Description

DARTMOUTH

SX874510 NEWCOMEN ROAD
673-1/8/189 (West side)
No.27
Harbour View

GV II

Originally a merchant's house, later shop with accommodation
above, now holiday flats. c1640, front altered in mid/late
C19, some C20 modernisation and C20 rear service block. Mixed
construction; stone rubble side walls with plastered
timber-framed front and back walls; stone rubble stack in
right party wall with C19 plastered brick chimneyshaft; slate
roof.
PLAN: Built end onto street, one room wide and 2 rooms deep.
Side passage along right party wall and newel stair just rear
of centre in an alcove in right party wall.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys; one-window front, with mid C19 plaster
lightly blocked as ashlar. Ground-floor level has altered C19
timber shop front. Doorway to right, to former shop and
passage, contains C20 part-glazed door and shop window to left
has replacement glazing bars. Fascia above with brackets each
end. First-floor canted bay contains front horned 4-pane sash
and modillion cornice to hipped roof. Second floor has horned
4-pane sash. Timber modillion eaves cornice to hipped roof.
Rear is gabled.
INTERIOR: Although much is covered by later plaster, it seems
that the C17 structure is well-preserved. Ground-floor former
shop was not available for inspection, but beam in passage is
plastered. Newel stair from ground to first floor rising round
mast-like timber newel post. 2 first-floor rooms divided by
partition of C17 small-field panelling. Both rooms have
ovolo-moulded crossbeams, front room with exposed
scratch-moulded joists, and rear room with good original
ceiling of ornamental plasterwork; front bay with boss and
cast motifs, rear bay with a single rib pattern and large
angle sprays. Front room fireplace has probably C18 timber
eared chimneypiece and contains C19 grate. Second-floor front
fireplace has C19 chimneypiece and is blocked. Most of the
joinery is C19 and C20, but C17 panelled cupboard door
first-floor front and at least one C18 two-panel door. Roof of
C17 A-frame trusses with pegged dovetail-shaped lap-jointed
collars with threaded purlins. Secondary front hip but
original rear gable structure which may indicate more C17
carpentry below. Also C17 panelling shows in the roofspace,
covered up below by plasterboard on the crosswall between the
second-floor chambers.
This is an unusual survival; a well-preserved C17 merchant's
house on the fringe of the the main historic town centre.

Listing NGR: SX8779151069

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26491961

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

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy