Description

MEAVY MEAVY
SX 56 NW
4/113 Meavy Barton
-
GV II*

Originally small manor house or barton farm to the manor, now farmhouse. Circa
early C16 greatly remodelled and extended in mid C17, Stone rubble walls, rendered at
the front. Gable ended slate roof. 3 tall granite ashlar stacks with dripcourses
and moulded rims - one at each gable end (the right-hand one was originally axial)
and one axial stack.
Interesting plan and development. The remains of an arch-braced roof truss
surviving over the central hall stack is the earliest feature and suggests an early
C16 date. The fact that it is not smoke-blackened, even though the stack has been
inserted beneath it, means that it was either a truss over an open hall which
originally had a stack somewhere else or it was over an important first floor
chamber. The extent of this original house is, however, unclear, as in the mid C17
it was greatly remodelled and extended to form an unconventional plan. The lower
end, to the right, below the passage has been demolished and its extent is not known
although for a house of such size and quality it is possible that it formed a cross
wing. The remodelled house is double depth. To the left of the passage is a small
room heated by a stack backing onto the passage, probably a parlour. To its rear is
a lobby leading from the passage to the hall on the left of the parlour. At the
rear of the lobby is a large open well staircase. The large hall is heated by a
very wide axial fireplace at its inner end; this is the stack which was inserted
beneath the early C16 truss. The doorway adjoining the hall fireplace shares its
jamb, and is similar to the 2 doorways at the rear of the hall which lead to 2 small
unheated service rooms, suggesting that the hall stack is contemporary to the
remodelling of the house. To the left of the hall is a room heated by a gable end
stack, which projects at the front and may have formed a "great parlour". It has a
service room at the rear but a straight joint is visible between the 2 on the
outside which suggests that the parlour may have formed part of the original house.
At the lower side of the passage a doorway moulded at the inside led to the lower
end; the doorway at the rear of the passage is also moulded on the inside and may be
evidence of the lower end extending to the rear.
Apart from the demolition of the lower end - the time of which is uncertain - the
house has been very little altered or extended since the C17 apart from the C19
outshut built against the left-hand end.
2 storeys with attic to projecting gabled wing at the left-hand end. Asymmetrical
3-window front with lean-to porch at front of right-hand end and wide projecting
gable wing at left-hand end. All windows are original 2-light chamfered granite
mullions with C20 casements inserted into the lights. On the 2nd floor of the
projecting gable is a single chamfered granite framed light. The lst floor windows
are in gabled dormers on the main range. The lean-to porch was originally 2
storeys from the evidence of a moulded string course above the doorway which has a
roundheaded granite arch with roll moulding and hollow chamfer. The spandrels have
carved star motif and each jamb has a moulded plinth. The inner doorway has a
similar roundheaded granite arch with a simpler roll moulding which is stopped on
the inside and outside of the doorway by a carved heart. The arched oak door is
probably contemporary and has a moulded frame and stiles. The passage is now single
storey and at the right-hand, end is its roundheaded granite doorway with orginally
led to the lower end. To its left is a stone mounting block against the wall. 3-
window rear elevation also has 2-light granite mullions, the left-hand ground floor
one is blocked. To the right is a tall gable with a pointed arched chamfered
granite doorway on the ground floor beyond which are 2 mullioned windows with 1 and
2 lights. On the 1st floor of this section is a 2-light mullion window with a
single granite framed light on the 2nd floor. At the left gable end a clear
straight joint can be seen between the 2 builds and there are two 2-light granite
mullioned windows on the 1st floor. Below these is a C19 outshut.
Good interior which preserves the C17 plan and numerous C17 features. All that is
recognisable of the C16 house is one roof truss which is virtually over the hall
stack. Its morticed collar has been removed but the lowest section of moulded arch-
bracing survives. At the apex it can be seen where a form of saddle was set into
the principals; the ridge does not survive. The whole truss is clean. The other
roof trusses are C17 with straight principals, threaded purlins, and collars which
are lapped and pegged onto the trusses. The hall has a wide granite framed
fireplace with continuous roll moulding and a carved star in each spandrel. On the
rear wall of the hall are two 4-centred granite arched studded plank doors. The
left-hand room at the rear of the hall contains a large granite salting tub. The
small room to the left of the passage has 4-centred granite arched doorway and a
chamfered granite framed fireplace, now blocked. Behind this room is a large good
quality mid C17 open well staircase which has closed string, square newels with ball
finials, turned balusters and a heavy moulded handrail. There are 3 further 4-
centred granite arched roll-moulded doorways - one into the right-hand side of the
hall, one at the rear of the passage and one at its left-hand side. The 2 first
floor rooms at the left-hand have C17 granite framed fireplaces with straight
lintels.
The former importance of this house is demonstrated in the quality of its features
and the unusual plan. It has been little altered since the C17 internally and
externally and forms part of a very traditional farm complex.

Listing NGR: SX5398667234

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17536933

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

• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)