Description

LYDFORD PIZWELL
SX 67 NE
12/54 Old Pizwell Farmhouse
-
GV II*

Unoccupied farmhouse, in partial use as farm building. Circa early C16 partially
rebuilt and extended in C19. Granite rubble walls. Gable ended corrugated iron and
wood shingle roof. 2 granite stacks - axial hall stack is C16/C17 of ashlar with
dripcourse and tapering cap; gable end rubble stack is considerably later.
Longhouse plan of shippon to right with through passage, hall and inner room to its
left. Dating from the circa early C16 it is possible that the building was
originally open to the roof with a central hearth lathe hall but there is no direct
evidence of this. The hall stack backs onto the passage. A doorway to the front of
it suggests there may formerly have been a newel staircase in a projection at the
front of the hall. The inner room appears to have been substantially rebuilt in the
C19 and is of an equal size to the hall. It has direct entry forming a symmetrical
front to the higher end. Along the rear wall of the building 3 separate outshuts
have been added probably at various stages in the C18 and C19. Although the house
is no longer inhabited the shippon still performs its original function.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Shippon to the right is single storey formerly with loft.
Roughly regular 2-window front to house part of C19 fixed small-paned lights with
loading door to left on first floor. Central doorway. Leanto to right end of
house which may incorporate lower part of former stair turret. It adjoins the
leanto porch at the front of the passage with a wide doorway behind and C19 plank
door. Doorway into shippon to right of porch. The gable end wall of the shippon
retains its slits with one in the gable and 3 below. At the rear the outshuts
extend from the lower end of the shippon almost to the higher end of the house
though with a break at the rear of the passage.
Interior: The rebuilt inner room has an open fireplace with plain granite lintel
and granite jambs. The hall preserves its early fireplace with slightly cambered
chamfered granite lintel and rough granite jambs. Substantial chamfered cross beam
with hollow step stops. On the front wall adjoining the fireplace is a blocked
doorway likely to have led to the stairs. Leading from the passage to the hall is
original shouldered-head wooden doorframe. The fireplace back facing the passage
is constructed of ashlar blocks with a plinth. At the lower side of the passage is
a cob wall rising to head height with a substantial cross beam at the top. Directly
above this is the only surviving original roof truss:- a raised or upper cruck with
morticed cranked collar, trenched purlins, diagonal ridge and triangular
strengthening block. Otherwise completely re-roofed in C20. This building is one
of 3 early longhouses forming a very traditional moorland hamlet which survives in
an unaltered form.
Pizwell is one of the 17 Ancient Tenements of the Forest of Dartmoor, first mentioned
in documents in 1260.
Source: Devonshire Farmhouses III - Trans. Devonshire Assoc. 103, 1971: S R Jones
(Interpretation differs slightly)

Listing NGR: SX6684278447

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17537463

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

• 
  Suffolk: East (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]
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas