Coombe Trenchard

Coombe Trenchard is a house dating to 1906, designed by Sarel for Henry Sperling and built by Dart and Francis of Crediton. It is an eclectic example of Vernacular Revival style, incorporating 17th-century features alongside an Italianate tower on the garden front and a rear loggia. The construction is a mix of stone rubble with granite dressings, timber framing, and weatherboarding, all under a two-span pantile roof with hipped ends and gabled bays. The roof is punctuated by five tall brick shafts with moulded cornices and a projecting stone stack with set-offs.

The house has an irregular plan, defined by a deep roof and gabled projections to the rear, left end, and front. The five-window garden front is asymmetrical, featuring a central gabled projection and a tower adjoining the front right corner. The facade to the left of the front projection is clad in timber framing, while the remainder, including the tower, is stone rubble and granite.

A recessed timber door, sheltered by a long timber lintel, is located to the left of the front projection. The windows throughout have square leaded panes. Timber casement windows are found to the left of the projection, including one ground-floor transomed window. The projection and right-hand side of the house feature granite mullioned windows, along with a canted timber bay window on the ground floor to the right, and a hipped attic dormer. The three-stage tower has lights with round-headed arches and raking angle buttresses that die into the wall. The tower has two louvered slit windows facing the garden, and the top stage features lights with round-headed arches carried on colonettes.

The main entrance to the house is at the rear, situated under a first-floor projection supported by stone columns with moulded plinths and bases, forming a loggia beneath a canted bay with tile hanging above. To the left of the entrance are three slightly advanced timber frame gables.

The interior was not inspected, but it is said to be complete and incorporates an interesting gallery feature. Originally, the site was occupied by the Rectory, which had fallen into disrepair in the early 20th century. It was sold by Sabine Baring-Gould, the squarson of Lew Trenchard, to Sperling, who built a new rectory closer to the church. The Sperlings were friends of Baring-Gould, and Henry Sperling funded the new pulpit in St Peter's Church in 1900. Dart and Francis of Crediton were responsible for several notable buildings in Devon during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and were Caröe's chosen contractors for church work in the county. A photograph of Coombe Trenchard, taken circa 1910, is held in the Dart and Francis office.