Dove Cottage Higher Dishcombe Shelley Way Cottage

Dove Cottage and Shelley Way Cottage, originally a farmhouse, dates to the mid 17th century and was subsequently subdivided, modernized, and enlarged in the mid-20th century. The structure is a T-shaped building, likely constructed with granite stone rubble walls, possibly incorporating cob, with granite stacks topped with plastered 20th-century brick and an asbestos slate roof, formerly thatched.

Higher Dishcombe occupies the main east-facing block, initially a three-room plan cottage, though only the large room at the south end appears original. This original section contains an axial stack backing onto a two-room plan extension to the north. A south-facing crosswing, containing Dove Cottage and Shelley Way Cottage, largely appears to be of 17th-century origin. Dove Cottage is a single-room plan cottage with a gable-end stack, while Shelley Way Cottage comprises two rooms, the larger of which has an axial stack backing onto Dove Cottage. Due to the 20th-century reorganization, the original layout is not easily discernible. It is probable that Shelley Way Cottage now occupies what was originally the parlour, Dove Cottage a service room (and its stack potentially secondary), and the older part of Higher Dishcombe the kitchen wing. All three cottages are two storeys high.

The exterior of the Higher Dishcombe wing presents an irregular four-window front with 20th-century casement windows, many with glazing bars. A 20th-century porch shelters the main doorway, while a secondary doorway is paired with a French window. The south front of the crosswing features a five-window front of various 20th-century casements. Both doorways are set behind contemporary gabled porches. Both wings have gable-ended roofs.

Interior features are largely obscured by 20th-century plasterwork. In Shelley Way Cottage, the fireplace is constructed of granite ashlar with a hollow-chamfered surround. Dove Cottage contains a plain-chamfered axial beam supported by a crudely-finished oak bracket on the chimneybreast, along with a granite rubble fireplace and a plain-chamfered oak lintel. A probable 17th-century oak doorframe leads to the outshot. Higher Dishcombe’s kitchen fireplace features cheeks of granite ashlar, an ovolo-moulded oak lintel with runout stops, and two ovens, one a Barnstaple cloam oven. A crossbeam in this room displays double ovolo mouldings with unusual plate stops. The roof was not inspected, but the bases of straight principals are visible on the first floor, suggesting original A-frame trusses.