MSO12137 - No 31, West Street, Dunster (Building)

A two-storey cottage with rendered stone walls under a relatively slack-pitched roof of plain tiles. The house may have originated as an open hall house and an internal beam may date from the late medieval or early post-medieval period.

Probably 18th century with later alterations. Render, double Roman tile roof, brick end gable chimney stack. Two storeys. Three 3-light wood casement windows with glazing bars. Tiled gable hood on decorative wooden brackets. Ribbed door, flat-headed opening, oak moulded frame. Included for group value. [1] English Heritage Listed Building Number: 264732. First Listed on 04/08/1983. [2] The house was subject to a rapid visual and photographic survey in July 2012, as refurbishment had uncovered a large fireplace in the main living room. The house's main range fronts directly on to West Street and is aligned with it, but the house extends to the rear in a cross wing as far as the bank of a leat running to the northeast, parallel with the street. The plan of the building and the presence of a tall lateral stack against the rear wall of the main range suggest the house is earlier than it seems. The main range preserves, in part, a classic vernacular plan form of three rooms separated by a cross passage. The main entrance door may be of early date (though with early 20th Century additions) and the rear entrance to the passage retains an early pegged timber door-frame without any mouldings or decorations. One of the upstairs bedrooms retains a 17th Century two-light window with ovolo-moulded mullions and early iron casements and the alignment of the beams supporting the first floor may suggest the house originated as an open hall house, either open to the roof for its entire length or with the central part of the house open to the roof and storeyed bays at either end. Both end bays have short axial beams aligned parallel with the main range; while one is boxed in, the other is exposed and has crude chamfers and straight-cut stops, suggesting a late medieval or early post-medieval date. Another beam (with very bold chamfers and straight-cut stops) may have formed a jetty bressumer supporting a first-floor chamber projecting into the hall. The roof of the main range appears to date from the 17th Century and the uncovered fireplace in the main ground-floor room may also date from this period. The survey report suggested that the house may originally have been of medieval date but rebuilt in the 17th Century, either in response to a disaster or simply to improve the accommodation. [3] The building is situated within Dunster's Conservation Area. [4] The building was visited in April 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 6. [5] The building is depicted but not labelled on 2018 MasterMap data. [6] The building is mentioned in the 2018 Conservation Area Appraisal for Dunster. [7] The building was assessed as part of the 2018-19 rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings, receiving a BAR score of 6. [8]