26, Ford Street

This is a house located on Ford Street in Moretonhampstead, dating from the early 17th century, with alterations made in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It is constructed from rendered stone rubble, likely granite, and has a low-pitched slate roof with a hipped north end and a gabled south end which abuts the rear of No. 22 Ford Street. Lead rolls are present on the roof hips. A rendered chimney stack sits centrally. The building's rectangular plan originally comprised a pair of one-room cottages arranged back-to-back with a central chimney stack and fireplaces for each. The entrances, originally located to the left and right of the front, likely led into lobbies or passages. It has since been converted into a single house. The property sits behind the street frontage, with the right-hand end adjoining the rear of No. 22 Ford Street, and the left-hand end linked to rear buildings, forming a rear yard. It is two storeys high and originally had a two-window front. Modern casements are present, those to the right being in significantly widened openings. The interior features back-to-back fireplaces within the central chimney stack, with chamfered timber lintels displaying run-out stops with notches and chamfered, monolithic granite jambs. These fireplaces lack internal ovens, but arched recesses are present in the walls beside each fireplace. The roof is a later construction, with collars pegged and nailed to the faces of straight principal rafters. The back-to-back fireplaces are unusual in Devon, although examples exist within Moretonhampstead, including No. 26 Cross Street and Beam Cottage, Ford Street.