Description

HARTLAND
SS 22 SE

4/124 East Philman
-

- II

House formerly farmhouse. Circa 1500 with alterations probably in mid C17, C19 and
C20 additions. Rendered rubble walls possibly incorporating some cob. Gable-ended
asbestos slate roof. Rendered probably brick stack at left gable-end. Partly
truncated rendered rubble lateral stack at front.
Plan: original plan not entirely clear but at present consists of 2 rooms, the
left-hand one heated by a stack on its end wall, the right-hand larger room with a
fireplace on its front wall and adjoining window bay to its left. This right-hand
room must have been the hall to the original house which was built open to the roof
with a central hearth. The most confusing aspect of the plan is the lack of
through-passage conventional to a building of this date. Although it could have
existed between the 2 ground floor rooms the existence of a solid wall and close
proximity of fireplace make it unlikely, supported by the presence of the hall bay
between the two which is coeval with the C17 hall stack. All this points to the
passage having been at the opposite, right-hand side of the hall stack which in fact
has what was once a porch built onto its front wall. The right-hand end wall is a
thick wall but this does not necessarily mean it originated as an outside wall viz.
the thick wall dividing the 2 rooms which becomes a stud partition on the 1st floor
and roof space. It follows then that the house formerly extended to the right with
a lower end, which was demolished at an uncertain date, and the left-hand room was
the inner room. What survives of the original house was open to the roof
throughout, divided by low partitions of which the thick wall extending only upto
head height between the 2 rooms may be a survivor. The undercorated lintel to the
hall fireplace suggests a date well into the C17 for its insertion with the hall
ceiling but this type of simple fireplace recurs throughout Hartland parish
(sometimes appearing to pre-date the ceiling) and may be considerably earlier. The
hall window projection at the higher side of the hall stack also appears to be a C17
feature found in early Hartland houses of this type. In the C19 a rear outshot was
added and a C20 one built at the left-hand end of the house.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Asymmetrical front with one 3-light C20 casement window on
1st floor and 2 late C20 casements without glazing bars on ground floor. The right-
hand windows on each floor are in a shallow rectangular projection roughly at the
centre of the front which also incorporates the hall stack to the right. Beyond
this projection is a small 2 storey lean-to with window on the front which was
formerly the porch. C20 lean-to against left-hand end of house with plank door at
front C19 outshut against rear wall.
Interior: hall has 2 heavy roughly chamfered unstopped ceiling beams. Open
fireplace with plain wooden lintel and roughly dressed stone rubble jambs. Oven in
left-hand side. Slate slab floor to left-hand room.
Roof structure: pair of crucks over hall, the front blade with a peg visible low
down on its face, morticed slightly cambered collar, threaded ridge and purlins and
most of the original rafters surviving - all are smoke-blackened. The other truss
over the left-hand room is a later one but the smoke-blackened rafters continue
beyond it.
Despite its unassuming external appearance this house is of considerable
architectural interest preserving a considerable amount of its early fabric
internally.

Listing NGR: SS2596722318

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26617902

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)