Description

CHULMLEIGH SOUTH MOLTON STREET, (west side),
SS 6814-6914
Chulmleigh
7/103
Belle Vue and Abigails

GV II
202.67
2 adjoining cottages, originally in single occupation. Late medieval open-hall
house, possibly mid C16, remodelled probably in early to mid C17 and later divided
into 2 occupations, with C19 alterations. Painted rendered stone rubble and cob.
Thatch roof with plain ridge and rendered gable end stacks. Rendered lateral stack
with offsets to rear of Abigails. Slate roof with gable end to range to rear of
Belle-Vue.
Plan: Belle-Vue to left has single large ground floor room with winder staircase in
shallow projecting rear stair turret to right of 2-storey attached outbuilding
converted to form part of dwelling in late C20 and which extends at right angles to
rear of front range. Abigails has entrance passage containing staircase at rear to
left of principal room heated by rear lateral stack and narrow inner room at right
end divided axially to create a small front room which is heated by fireplace across
rear right-hand corner, the smaller rear room forming a kitchen/scullery which has
been extended in C20 by addition of small single-storey rear outshot.
Development: Roof structure over Abigails indicates its origins as an open hall
house, the heavy smoke-blackening suggesting it remained open to the roof for a
considerable length of time; the carpentry however, with halved and lapped straight
collars and trenched purlins would suggest possibly even a late C16 date for its
origins, and therefore by implication also a later date for the ceiling over the
hall. The remains of a truss and the clean cob wall at the right gable end suggests
the possibility that the house originally extended further to the right; the inner
room end is remarkably narrow and the bressumer at the end is unchamfered. The
timber sill between the hall and inner room end suggests a screen partition existed
(the rear section may partly still be concealed) until the inner room end was
modified in the late C18 or early C19 to create a small front parlour which
encroaches further into the hall than the rear scullery/kitchen. To the left, lower
end of the entrance passage is a solid cob wall which reduces at first floor level to
a thin partition, the wattle work in the roofspace being remarkably well preserved
and also heavily smoke-blackened. Unfortunately there is no access to the roofspace
of Belle Vue, so it is not possible to tell whether the lower end was floored from
the outset or before the hall proper. Probably in the late C18 or early C19 the
house was divided into 2 occupations, the lower end (Belle Vue) being divided axially
towards the rear to create a small rear kitchen, but this partition has since been
removed. The front wall of Belle Vue also appears to have been built out at a later
stage.
Exterior: 2 storeys. 3 window range. All 4 paned sashes. C20 door to Belle Vue and
4 panelled door, the upper 2 panels glazed to Abigails.
Interior: Belle Vue has 2 hollow step-stopped axial ceiling beams, the front beam
chamfered on one side only and indicating front wall has been built out. Fireplace
probably concealed by C20 grate. Treads to winder staircase replaced in C20.
Abigails has single hollow chamfered cross ceiling beam resting on chamfered hall
fireplace lintel with run out stops. Raised and fielded 4 panelled door to small
front parlour. C19 4 panelled between hall and passage. Unchamfered bressumer at
inner room end.
Roof: No access to roofspace over Belle Vue, but purlins are carried entirely on the
gable end wall and closed truss on lower side of passage. This retains its
remarkably well preserved wattle-work infill, which can be seen to be smoke-blackened
on the hall side only. This truss, the truss over the hall and the partially
surviving truss at the right gable end all have heavy principals the feet boxed in,
with 2 tiers of trenched purlins, diagonally set ridge purlin and straight halved and
lapped collars with deep protuding pegs. Apart from a small section on the rear side
replaced in C20, all the roof members including rafters, battens and underside of
thatch are thoroughly smoke-blackened.
Abigails and Belle Vue are situated on the west side of South Molton Street which
retains a marked concentration of late medieval open hall houses.

Listing NGR: SS6865714335

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26611309

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

• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)