had an end stack. A late 19th century stair block was added to the rear of the inner room. The present kitchen occupies an outshot to the rear of the service end and forms one side of a small service courtyard which also includes kennels, a pump house, and a woodshed.

The original house was an open hall house heated by an open hearth fire. The service end room was initially divided into buttery and servery; this division was later removed and the present fireplace inserted in the 17th century or later. The inner room end was largely rebuilt in the late 19th century. The building is now 2 storeys throughout.

To the left, 2 gables of the 19th century outshots contain 19th and 20th century casements with glazing bars and horned 4-pane sashes. To the right, the service courtyard is paved with upended cobbles. The right projecting wing contains 3 kennels and a connecting passage; the front wing contains a pumphouse and woodshed, and a rubble wall runs along the cobbled front path. The rear elevation features an irregular 3-window front of 19th and 20th century casements, the latest lacking glazing bars. The passage doorway here is a granite 2-centred arch with moulded surround containing a 20th century panelled door. A similar passage front doorway with chamfered surround contains a 19th century panelled door. The main roof is hipped at each end.

The interior is largely the result of late 19th century modernisation, though some good quality early work remains visible and more is probably hidden beneath 19th century plaster. The passage floor, like the porch, is laid with upended cobbles. The lower end passage partition is a full height stone and cob crosswall. The central doorway on this side was once wider, probably originally a double doorway to the buttery and servery, which were divided by a partition along the line of what is now a boxed-in axial beam in the service end. The service end fireplace is blocked, but its position indicates it was inserted after the original partition had been removed. Both the inner room and hall fireplaces are blocked by late 19th century grates. The hall crossbeam is boxed in. The inner room has soffit-chamfered and straight cut stopped crossbeams, probably dating from the late 17th century. The hall-passage partition contains 2 sections of a probably original and most unusual oak plank-and-muntin screen in which the muntins are moulded like Perpendicular Devon church piers with horizontal mouldings halfway up the shafts. Most of the joinery detail throughout the house, including the main stair, is late 19th century.

The roof structure over the main block comprises 3 different sections. The oldest and probably original section over the hall and passage includes 2 cruck-type trusses with curving soffit-chamfered collars and small triangular-shaped yokes (Alcock's apex type L2); the lower sections are plastered over. This section is smoke-blackened from the original open hearth fire. The inner room roof is a late 19th century replacement. The service end 2-bay roof contains a face-pegged jointed cruck truss with through purlins and appears to date from the mid 17th century. The porch has a low barrel-vaulted roof with chamfered stone ribs.

A doorway from the lower side of the passage near the front leads to the tower stair, a plain 2-centred arch containing an ancient studded plank door. The stone stairs appear once to have continued to the 2nd floor. An original oak round-headed doorframe leads from the stairs to the chamber over the service end room. The 2-centred arch to the porch guardroom is now blocked. Historical accounts describe a small granite fireplace and a garderobe alcove with chute in this space. A surviving granite merlon from an embattled parapet formerly encircled the main block.

Wickington Farmhouse is a most interesting farmhouse displaying features of unusually high standard of craftsmanship.