Description

EAST BUDLEIGH HIGH STREET (east side) East
SY 0684
Budleigh
8/100 No. 22, Sir Walter Raleigh Public
- House
GV II
Public house, former house. Early C16, rearranged and refurbished in late C18,
converted to public house in C20. Plastered cob on stone rubble footings; stone
rubble or brick stacks topped with C19 and C20 brick; thatch roof.
2-room plan house facing onto the street to the west. It has a central through
passage which contains the stairs and end stacks. The left (northern/uphill) stack
is a C20 insertion and it seems that there was a service through passage here
formerly. C20 outshots to rear. Main block is 2 storeys.
Irregular 4-window front of C19 and C20 replacment casements with glazing bars.
There are 3 doorways; the main one right of centre, another inserted to the bar in
the left room, and a third to the former left end passage. All contain C20 panelled
doors. The roof butts the party wall of 24 High Street to the left and runs
continuously with that of 20 High Street (q.v.) to right.
Interior shows only C18 and later features except for the roof. It is 4 bays. The
lower sections of the trusses are boxed into the first floor partitons but are
probably jointed crucks. In the roofspace however the timbers can be seen and the
roof is smoke-blackened from end to end indicating that the original house was
divided by low partitions and heated by an open hearth fire. A hip arangement at
the right (southern) end indicates that that end was always the end. The
arrangement at the other end might suggest that the C16 house extended further
northwards. The 2 trusses at that end were closed probably in the C16 and the infil
is blackened on the inner faces. The space between these trusses appears too narrow
for a hall or room of any kind. Maybe it is a smoke bay but if so that is very rare
for Devon. Alternatively it may have been part of a hall reduced in size by a
jettied or part-floored chamber. The later alterations make it impossible at
present to interpret the layout of the C16 house but care should be taken during any
modernization work since some of the crosswalls may contain C16 or C16 oak framing.
On the ground floor each room has an axial beam but both are boxed in. The stairs
are C19 and in the right room the fireplace contains a C20 grate. However alongside
to the left is an C18 cupboard; its surround has fluted pilasters with moulded caps
and there is a dentil cornice.
The Sir Walter Raleigh public house is an intriguing building. Only the roofspace
shows the real antiquity of the building. It is part of an attractive and varied
group of buildings, most of them listed, which line the High Street as it rises
towards the Church of All Saints. It was formerly known as the Kings Arms.

Listing NGR: SY0663484832

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26499956

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

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)