MEM24024 - Demolished post-medieval house on Chapel Street (Monument)

A cottage is shown on historic mapping. It was demolished after being badly damaged by the 1952 flood. One source suggests this was the blacksmith's cottage, although the smithy appears to have been sited further up the street.

A rectangular building is depicted on the Tithe Map for Exford at SS 8532 3837. It is labelled 1191; the accompanying Apportionment describes this as a house leased by Osbond Locke and occupied by Robert Adams and others. [1] The building is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map for Exford. [2] The Blacksmith's Cottage is shown in a photograph by RAJ Bowden from the late 1940s. It was so badly damaged in the 1952 Lynmouth Flood that it had to be demolished. It is said that the flood waters carried the saddles from the White Horse Yard into the house. The photograph shows a two storey thatched house with a chimney on each gable end. There are three windows on the 1st floor and two on the lower floor (probably with a doorway in the centre, although this is obscured); the windows are spaced symmetrically. [3] The house is no longer extant. [4] It is unlikely that this house was in use as a blacksmith's, although the smith may have resided here. The smithy is recorded further up the street on historic mapping (MEM24025) and the building concerned is far more industrial in appearance. [5]