Stedcombe House

Details

In the entry for:-

SY 29 SE AXMOUTH MUSBURY ROAD

14/29 Stedcombe House

11.9.51 II*

the entry shall be amended to read:

SY 29 SE AXMOUTH MUSBURY ROAD

14/29 Stedcombe House

11.9.51

GV I

Large house overlooking the Axe valley. Built c1697 by Richard Hallett; restored 1989 by C Rae-Scott. Red brick in Flemish bond with Beer and Portland stone dressings. Slate hipped roof with modillion eaves cornice and leaded flat around the belvedere. PLAN: square double-depth plan with opposed entries in W and E elevations, of 2 rooms wide with main and service stairs between rooms on N side. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attic. Five by five bays. Moulded stone plinth, rusticated quoins and moulded band at first-floor level. Moulded stone window architraves with small keyblocks. 2-light stone- mullioned basement windows. West door, doorcase and steps of 1989 (a reproduction of the original) with similar moulded architrave and canopy on scrolled consoles with carved acanthus ornament. To east elevation is semi-circular arch over half-glazed doors of 1989, a conjectural reconstruction of the original. Original 6/6 pane sashes with thick glazing bars to north elevation and one to belvedere; other to belvedere is an early C18 repair; other sashes, after the original, were installed 1989, incorporating glass from decayed early C19 sashes. Lead rainwater furniture of 1989; 3 triangular- pedimented dormers to each facade, reproductions of 1989. Belvedere to centre of roof, a square brick structure with moulded stone cornice, quoins and semi-circular arched window on each side with stone voussoirs and small chimneystacks at the corners, these being Portland stone caps of 1989. Stone-mullioned basement windows, 5 being restorations after the original, and original studded basement door to west elevation. Basement surrounded by path enclosed by brick walls surmounted by iron railings of 1989. INTERIOR: restored to an exceptionally high standard by Mr Rae-Scott in 1989, 14/45 doors, 27% of the panelling and almost all fireplaces being careful reproductions after the original. Basement has original features including keyed arched stone door architrave to wine cellar, plank doors with bolts and Norfolk latches and C18 panelled cupboard doors (one to NE dated 1742). Panelled throughout with straight-cut ovolo-mould and bolection-moulded panelling. c1730 egg and dart surround to fireplace in west first-floor room. Main first-floor rooms each open into two closets. Main stairhall has cyma-moulded cornice of 1989 (after the original) to ground floor and enriched cornice to first floor (a quarter of which is restored) with corner shells and foliate/floral motifs: open-well stair with 2 twisted balusters per tread and plain dado. Back stairs positioned to north rise from basement to attic, with turned balusters on closed string rising around open well. Cornice and balustrade installed 1989.

History: the Halletts had bought the estate in 1691 from Sir Walter Yonge of Escot. According to Cherry (1988) "Stedcombe stands between the larger country houses and a number of smaller brick houses" such as Pinbrook which were built around Exeter as villas for wealthy merchants in the late 17th century. An exceptionally fine and complete example of this type of small late 17th Century country house, the compact and centralised plan being an early example.

N Pevsner and B Cherry, The Buildings of England: Devon, 1989, pp. 759-60; B Cherry, "The Devon Country House in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries", Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings, Vol 46 (1988) pp. 123-5; C Rae-Scott, "The Restoration of Stedcombe House", Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings, Vol 15 (1991) pp. 31-8.

------------------------------------ In the entry for:-

SY 29 SE AXMOUTH MUSBURY ROAD

14/29 Stedcombe House

11.9.51

GV I

the description shall be amended to read as follows:

