Abbot'S Court And Attached Walls And Gate Piers

ILMINSTER

ST3614 BERRYMAN'S LANE 1939-1/7/7 (East side) 23/09/50 Abbot's Court and attached walls and gate piers

GV II

Formerly known as: Abbot's Court COURT BARTON. House. C17, refronted and altered in C19 and 1950. Squared and coursed limestone rubble with thatched roof to the front, pantile to the rear; brick stacks to gable ends and centre of rear. 3-unit plan. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; 5-window range. Roof raised in C19, and the original wall-plate has mortices to former mullions in the soffit, above, but not coinciding with, C19 three-light casements. The wall above the 2 ranges to right has been raised further, forming a step in the line of the eaves, and there are wrought-iron brackets to a former gutter along the whole facade. The 2 windows to first-floor right are taller 2-light casements. C20 door to the inside right, under a trellised porch with a hipped lead roof in the style of c1840, though in fact reconstructed in 1950. Flanking the door are C20 6/6-pane sashes, one to the right and 2 to the left under reconstructed stone lintels. To far left is a C19 three-light window with chamfered stone mullions and cast-iron frames with small panes, similar to those in the former grammar school, now No.28 Court Barton (qv), under a segmental relieving arch. To the left of that, in the adjoining Masonic Lodge (qv), are 2 similarly-shaped windows, one now of fixed plate-glass, and the other has a 1950 door inserted. The rear is essentially c1950. INTERIOR: Passage and lower room to right have blue lias flagstone floors, room to left, separated by a timbered lath-and-plaster wall, has 2 chamfered beams and a large C17 fireplace in the rear right corner, with an oak Tudor-arch lintel. Otherwise interior mainly of C19 character, with a marble fireplace to the right-hand room, staircase with stick balusters and turned newel, and 6-panel doors. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: A high limestone rubble wall, attached to the Masonic Lodge (qv), running 20m south to tall C19 gate piers at the entrance to a C19 coach house (not included), encloses the garden to the south, and attaches to the south-east corner of Abbot's Court. Attached to the north-east corner is a high C18 Flemish-bond brick wall which runs northward and attaches to No.56 High Street (qv).

Listing NGR: ST3601514671