Former Literary Society Public Rooms
Old Town Hall, High Street, Crediton, EX17 3LF
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1208961
- Date first listed:
- 11-Oct-1972
- List Entry Name:
- Former Literary Society Public Rooms
- Statutory Address:
- Old Town Hall, High Street, Crediton, EX17 3LF
Location
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- Reference:
- IOE01/03404/03
- Rights:
- © Michael Woodhead. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1208961
- Date first listed:
- 11-Oct-1972
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 02-Oct-1992
- List Entry Name:
- Former Literary Society Public Rooms
- Statutory Address 1:
- Old Town Hall, High Street, Crediton, EX17 3LF
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:
- Old Town Hall, High Street, Crediton, EX17 3LF
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Devon
- District:
- Mid Devon (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Crediton
- National Grid Reference:
- SS 83062 00349
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 13 September 2023 to amend the name and address and to reformat the text to current standards
SS826000
672-1/5/117
CREDITON
HIGH STREET (North side)
Old Town Hall
Crediton Museum and Heritage Centre
(Formerly listed as Townsends, previously listed as: HIGH STREET (South side) The Town Hall)
11/10/72
GV
II
Public rooms built for the Literary Society (Pevsner), later used as the Town Hall, a shop at time of listing. 1852 (date on front), designed by R D Gould of Barnstaple, considerably rebuilt behind the facade in the late C19, ground floor altered for shop front in the c.1960s. Flemish bond brick on a deep stone rubble plinth, the front elevation and ground floor of the right return stuccoed; painted stone dressings; slate roof; stack with brick shaft. Classical style.
Exterior: two storeys. Three-bay front, symmetrical above the ground floor, crowned with a large pediment. Chamfered rusticated quoins, those on the ground floor vermiculated. Sharply projecting moulded string at first floor level with a platband above. First floor piano nobile has three tall windows with moulded, eared, shouldered architraves, the outer windows with triangular pediments, the centre with a segmental pediment, each window with balustraded sills with a continuous moulded string above the balustrade. Windows glazed with late C19/early C20 four-pane horned sashes. Boldly moulded pediment with a moulded roundel in the tympanum with a projecting bracket at the bottom. Platband below pediment with inscription in bold Roman letters: ANNO QUINTO VICTORIAE REGINAE MDCCCLII. The ground floor has a shop door and C20 shop window below the remains of two C19 round-headed arched windows with moulded architraves. C20 inserted front door to the right. Deep coved eaves; Venetian first floor window with a reeded drip and keyblock, windows glazed with plate glass sashes. Round-headed doorway to right of centre with a reeded drip and C20 door below a plain fanlight. Window alongside to the left is a 12-pane sash with a reeded drip; alongside to the right a partly-blocked tripartite sash with small panes.
Interior: Substantial open well stair with an open string,turned balusters, barleysugar newels and a moulded handrail. The first floor room retains a coved ceiling and moulded cornice.
(The Buildings of England: Pevsner, N., & Cherry, B.,: Devon: London: P.298).
Listing NGR: SS8303300354
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 387065
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Cherry, B, The Buildings of England: Devon, (1989), 298
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 09-Jun-2026 at 22:05:32.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.