Description

ILFRACOMBE

SS5347 HELE
853-1/7/143 Beara Farmhouse
17/05/73

II*

Farmhouse. C15, remodelled early C17.
MATERIALS: colourwashed slatestone rubble with cob to rear;
gabled slate roof; large external stone stack to right gable,
rear lateral stack and rear external stack to rear of rear
left wing.
PLAN: 3-unit plan with through-passage to left of central open
hall flanked by service end to left and inner room to right;
hall stack and floor are early C17 insertions, when much of
interior structure excluding hall roof was remodelled; early
C17 rear service outshut with stairs; later C17 rear left
wing; early C19 wing at right-angles to front left.
EXTERIOR: 2 storeys; 3-window range. Lean-to hood over C17
ovolo-moulded doorframe with urn stops to left. Restored
(c1989) timber lintels over 1980s 2- and 3-light wood
casements.
Early C19 wing, to left, is lower and of 2 storeys with 2
similar windows and timber lintel over C20 door.
INTERIOR: C19 panelled and plank doors. Lime ash floor (a rare
survival) to hall. Hall has C17 chamfered ogee-stopped beams,
C17 double-chamfered doorframe with urn stops to right of C17
open fireplace with stop-chamfered bressummer; C17 doorframe
with pyramidal stops to inner room.
Inner room to right has plain beam, C19 and C20 joists, and
fine early C17 heraldic achievement with strapwork flanked by
caryatids set above open fireplace with ovolo-moulded
architrave.
Outshut to rear has C19 dog-leg staircase and a C17 chamfered
doorframe to service room. Chamfered beams in service end to
left.
First-floor landing to rear has two C17 chamfered doorframes
with bar stops.
First-floor room to right has fine early C17 plasterwork with
moulded cornice, vine frieze, rosettes to gable ends, figures
of Adam and Eve with the serpent and Tree of Knowledge to left
gable, Tree of Life to right gable and heraldic achievement in
strapwork overmantle panel above fireplace with stop-chamfered
bressummer and late C18 hob grate; curved feet of principal
rafters to 2-bay roof visible.
C15 three-bay arch-braced hall roof with trenched purlins and
chamfered detail. Early C17 room made out of 2 bays to right
has early C17 plasterwork with rosettes set in linked lozenge
panels, vine frieze and some remains of moulded cornicing. C19
service stair with winders to left. 3-bay C19 roof to front
left wing.
An interesting late medieval house with some very fine
plasterwork.

Listing NGR: SS5388647064

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17532479

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

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]