Church House

This is a house and village hall, originally a church house. It dates to the early 16th century and was considerably altered and likely extended in the late 19th century. The building is constructed of coursed stone rubble walls, with granite ashlar incorporated in the lower courses at one end. It has a gabled slate roof with decorative late 19th-century ridge tiles. A large brick axial stack with recessed panels is present, along with a smaller brick stack at the right gable end.

The original layout is not entirely clear due to the removal of internal partitions. The first floor would likely have been one long room, possibly heated by a fireplace at one end, and accessed by external stone steps. The ground floor originally comprised a smaller room at the right-hand end, potentially with a passage adjoining it, and a larger room to the left. It’s unclear whether both ground floor rooms, or only one, were heated. A cottage at the left-hand end may be a late 19th-century extension, resulting from a restoration that also involved refronting and reroofing.

The front of the building is long and asymmetrical, with a five-window facade featuring 20th-century 2 and 3-light casement windows with smoked glass. Gables with decorative bargeboards rise above the first-floor windows. A large external stone staircase leads to a first-floor doorway with 20th-century double plank doors. Further doors are located to the left of the stairs on the ground floor, and at the left-hand end in a granite surround with a depressed 4-centre arched head. The windows to the left-hand part are also set in a chamfered granite surround. Two of the ground floor right-hand windows are in altered openings, the right-hand one formerly being a doorway.

Inside, the ground floor room on the right-hand side retains high chamfered cross beams with stop-chamfered spine beams with run-out stops. A narrower beam sits between two others, featuring mortices on its soffit for a screen. The first floor room is notable for preserving its original oak table and benches, built into the floor. These include a long table against the rear wall with benches on either side, and a stool with a central jowelled post featuring chamfered and stopped edges.

The roof retains two complete side-pegged jointed crucks, along with the rear blade of one against the right gable end wall. They have morticed cranked collars, while the purlins are probable replacements fitted along the backs of the trusses. The Prayer Book Rebellion began in Sampford Courtenay, and originated on June 10th, 1549, with the death of William Hellyons in a brawl on the church house steps.