Interesting Fact 8

  In the Beginning

The earliest records known as Glebe Terriers provide evidence of the date range that the barn was constructed. The document of 1679 indicates a barn built with mud walls and therefore indicates the barn was built before that date.

‘The earliest record that we have of what is now known as East Worlington House is a series of „Glebe Terriers‟ in the Devon Record Office dating from 1605(?), 1613, 1679 and 1727. A „glebe terrier‟ is an account of church land and holdings. The two earlier documents refer only to the land, but the documents of 1679 and 1727 include descriptions of the house and curtilage. The implication of the earliest document is that the parsonage house and its curtilage were established by the early 17th century and probably had a history going back into the 16th century if not earlier still, while the later documents indicate a process of development and change at around the turn of the 18th century.

The document of 1679, having listed the rooms of the house, concludes with a reference to outbuildings, viz:

Dairy with a chamber over it, malt house with a chamber over it, a drift (?) for drying of malt, a barn built with mud walls, a shiping (shippon) and stable.

The reference to a „barn built with mud walls (presumably cob) is picked up again in the description of 1727 which states:

The outhouses are a barn consisting of five bays, a sheeping (shippon) of three bays and a stable of two bays all having mud walls and thatch covering…

Archaeologist Report, South West Archaeology.