26-29, CHAPEL STREET

BUCKFASTLEIGH

SX7366 CHAPEL STREET 1011-1/6/49 (South side) 06/01/83 Nos.26-29 (Consecutive)

GV II*

Row of 4 cottages with tenter loft, for drying cloth, on the upper storey. Late C17 or early C18. Painted local grey limestone rubble, weatherboarded loft, right end of loft rendered, left end brick; slate roof half-hipped at ends, stacks with rendered and stone rubble shafts. Plan: single-depth cottages with 2 rear lateral stacks. Single-storey rear outshuts associated with rear yard walls. The tenter loft, a very unusual survival in Devon, was used for drying cloth slowly, stretched on tenterhooks, with louvres that could be adjusted according to the weather. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys plus tenter loft. Asymmetrical front with 4 first- and 8 ground-floor windows. The 3 right-hand cottages (Nos 26-28) are double-fronted. Each has a central ovolo-moulded doorframe. Nos 26 & 27 have half-glazed C20 timber front doors, the front door to No.28 is partly covered but may be a 2-panel early C18 door; bootscraper to No.28. Ground-floor windows are late C19 or early C20 four-pane timber horned sashes. Single centre first-floor window to each cottage is a 3-light casement, 2 panes per light, with timber lintels. No.29 has similar details but the doorway, to the left, is slightly wider with a door of 3 over 3 vertical panels; bootscraper. There are 2 ground-floor windows alongside to the right, similar first-floor window. The tenter loft is divided into bays by vertical planks with intermediate, narrow bead-moulded studs. Double loft doorway at right end of front. Angled fascia board below eaves; cast-iron rainwater goods. INTERIOR: No.26 inspected. Modernised. Tenter loft has tie beam truss with king post tenoned in and diagonal struts projecting from king post. Modern plaster ceiling obscures upper part of roof. Several tenterhooks, like small cup hooks, survive. Wall-framing has main studs pegged in and slender diagonal braces. Historical note: tenter lofts survive in Exeter, on the Quay (converted to housing) and in Ashburton. Material evidence of the wool industry of any period is surprisingly rare in Devon, given its economic importance in the C17 and C18. A rare example, on a national scale, of a combination type of building, representative of the pre-factory or outwork phase of the industry, with cottages and tentering loft.

Listing NGR: SX7379766127