Description

SS 81 SW CRUWYS MORCHARD WESTLAND LANE
1/95 Westland
-
II
Former farmhouse. Circa late C16/early C17 although possibly partly rebuilt re-using
earlier material; partly (possibly wholly) re-roofed in the C18. Whitewashed
rendered cob and stone; end walls stone rubble; thatched roof with plain ridge,
hipped at ends; right end stack with brick shaft, axial stack with rendered shaft,
rear lateral projecting stone stack.
Plan: A puzzling plan form and unusual varietyof carpentry finishes suggests that the
present arrangement may be in part a rebuilding using earlier timbers. The plan is
single-depth, 4 rooms wide with a later rear dairy. There is no clear evidence of an
early entrance although at one time there was a doorway on the front facing a
straight stair between the 2 right hand rooms. There is some evidence that the left
hand end (i.e. the 2 left hand rooms) have been rebuilt at the front. The 2 right
hand rooms have the most finely finished ceiling beams and seem to have been the
superior end of the house although this is physically down the slope in relation to
the rest of the house. The left hand room of the range is relatively plain with a
stair against the rear wall, the adjoining room, heated from the rear lateral stack,
has C17 carpentry details. In 1747 the property was described as "now divided into 2
parts" and the peculiar plan form may be partly derived from a mid C18 subdivision of
the house.
2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front with casement windows with glazing bars. C20
porch on front to left of centre; C20 casement next to ground floor window right
replaces former doorway. The rear elevation has a concrete block single-storey lean-
to dairy with a corrugated iron roof.
Interior : Each of the 3 right hand rooms has cross beams of different design. The
right hand room has cross beams with deep hollow chamfers, the right hand beam is a
half-beam but does not butt the right hand wall suggesting that the beam is re-sited
or the wall rebuilt: the open fireplace in ususually small with stone rubble jambs
and a re-used timber lintel. A straight stair rises at the left end of the room,
opposite the former external doorway. The next room left has a similar crossbeam at
the right end but the other crossbeams are moulded. There is a half beam at the left
end of the room which does not butt against the wall and an open fireplace with a re-
used lintel. The next room left has chamfered scroll-stopped cross beams, the
chamfers terminating some way before the junction with the walls, suggesting re-use.
The open fireplace has a chamfered timber lintel. A door on the rear wall gives
access to the dairy.
There is access to the roofspace only above the 2 left hand rooms where the x apex
pegged roof trusses are probably C18.
There is some evidence of a shallow drainage gully leading from the left hand room
down the natural slope of the land and out into the rear dairy.
According to Margaret C.S. Cruwys the farmstead is first documented as "Westlake" in
1388 and was sold by the Cruwys Estate to Thomas Wright between 1636 and 1637. In
1747 it was "divided into 2 parts" held by Humphrey Wright and Andrew Ballet.
A vernacular house with an intriguing building history.
Cruwys, Margaret C.S., A Cruwys Morchard Notebook, 1066-1874 (1939).

Listing NGR: SS8457611470

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26532990

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.

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