Description

BOVEY TRACEY
SX 87 NW

5/14 Five Wyches Farmhouse
-
23.8.55
GV II

Farmhouse. C16 or earlier, with additions. Stone and cob covered with roughcast.
Wheatreed thatched roof, half-hipped. 2 granite ashlar chimneystacks with tapered
tops and weatherings on ridge; one well off-centre to right, probably in gable-end
of original house, the other off-centre to left, heating the original hall. Tall
rendered stack at left-hand end, projecting from front wall, the projection being
continued up to left-hand end of building; to right of stack, at its base, a small
rounded oven. 3-room and through-passage plan with hall stack backing on to
passage; lower room (the former kitchen) with front lateral stack, and parlour with
gable stack. C16 or C17 added room at upper end with rear wing at right-angles to
it. Lean-to's at rear of original house, probably added in C19. 2 storeys with
single-storey lean-to's. 5-window front, but with large windowless area at left-
hand end. All windows have C19 wood casements of 3 lights, except for the right-
hand window of the ground storey and the left-hand window and second window from the
right in the second storey, which are of 2 lights. Original doorway, in left-hand
bay of ground storey, and a secondary doorway in second bay from right, have plank
doors with C20 6-paned windows cut into them. The second bay from the left is built
out slightly and given a half-hipped gable; probably a C19 extension of the hall.
Interior: rear door of through-passage retains one of its C16 or C17 chamfered wood
door-jambs. Lower room has chamfered beams with step-stops; wide fireplace with
renewed wood lintel and C19 brick oven. Hall and parlour, now thrown into a single
room, have ovolo-moulded beams with raised run-out stops, where these survive. Hall
fireplace has granite jambs and chamfered wood lintel. Added room at upper end
(separated from the earlier house by a solid wall and with the back of the parlour
stack projecting into it) has chamfered beams with step-stops. Newel stair
contrived in corner of projecting gable to hall; probably C19. A timber-framed
stair turret, with straight flight of granite steps, at rear of lower room. In
second storey, beside hall stack on rear side, a low plank-and-muntin screen, the
studs plain towards the room over the through passage. The screen may have been
designed to be seen from the other side (now plastered over), possibly from a open
hall, as at Nos. 8-12 Fore Street, Silverton. Roof not inspected, but trusses have
plain feet. The truss over division between hall and parlour has the sawn-off end
of a tie-beam and notches for wattle-and-daub staves on the underside of the
principal rafters. Some early features may still be hidden under plaster. Barn
(q.v.) at rear of house makes an excellent group, especially when gable-ends of the
2 buildings are viewed from the road.
Source: J R L Thorp in Proceedings of Devon Archaeological Society, 1982, pp176-7

Listing NGR: SX8030978266

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26619174

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.

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