Description

SS 72 NE BISHOP'S NYMPTON

2/20 Mornacott Farmhouse
-

GV II

Farmhouse. C17 or earlier origins, mid/late C19 refurbishment the rear kitchen wing
may also be C19. Stone rubble with some cob to the rear elevation, the front
elevation, whitewashed and plastered, is said to be stone rubble faced with cob
(information from owner); slate roof, gabled at ends; axial stack and right end stack
to kitchen wing, left end stack to back kitchen outshut, all with C19 red brick
shafts.
Plan: Overall T plan. Internal carpentry indicates that the south-facing main range
is at least C17 in origin: it is a single depth range with 2 principal heated rooms,
one on either side of an entrance hall containing a C19 stair with a very narrow
unheated room at the left end. A rear right dairy outshut may be C17 in origin, the
cob appears to be continuous with the cob on the rear wall of the house. The rear
centre kitchen wing, at right angles to the main range, is probably early C19 but
could be earlier. A rear left back kitchen outshut is C19 with a rectangular bread
oven to the stack. Adjoining the main range at the right (east) end, and slightly
set back from it, is an outbuilding that may originally have been a cider house
(drain in floor). An axial passage, probably C19, behind the right hand room and
taken out of its depth gives access from the kitchen to the cider house. The plan of
the house is unaltered since the C19.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Handsome asymmetrical 5:2 window front (the 2 windows to the
adjoining outbuilding). C19 panelled front door to right of centre with a C19
lattice porch. C19 or early C20 plank door into the narrow room at the extreme left
(west) end of the range. The main range has a complete set of mid/late C19 4-pane
horned timber sashes with regular fenestration, the outbuilding has 4 regularly
spaced 2-light small-pane C19 timber casements.
Interior: Virtually unaltered since the C19, with good slate floors to the service
rooms. Surviving C17 features visible at time of survey are a plastered-over
crossbeam in the principal left hand room flanked by moulded plaster cornices, and a
chamfered stopped crossbeam. A deep chamfered crossbeam with a step stop is visible
in the axial passage behind the right hand heated room, this presumably continues
above the present plastered ceiling of the heated room, which is a C19 parlour with a
late C19 chimney-piece. Other features may exist behind wall plaster. C19 stick
baluster stair, C19 slate-topped benches to the dairy.
Roof Not inspected but may be of interest.
A very unspoiled traditional farmhouse, the plan form reflecting C19 adaptation of a
C17 house to provide more extensive service rooms and more complex circulation
through the house. Group value with the farmbuildings.

Listing NGR: SS7645927119

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26611051

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

• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)