Dartmoor Explorations

A collection of walks, discoveries, insights and pictures of exploring Dartmoor National Park

Sourton Old Post Office – Then and Now

The old Post Office at Sourton is an archetypal Devon thatched building. That said, it is less photographed and probably less well known that other buildings and features in the village such as Highwayman’s Inn, Cobweb Hall, St. Thomas a Becket Church and the standing stones on the village green. This post shows a photographic comparison of the building over an approx. 100 year period. It is a Grade II listed building.

Map
The old post office lies to the south west of the village green next to the busy A386.
Sourton 1
The building originates from the 17th century and has 19th century alterations and additions. The building appears to have two front doors from this early 20th century picture. Note there is one person outside the left door and two outside the right door, which may suggest it was two dwellings at the time. The construction is of granite rubble walls which are partly rendered. There are three rubble chimney stacks, one axial and one at each gable end. The outbuilding on the left appears to have been incorporated into the overall building into the 21st century.
Sourton 2
The old post office after some renovations. The picture was taken in 2022. There are still three chimney stacks, whose positions look different from the old black and white image due to the angle the relative pictures have been taken. What appears to be an extension on the left is in fact a detached outbuilding over which the thatched roof has been extended and a through passage created as a result.
Sourton 3
Two cropped images showing the old post office around 70 years apart. The top picture is from the mid-20th century, when the building was the old post office. Note the telephone box. The left gable end from the original building has now been replaced by the roof over the cross passage with a new ‘extension’ which was part of an old outbuilding on the left. At the time of this post (September 2022), looking at the building on ‘Google Earth – Street View’ it looks like building was undergoing major renovations.
Sourton 4
Superimposed pictures from mid-20th century and 2022.

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