Description

SX 79 SW DREWSTEIGNTON

5/60 Shilstone Farmhouse

22.2.67

GV II

Farmhouse, former Dartmoor longhouse. Probably C16 origins, thoroughly refurbished
in late C17 - early C18, modernised in C19 and circa 1950. Granite stone rubble,
some of it large grade and tending to courses and former shippon end has sections of
ashlar; granite stacks with chimneyshafts of maybe late C17 - early C18 brick;
thatch roof.
Plan and development: L-shaped plan. The main block faces east and is built down
the hillslope. It originally had a 3-room-and-through-passage plan and was a
Dartmoor longhouse. At the uphill right end the inner room parlour (now used as a
kitchen) has an end stack. The hall has an axial stack backing onto the former
passage. A former kitchen block (now a sitting room) is built at right angles to
rear of the inner room and there is a large stair turret in the angle of the two
wings. The kitchen wing and the stair turret were added in the late C17 - early
C18. At the same time the main block was thoroughly refurbished and the roof
structure was completely replaced, probably at a higher level than the original.
Circa 1950 the shippon was disused, its roof was removed and the walls reduced to
first floor level. It was converted to a terrace with a balcony provided to the
first floor chamber over the former passage. The passage itself was converted to a
woodstore and its front doorway blocked. At the same time new front doorways were
inserted into the former hall and parlour. House is 2 storeys.
Exterior: the house has an irregular 4-window front of late C19 and C20 casements
with glazing bars. The right 3-window section is symmetrical about the parlour
doorway, a C20 part-glazed door. The hall doorway lies behind a circa 1950 rubble
porch with thatch roof containing a plank door. The window to the left of this is
blocking the original passage front doorway. The roof is hipped each end,
particularly steeply so at the left end. The open shippon end front includes the
cow door immediately left of the blocked passage front doorway and left of this two
window embrasures. The end wall of the shippon has 3 drain holes, one on top of the
other. The rear and former kitchen block has similar fenestration to the front.
Interior: is largely the result of C19 and C20 modernisations although the earlier
plan is intact and therefore suggests that these modernisations were superficial and
that earlier work probably survives under the plaster. For instance the main
fireplaces are blocked by C20 grates and both rooms here have flat ceilings. The
former kitchen fireplace was given a segmental arched head in the C19 and the oven
was relined with brick then. The crossbeams here are unchamfered. The main stair
is late C17 - early C18, a dogleg stair rising around a framed wall. Also there are
a couple of contemporary fielded panel doors. The roofs also date from this time.
Both are unusually tall and are very steeply pitched. The rear block roof is carried
on A-frame trussed with pegged lap-jointed collars. The front block trusses are
similar but rest on tie beams and are braced by raking queen struts.
Shilstone is very attractively located even by Dartmoor standards and forms part of
a good group with its associated farmbuidings, the oldest of which are listed.

Listing NGR: SX7022190707

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26399995

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

• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)