Large house overlooking the Axe valley. Built c1697 by Richard Hallett; restored 1988-90 by C Rae-Scott. Red brick in Flemish bond with Beer and Portland stone dressings. Slate hipped roof with modillion eaves cornice and leaded flat around the belvedere. PLAN: square double-depth plan with opposed entries in W and E elevations, of 2 rooms wide with main and service stairs between rooms on E and N sides. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys, basement and attic. Five by five bays. Moulded stone plinth, channelled quoins and moulded band at first-floor level. Moulded stone window architraves with small keyblocks. 2-light stone- mullioned basement windows to E, N and S elevations, 2/2 lights to W elevation. West door, doorcase and steps of 1989 (a reproduction of the original) with similar moulded architrave and canopy on scrolled consoles with carved acanthus ornament. To east elevation is semi- circular arch over half-glazed doors of 1989 (doors and fanlight conjectural reconstruction of the original). Original 9/9 pane sashes with thick glazing bars to north elevation and one 11/6 radius headed sash to belvedere; another to belvedere is an early C18 repair; other sashes, after the original, were installed 1989, incorporating glass from decayed early C19 sashes. Lead rainwater furniture of 1989; 3 triangular-pedimented dormers to each facade, reproductions of 1989. Belvedere to centre of roof, a square brick structure with moulded stone cornice, quoins and semi-circular arched window on each side with stone voussoirs and small chimneystacks at the corners, these having Portland stone caps of 1989. Stone-mullioned basement windows, some leaded lights being restorations after the original, and original panelled basement door to west elevation. Basement surrounded by path enclosed by brick walls surmounted by iron railings of 1989. INTERIOR: restored to an exceptionally high standard by Mr Rae-Scott in 1988-90, 14/45 doors, 27% of the panelling and almost all fireplaces being careful reproductions after the original. Basement has original features including keyed arched timber door architrave to wine cellar, plank doors with bolts and Norfolk latches and C18 panelled cupboard doors (one to NE dated 1742). Main floors panelled throughout with straight-cut, ovolo-mould or bolection-moulded panelling. c1730 egg and dart surround to fireplace in west first- floor room; c1690 red marble bolection surround in NE ground-floor room and c1695 stone flat bolection surround to NE first-floor room. Main first-floor rooms each open into two closets. Main stairhall has cyma-moulded cornice of 1989 (after the original) to ground floor and enriched cornice to first floor (a quarter of which is restored) with corner shells and foliate-floral motifs: open-well stair with 2 twisted balusters per tread and panelled dado. Back stairs positioned to north rise from basement to attic, with turned balusters on closed string rising around open well. Cornice and balustrade to belvedere gallery installed in 1989.

History: the Hallets had bought the estate in 1691 from Sir Walter Yonge of Escot. According to Cherry (1988) "In size Stedcombe stands between the larger country houses and a number of smaller brick houses" such as Pinbrook which were built around Exeter as villas for wealthy merchants in the late 17th century. An exceptionally fine and complete example of this type of small late 17th Century country house, the compact and decentralised plan being an early example.

N Pevsner and B Cherry, The Buildings of England: Devon, 1989, pp. 759-60; B Cherry, "The Devon Country House in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries", Devon Archaeological Society Proceedings, Vol 46 (1988) pp. 123-5; C Rae-Scott, "The Restoration of Stedcombe House", Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings, Vol 15 (1991) pp. 31-8.

------------------------------------ In the entry for:-

SY 29 SE AXMOUTH MUSBURY ROAD

14/29 Stedcombe House

11.9.51

GV I

The last sentence of the penultimate paragraph shall be amended to read:-

An exceptionally fine and complete example of this type of small late 17th Century country house, the compact and centralised plan being an early example.

------------------------------------

SY 29 SE AXMOUTH MUSBURY ROAD 14/29 11.9.51 Stedcombe House

II*

Large house overlooking the Axe valley. Circa 1697 for Richard Hallett of Lyme Regis. Red brick in Flemish bond with white-washed stone dressings. Slate hipped roof with modillion eaves cornice. Moulded stone plinth, rusticated quoins and moulded band at first floor level. Square on plan. Two storeys, attics and basement. Five by five bays. Moulded stone window architraves with small keyblocks. Sashes with glazing bars, those on north side have thick glazing bars, the sashes on the west side have lost their glazing bars. Three flat roofed dormers. C18 porch at centre of east front, brick with modillion cornice, rusticated quoins and moulded round arch with panelled pilasters. Also probably C18 a belvedere over the centre, square brick structure with moulded stone cornice, quoins and round arch window on each side with stone voussoirs and with small chimney stacks at the corners. Stone balustrade around a deep basement area on all sides. Interior: Much of the fine interior was stripped out after an outbreak of dry rot and at the time of the survey in 1983 it is still in this state. Some of the balustrade to the staircase with twisted balusters remains. Most of the drawing room panelling and a very fine rococo-chinoiserie chimneypiece remain intact. Stedcombe House was built by Richard Hallett who with his brother John Hallett a Barbados planter made a fortune from trade with the West Indies. It was built near the site of an older house which was garrisoned by Parliamentarians and destroyed by Royalists in 1644. Reference: Country Life 26.Xll, 1963.

Listing NGR: SY2641991982

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

87712

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 759-760
Proceedings of Devon Archaeological Society in Devon Archaeological Society, Vol. 46, (1988), 123-125
Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings in Association for Studies in the Conservation of Historic Buildings, Vol. 15, (1991), 31-38

End of official list entry

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