Description

LAUNCESTON

SX3285 ST STEPHEN'S HILL
660-1/3/149 (North East side)
St Stephen's House, St Stephen's
Cottage, attached walls and gazebo

GV II

Rectory, now 2 houses. c1700, extended early/mid and mid/late
C18. Stucco to front and left-hand return; rubble and some
slatehanging on studwork at rear; steep rag slate hipped roof;
rubble axial, possibly originally lateral, stacks and rear
gable stack to wing.
Double-depth plan possibly a mid C18 development of original
single-depth plan, plus later single wing on right and 2 small
rear lean-tos.
2 storeys over basement; symmetrical 3-window front plus
1-window wing at back on right. Late C19 four-pane horned
sashes; central elliptically-arched doorway with early C19
six-panel door. C20 conservatory over entrance bridge
approached by 2 flights of granite steps, 6-panel basement
door with continuous ledges visible inside central wine
cellar.
Rear has 5 early C19 hornless sashes with glazing bars
including tall window to slate-hung stair projection; flat
arches or oak lintels; original 2-panel door plus old basement
door and shuttered coal hatch. Service wing (St.Stephen's
Cottage) has early C19 sixteen-pane hornless sashes to front;
symmetrical 3-window front to right-hand return with early C19
twelve-pane sash on right and horned copy on left, over C20
windows and central blocked window over C20 door.
INTERIOR: many interesting original or mid C18 features
including wide open-well open-string staircase with moulded
ramped handrail over turned balusters, carved tread ends,
panelled newels and fielded dado panelling; 2-panel doors most
with H hinges; some HL hinges, some with fielded panels, also
a 2-panel door of the primitive 3-plank type with planted
rails (rear right-hand attic); smaller attic stair with turned
balusters; moulded ceiling cornices to stair hall, rear
right-hand room and 2 rear chambers; bolection-moulded
chimney-piece with moulded cornice to front right-hand chamber
and possibly slightly later eared chimney-piece to rear
left-hand chamber; some muntin and plank partitions. Slate
floors to basement.
Original oak floor and roof structures of an interesting type
with mortices and tenons for most of the joints: floor
structure where visible with cross beams, axial trimmers and
cross joists; front roof structure with fat tie beams as cross
beams for floor structure, some morticed collars, others
lapped and pegged, butt purlins morticed and mostly butt
rafters also morticed; roofs ranged round central valley with
lead gutter through front attic. Rear roofs with plastered
ceilings and parts of plastered trusses and some probable butt
purlins visible.
Rear attics are chambers; front right-hand attic possibly a
chamber originally; front left-hand attic originally plastered
throughout and possibly a granary.
Basement with original central well with old pump with lead
pipe in wooden housing and granite trough (a large 2-cell
granite trough with one drain hole and quadrant inner corners
in the gardens may have been linked to this pump); large
fireplace to left-hand cellar with oak lintel may be the
original kitchen (cellar windows blocked).
Rear part of cellar is excavated into as much as 4 feet of bed
rock (further evidence of plan deepening).
Front rooms of house remodelled early C19 with complex-moulded
ceiling cornices and 6-panel doors with beaded panels within
doorways with moulded architraves and corner blocks. Windows
shutters are probably contemporary with the late C19 sashes.
INTERIOR of former service wing has C18 four-centred arched
wooden surround with moulded cornice to kitchen fireplace and
several tiers of hanging brackets above.
Subsidiary features: C18 slate-coped rubble walls to road
frontage returning to gateway at the bottom. 3 original
elliptically-arched doorways, (2 blocked), and doorway near
house with late C19 door with remains of older hinges;
buttresses flanking doorways.
Level of garden greatly increased within walls and inside
lower doorway is a timber-framed, weatherboarded and thatched
gazebo, probably early C20 with a high vantage point
overlooking the town of Launceston.
St Stephen's House is important both structurally and
architecturally and retains significant features from each
period of its development.

Listing NGR: SX3251385620

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26490566

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)