The Three Crowns

The Three Crowns is an inn on the south side of Chagford High Street, originally built as the dower house of Whiddon Park House. The building probably dates from the late 16th century, was refurbished in the mid 17th century, and received 18th and 19th century rear blocks. An early 20th century extension was added to the main block, and the main block was modernised in the mid 20th century.

The main front is built of coursed blocks of granite ashlar, while the rest is granite rubble. The main block extension is plastered and possibly brick. Granite stacks survive, with one retaining its original granite ashlar facing. The main block roof is thatched to the front and slated to the rear, while the rear blocks are slate-roofed. The building is set back slightly from the street and follows a courtyard plan, with the oldest part being the main block facing north-east. Originally this had a two-room plan with a through passage between them, now blocked by the bar counter with a lobby entrance created instead. Each room originally had a gable-end stack. The front features a two-storey porch. A small rear room off the larger right room, now an office, may mark the site of the former stair. Three rear blocks enclose a small courtyard largely infilled with service outshots, heavily rearranged and rebuilt in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In the early 20th century, the front block was extended to the right by one small room and a carriageway. The building is two storeys throughout.

The original front has a nearly symmetrical 2:1:2 window arrangement. The windows are probably late 16th century granite with hollow-chamfered mullions containing rectangular leaded glass panes. All have hoodmoulds, and those on the ground floor have relieving arches. The main block windows are three-light and the first-floor porch window is two-light, though the latter is a 20th century replacement. The gabled porch has a four-centred outer arch with moulded surround and hoodmould. A small rectangular niche directly above has a projecting frame. Original windows on either side have been enlarged into doorways, and the single-light first-floor windows are 20th century insertions. Another 20th century first-floor window stands immediately right of the porch. At the right end is an inserted doorway with a gabled slate-roofed porch. The extension to the right has ground-floor granite and two first-floor timber casements. The roof runs parallel with the street between adjoining properties. The rear blocks contain late 19th and 20th century fenestration.

The oldest rear feature is late 17th or 18th century: a solid oak chamfered frame containing an old plank door in the right gable end of the rear block.

The interior shows features earlier than the 19th century only in the main block. The porch contains stone benches on each side. The front doorway is Tudor arch-shaped but clad with 20th century boards. The left room has a mid 17th century soffit-chamfered and scroll-stopped crossbeam. The two crossbeams in the right room are similar except their scroll stops are augmented with two nicks each. Both fireplaces have ovolo-moulded granite jambs but carry replacement lintels—the left with a granite slab, the right with an oak lintel finished to match the crossbeams above. The sides are built up roughly with rubble. The main seven-bay roof, possibly mid 17th or even 18th century, comprises a series of tall A-frame trusses with pegged lap-jointed collars.

The building is reputedly said to have been built by Sir John Whiddon as the dower house of Whiddon Park House. As an inn, it was formerly called the Black Swan, reflecting the Whiddon crest. The Three Crowns holds immense value to Chagford town centre and forms part of an attractive group of listed buildings near the Church of St Michael.