Description

ST STEPHENS BY
SX 38 NW LAUNCESTON Truscott
9/135 Lower Truscott
-
GV II*

House. Circa early C17. Stone rubble. Regular slate roof with gable and hipped
ends. Stone rubble axial and rear lateral stacks with moulded caps and weathering.
Brick shaft to axial stack on lower end.
Plan: The house is built down the slope with the ground rising to the left. It has
an overall 'U' shaped plan with the main range across the front and two 1-room plan
wings to rear right and left. The front range has a 3-room and through passage plan
with the lower end on right heated by an end stack; the hall heated by a rear lateral
stack and the inner room by axial stack on the higher side of the hall. There is a
thick cross wall on the lower side of the passage and a C17 screen on the higher
side. There is a thick wall incorporating the axial stack between the hall and inner
room. The wing to rear right of the lower end is unheated and used as a barn. The
wing to rear left of the higher end appears C17 in origin, heated by an end stack,
but the wing has been rebuilt in the C20. In the later C17 a stair was added in a
projection to the rear of the hall, in the angle between the front range and rear
left hand wing. The rear entrance to the through passage was blocked in the C20.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical 4 window front; ground sloping down to right.
The front wall of the hall has been rebuilt possibly in the C19. Entrance to right
of centre with 4 centred granite hollow chamfered arch frame with pyramid stops and
hood mould. 4-light mullion window to right, the central king mullion surviving but
the two flanking mullions removed; two C19 sashes inserted in opening. C20 window to
left lighting hall and C19 3-light casement beyond. First floor has C19 3-light
casement to left and three 2-light casements above ground floor openings. The left
hand wall of the rear left-hand wing has been rebuilt in the C20 and the lower right-
hand wing has a large blocked opening on the lower side and a line of pigeon holes.
Attached to the lower right-hand side of the house is a granite moulded C17 arch
doorway which has probably been resited as a garden entrance; this may have been
originally sited to the rear of the house flanked by walls forming a courtyard (qv
Radford, Werrington Parish) or from a putative gatehouse.
Interior: Wide passage, blocked to rear, has circa later C17 hall screen on higher
side with scratch moulded sites and muntins and raised and fielded panels. Later C18
door in the screen. The floor joists to the hall have been boxed-in in the C19 and
the ceiling is plastered. The hall fireplace has C17 chamfered lintel and jambs with
diagonal, concave stops. Similar fireplace in inner room. Fireplace at lower end
has been partly covered by a C19 Delabole slate surround. C17 timber lintel with
straight cut stops, originally heating higher left hand rear wing. Late C17 or early
C18 stair with square newel, turned balusters and deep moulded and ramped rail.
Heavy moulded circa C18 cornice above. Roof structure was not inspected, but it
should be examined before any work is carried.
In 1684, Lower Truscott was one of the principal seats in St Stephen? Parish, owned
by Thomas Rowe, gent.

Listing NGR: SX3020285972

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17535138

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

• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)