Description

The following building shall be added to the list:-

AWLISCOMBE
ST 10 SW

1520/5/10000 Godford Cross

GV II

Farmhouse, later converted into 2 cottages. Late medieval,
thoroughly updated late C16 or early C17; sub-divided and with
additions at rear and to right in mid C19. Main building of
rendered cob; additions in red brick. Slated roof; addition
to right covered in corrugated iron. Rendered C19/C20 chimneys
(probably of brick) at left end of ridge and off-centre to right.
Plan. 2 room-and-through-passage; half stack backs on to
passage. 3 small rooms at rear. Workshop range to right, at one
time a post office.
Exterior. 2 storeys; right-hand end of rear addition single-
storeyed. Main range 3 windows wide. 4-panelled door, the
bottom 2 panels flush, the top 2 glazed. Windows have 2 and 3-
light wood casements, with 1 horizontal glazing-bar per light.
Addition to right has 3 segmental-headed windows in ground
storey, the 2 to left with 3 and 4-light wood casements. Upper
storey has a single window, 5 panes wide and 2 panes high. In
right end-wall is a postal wall-box, with simply the initials GR
on the door. Left end-wall has old plank door with knocker and
letterbox.
Interior. Through-passage has stud-and-panel screen to left
(adjoining lower room); chamfered studs with run-out stops,
almost step-stones in places. 2 doorways at right-hand end, of
different design but the same date; that to left with chamfered,
square-headed surround; that to right, the stair door, with
rebated surround having a cranked head. Rear doorway and doorway
into hall have chamfered frames with cranked heads. Plank door
with strap hinges into hall. Latter has deeply-chamfered beam
with step-stops; complete set of original joists; half-beam
against gable-wall. Wide hall fireplace with chamfered wood
lintel; joists appear to have been rebuilt, that to left in
wood, that to right in large squared stone blocks; oven in back,
converted into cupboard. Staircase in rear left corner is
enclosed by a C19 plank partition with moulded ribs; plank half-
door with strap-hinges to cupboard under stairs. Disused joist
slots suggest there was no C16/C17 stair in this position. Lower
room has beam with shallow chamfer, originally laid cross-wise,
boxed to axial position c1990. Partition with passage has
squared studs this side, small gable-chimney, probably added in
C19. stair removed c1990.
Upper storey has doorway with chamfered frame and cranked head
between rooms over passage and hall; old, studded plank door
with strap-hinges and wooden latch. Rear left-hand room has mid
C19 cast-iron grate in plain wood surround with bracketed shelf.
4-bay roof with 3 jointed-cruck trusses; hip cruck, its top now
sawn off, at upper (right-hand) end. The 2 right-hand crucks are
face-pegged, that to right with slip-tenon visible; cranked
collars, 2 tiers of through-purlins, diagonal-set ridge of Alcock
type B. Both trusses are heavily smoke-blackened on both sides.
The left-hand of the 2 trusses has wattle-and-daub infill above
the collar with plaster on the left side only; both sides are
blackened and there are stake-holes for former infill below the
collar. The implication of this is that the Medieval house was
single-storeyed with open hearths in both rooms. The third, far
left hand truss is clean with side-pegged jointed crucks,
straight collar and apex of Alcock type F2. Its purlin at the
front is a blackened, re-used partition beam with groove at the top
and stake-holes on the underside; in the middle is the halving
with peg-hole for a vertical stud. This may have belonged to the
partition under the middle truss.
Medieval houses of 2-room plan are very rare in Devon; the
evidence for 2 open hearths gives this one added interest. The
title map of 1840 shows it as still one house, owned by the Rev.
E. W. Grinfield and occupied by Thomas Clapp; a person of the
latter name is listed as a wheelwright in White's directory of
1850.

Listing NGR: ST1301602247

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26555865

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 Care and Repair
• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)