Hesketh Crescent and Attached Railings no 1-15 and Attached Railings
HESKETH CRESCENT AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 1-15, MEADFOOT SEA ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1206808
- Date first listed:
- 20-Nov-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Hesketh Crescent and Attached Railings no 1-15 and Attached Railings
- Statutory Address:
- HESKETH CRESCENT AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 1-15, MEADFOOT SEA ROAD
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2007-09-05
- Reference:
- IOE01/15954/27
- Rights:
- © Mr Robert W Keniston. Source: Historic England Archive
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Official list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1206808
- Date first listed:
- 20-Nov-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Hesketh Crescent and Attached Railings no 1-15 and Attached Railings
- Statutory Address 1:
- HESKETH CRESCENT AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 1-15, MEADFOOT SEA ROAD
- Statutory Address 2:
- NO 1-15 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 1-15, HESKETH CRESCENT
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- HESKETH CRESCENT AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 1-15, MEADFOOT SEA ROAD
- Statutory Address:
- NO 1-15 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS, 1-15, HESKETH CRESCENT
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Torbay (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SX 93010 63138
Details
TORQUAY
SX9263 MEADFOOT SEA ROAD 885-1/18/169 Nos. 1-15 (consecutive) Hesketh 20/11/52 Crescent and attached railings
GV II*
Includes: Nos.1-15 attached railings HESKETH CRESCENT. Crescent of 15 houses, now divided into holiday flats and hotel. 1846-48 by the younger Harveys for Sir Laurence Palk. Plastered; roof concealed behind parapet; stacks with rendered shafts with platbands. PLAN: Concave terrace, each house double-depth on plan, one-room wide with an off-centre door, centre five bays conceived as one unit with a central doorway. EXTERIOR: 3 storeys, basement and attic, the attic storey raised at a later stage, eliminating the original central pediment. 47-bay range. Centre 5 bays broken forward; ground floor rusticated, first and second floors with fluted Composite pilasters supporting an enriched entablature below a deep projecting cornice with dentil and modillion friezes. Attic storey windows also divided by pilasters, crowned with urns. Windows reglazed with plate-glass timber sashes, the ground floor with segmental heads, keyblocks and moulded architraves; the first floor with alternating segmental and triangular pediments on consoles. The other houses mostly have round-headed ground-floor windows with chanelled rusticated pilasters between; round-headed doorways; first-floor piano nobile has cast-iron balconies with anthemion pattern and tent roof with fretted fascias; cable moulding at second-floor level and enriched friezes below the cornice, matching the centre house. End houses break forward with giant pilasters and first-floor windows treated to match the centre house. The returns pedimented. Fine set of area railings with spearhead finials complement the more decorative iron balconies. INTERIOR: Not inspected, but likely to retain features of interest. HISTORY: The centre house is said to have been the residence of Sir Laurence Palk. Ellis mentions (without a reference) that Hesketh Crescent was described as "the finest crescent in the West of England". Spectacularly-sited, overlooking the sea. This is the grandest work in Torquay undertaken by the Harvey sons, whose father built Higher Terrace (qv) in 1811. (Ellis CA: An Historical Survey of Torquay, 2nd edition: 1930-: P.285).
Listing NGR: SX9301063138
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 390703
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Ellis, A, A Historical Survey of Torquay, (1930), 285
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 05-Jun-2026 at 18:15:37.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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