Description

MOLLAND
SS 82 NW
15/48 East Barton
- II
Farmhouse. Circa 1550, altered in the early to mid-C17, and extended or partly
rebuilt probably in the C18. Minor late C20 alterations. Rendered over stone and
cob. Gable-ended asbestos-slate roof. Axial and end stacks. Tops of stacks rebuilt
in C20 brick.
Plan and development: 2 or 3 room through-passage plan, facing south. Late-Medieval
open-hall house, consisting of hall with former through passage to left and service
room beyond. Possibly also formerly with inner room to right. Formerly open to the
roof, continuously from end to end. C17 alterations included the insertion of the
first floor and the insertion of an axial stack at the right-hand end of the hall.
Eaves probably also raised at the same time. Kitchen added (note narrower width and
lower roofline) at right-hand end, probably in the C18, with external brick end
stack. This room possibly replaced a former unheated inner room; alternatively the
medieval house might always have been only of 2 rooms. Late C20 alterations included
the removal of the ground-floor wall between through-passage and hall (and also
probably the blocking of the front doorway to the passage), insertion of staircase to
rear of hall and the rebuilding of the left-hand gable end. It is not known whether
the former service room ever had a stack (end wall since rebuilt). It is possible
that this room never became a kitchen, that function being taken over the C18
kitchen of the right-hand end (possibly a rebuilding of an inner room). Late C20
lean-to addition at rear. 2 storeys.
Exterior: Asymmetrically-fenestrated front; C20 3-light wooden casements, 4 to first
floor and 3 to ground floor. Boarded door (to kitchen) between first and second
windows from right. Blocked former through-passage door between first and second
windows from left. Stack in right-hand gable end with slate offsets.
Interior: Hall has C17 chamfered cross beam and half beam with stepped runout stops.
Old joists to left of cross beam removed when wall between hall and through passage
was taken out and steel beam inserted. C17 open stone fireplace (reduced in width in
C20) with chamfered wooden lintel. C19 matchboarded dado, and window seat. Inner
room to left with plastered C17 chamfered cross beam. Kitchen with plastered square
cross beam, segmental-arched stone fireplace, and window seat. Old doors throughout.
Right-hand end wall of hall is cob and extends up to eaves level.
Remains of lightly smoke-blackened late-Medieval roof including 2 principal-rafter
trusses, over middle and left-hand (upper) end of hall, each with cambered collar
halved over principals and pegged mortice and tenoned apex. Diagonally-set ridge-
piece. Formerly there was a late-Medieval truss at the right-hand (upper end of hall
too (see gap in cob wall), probably removed when the stack was inserted. Trenched
purlins. Some smoke-blackened rafters survive also.
Trusses with halved collars are rare in late-Medieval houses in Devon.

Listing NGR: SS8372125687

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26508225

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 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)