Description

WIDECOMBE-IN-
SX 77 SW THE-MOOR
6/183 Lizwell Farmhouse
23.8.55
GV II

Farmhouse, possibly a former longhouse. Early C16 with right-hand end (possibly the
former shippon) rebuilt in C18; left-hand end of main range may be basically
medieval. Granite rubble, the older part of main range and the rear wing including
some large-scale granite ashlar; left-hand end of front wall is covered with
patches of old roughcast. Roofs covered with real slates, except for the older part
of main range, which has asbestos slates; roof of rear wing, slightly higher than
the rest, is hipped and has several old, handmade ridge-tiles with low crestings.
Old chimneystack with stone weatherings on centre of ridge; smaller stack on each
gable, the left-hand one with an added brick shaft. In rear wall of older part of
main range is a very large stone stack. Plan consists of a cross-passage with 2
rooms to left (probably the former hall and inner rooms) and 2 further rooms rebuilt
in C18) to right. Behind and at right-angles to the hall is a 1-room wing, probably
a parlour with high-quality chamber over, added in early C16. The position of the
chimneystacks is unusual for a Dartmoor farmhouse. It is very rare to find the hall
fireplace in the rear wall of the hall; this one may even have had a second
fireplace at the rear, heating the parlour. On the right-hand side of the cross-
passage, abutting the section rebuilt in C18, is another old stack; this may have
been inserted to heat a kitchen at the upper end of the shippon, a modification
found in several Dartmoor longhouses. 2 storeys. 6-window front. Older part to
left is 3 windows wide with 8-paned sashes, many of the panes containing old glass.
Between-storeys in each of the 2 left-hand bays is a panel of slate-hanging. Old
plank door in right-hand bay of this part, opening into cross-passage; above it is
a C20 wooden hood with slated pent roof. Just to the right of the door is a full-
height straight-joint, and at the top of the piece of wall between this and the
doorway is a granite block carved with the date 1630 and 2 almost illegible
initials; according to the former list these are R E with a heart between them. In
the rebuilt right-hand section all the windows have 3-light C19 casements with 3
panes per light. The 2 ground-storey windows have flat arches with roughly-cut
voussoirs. Between them is a doorway with a plain granite lintel; above it are
some re-set fragments of medieval stone window-tracery. In the north-east wall of
the rear wing, in the ground storey, is an early C16 granite window of 3 lights.
The mullions have been removed, but the hollow-moulded round-arched heads remain,
set within a rectangular hollow-moulded frame having a heavy hood-mould above.
Interior: ground-storey room of wing has broad, chamfered upper-floor beams. Room
above seems, from the occupants' description, to have roof-trusses with arch-braced
collar-beams. Remainder of interior not inspected.

Listing NGR: SX7067174421

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26534697

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  For the Record
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)