Description

HACCOMBE-WITH-COMBE LOWER NETHERTON
SX 89 71

15/119 Nos 1 and 2 Manor Cottages
23.8.55

GV II*

House divided into 2 cottages. Mid C17, possibly a remodelling of a late medieval
house. Cob and stone, partly rendered, partly whitewashed and plastered ; thatched
roof with plain ridge, hipped at left end, gabled at right end, half-hipped at end of
wing ; axial stack with stone shaft, right end stack with stone shaft.
Plan: Overall L plan : a north-facing 3 room and through passage main block, long
lower end to the right, hall stack backing on to passage, unheated inner room to the
left. A 1 room plan unheated service wing adjoins the lower end at the rear at right
angles to the main block. Projecting stair turret on rear wall of hall. There are
some unusual aspects to the plan : interior detail suggests that both hall and lower
end rooms were high quality parlours and thus the position of the C17 kitchen is
unclear. The lower end, which had a fine first floor chamber, has an apparently
original entrance in the gable end wall. It is possible that the house originated as
a late medieval open hall, floored and extended with the rear wing added in the C17
as the stone cornice on the rear of the hall stack is a characteristic feature of
houses of open hall origins in the Teign Valley and there is some evidence of a
jetty.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front, the eaves thatch eyebrowed over
the first floor windows. C20 gabled porch canopy to front door to through passage,
which is a fine C17 panelled oak door with a timber hoodmould, strap hinges and a
moulded doorframe. The 3 ground floor windows retain their timber hoodmoulds and the
inner room window (left) and lower end window (right) are C17 ovolo-moulded mullioned
windows : like the 4 first floor windows they are all glazed with C19 small pane
timber casements. The right return has a thatched porch canopy to a gable end door
into the lower end room, the C17 oak panelled door is similar to the front door and
retains its original hinges ; blocked for first floor window above door, 3-light C17
ovolo-moulded mullioned window to the first floor of the wing. The rear elevation
has a good C17 oak panelled door to the through passage.
Interior: Many good interior features. The rear of the hall stack is exposed in the
passage with a stone cornice below the level of the present ceiling of the passage,
chamfered half beam wih a bar stop. Plank and muntin screen to lower end of passage
with moulded muntins and a blocked doorway to the lower end. The hall has 3 fine
elaborately-moulded crossbeams with bar nick stops; an open fireplace, the original
lintel no longer exists, and a plank and muntin screen at the higher end, the muntins
moulded on the hall side. The arrangement of the ceiling beam suggests that the lower
end passage may have jettied into an open hall before the hall was floored. A C20
stair against the rear wall has truncated one of the cross beams. The lower end room
retains a chamfered stopped crossbeam and the fragments of a C17 plaster cornice on
the ground floor, and more extensive cornices in the first floor chamber above where
2 C17 floral motifs, either from an overmantel or a decorated plaster ceiling, have
been re-sited on one wall. The service wing also has a chamfered crossbeam. One
first floor chamfered stopped doorframe.
Roof: Apex not inspected at time of survey but the construction over the higher end
includes one C17 side pegged jointed cruck. The other trusses, presumably co-eval,
are extremely interesting : the principal rafters are halved on to wall posts, the
simplified carpentry suggesting a late derivative of the jointed cruck. The house
was lived in by John Risdon a relative of the historian Tristram Risdon, in the late
C17. John Risdon's 'Commonplace Book', dated 1693-9, included entries relating to
the farm.
A fine example of a high quality C17 house with good external and internal features.
The simplified jointed crucks are of especial interest as the wall posts have been
exposed : there may be many other examples of this type of construction which would
normally appear to be ordinary 'A' frames.
Jordan, Mary Hall, "Leaves from the Notebook of John Risdon, of Netherton Manor and
West Teignmouth", TDA (1908), pp. 138-147.

Listing NGR: SX8919571715

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17534968

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)