MSO9330 - Woodliving, Jury Road, Dulverton (Building)

[SS 9164 2789] Woodliving (NAT). [1] Woodliving, on Jury Road, Dulverton is of 16th/17th century origin, with later alterations, but it retains its its character and many original features. It has a moulded oak doorframe with studded door, giving access to a cobbled passageway leading from front to rear, one side of which has crudely worked oak post and pan panelling. The east wing of the house, flanking this passage, is a later addition, but the style is sympathetic and conforming. The windows are various, mostly later wood casements, but one in the garden elevation has late 17th century wood mullions and transome with leaded lights. The interior has a spiral staircase and open fireplaces. It also has good late 16th century painted wall decorations, partly in lozenges and triangles formed by timber framing of partitions in the upper floor. [2] Wood Tenament was formerly listed as Woodliving. It was a 16th/17th century farmhouse, and is now a domestic dwelling. [4] Possibly originating within the demense or home farm of the manor of Dulverton during the period when it was held by Taunton Priory, the western elements of Woodliving appear to have been constructed as a three cell cross-passage farm house in the 16th century, possibly with an earlier, detached structure to the east. By the 18th century the farm had ceased to function and the building was used as two dwellings, the former detached kitchen block possibly being adapted as a third. During the 18th century the eastern part of the curtilage developed as a tannery. By the mid 19th century the tannery had ceased to operate and the former tannery building at the eastern end of the complex became an extension of the domestic range. At the same period all features of the tannery were swept away, and the former tanyard became a formal garden. In the mid 20th century, former divisions, both within the curtilage and inside the main building were removed, and the whole complex became a single property. For a long time it was a doctor's residence and surgery, and towards the end of the century it was the home of an artist. [6] Woodliving is probably of 17th century date. [7] Woodliving is a colour-washed cottage with tall exterior chimneys abutting the road. [8] The property is marked as 'Woodleigh' on the First Edition Ordnance Survey map. [9] This is one of the oldest thatched buildings in Dulverton. [12] The building was visited in February 2012 as part of the rapid condition survey of Exmoor's Listed Buildings 2012-13. It received a BAR score of 5. [13] Selected parts of the building's fabric were reviewed in support of a planning application in 2019. [14] A report was commissioned in 2020 to study the late 16th Century wall paintings applied to the upper walls and sloping sections of the ceiling of the master bedroom. Two early wall painting schemes with at least two phases of restoration were noted. A date of 1523 painted on the west wall was confirmed not to be authentic, with the plaster likely part of a later repair. Later oil paint and thick modern varnish layers were noting to be causing issues with the limewash layers beneath. [15] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [16] The building is mentioned in the 2019 Conservation Area Appraisal for Dulverton. It is noted that its former name was "Wood Tenement". [17] The building was assessed as part of the 2018-19 rapid condition survey of Exmoor’s Listed Buildings, receiving a BAR score of 6. [18]