Description

BROADHEMBURY KERSWELL
ST 00 NE

2/80 Ruins of the Refectory south of the
- house at Kerswell Priory

GV II

Roofless ruin, originally the refectory of Kerswell Priory. Late C15/early C16
origins, although the walls were mostly "rebuilt in the 19th and 20th centuries",
(Allan and Griffiths). Stone rubble.
Plan: A rectangular building parallel with the main range of the house. The plan and
evolution have been described in Exeter Archaeology 1984/5. The 5-bay structure was
divided into 3 rooms, the 3 central bays occupied by what was probably the communal
refectory which, like the small room to the east, was heated by an open hearth. The
range was probably converted to a farmhouse after the Dissolution and used as a
farmbuilding by the C19. It retained a high quality medieval wind-braced roof until
1984, when the roof was removed to Buckfast Abbey and the building was partially
demolished.
Exterior: The walls, which have been capped with concrete, survive to a height of
about 3 metres, rising to about 5 metres at the east end. The north wall retains 3
doorways and 2 windows associated with the C19 argicultural use of the building.
Although the intrinsic merit of the existing building is slight, it is of special
interest in archaeological sense as part of the Priory complex. At the time of the
survey (1987) the medieval roof was in storage and could be returned to the building.
A number of articles have been written about the building, these are cited in the
entries on Kerswell Priory at the Sites and Monuments Register, County Hall. The
article on Exeter Archaeology 1984/5 includes scale drawings of the building when the
roof was in situ.

Listing NGR: ST0740306405

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26570215

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)