Kitley House
Kitley House, Yealmpton, Plymouth, PL8 2NW
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1306538
- Date first listed:
- 23-Apr-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Kitley House
- Statutory Address:
- Kitley House, Yealmpton, Plymouth, PL8 2NW
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Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2002-06-20
- Reference:
- IOE01/07553/01
- Rights:
- © Mr Mel Ellis. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- I
- List Entry Number:
- 1306538
- Date first listed:
- 23-Apr-1952
- List Entry Name:
- Kitley House
- Statutory Address 1:
- Kitley House, Yealmpton, Plymouth, PL8 2NW
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:
- Kitley House, Yealmpton, Plymouth, PL8 2NW
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Devon
- District:
- South Hams (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Yealmpton
- National Grid Reference:
- SX 55969 51462
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 15 March 2021 to remove superfluous source details from text and reformat the text to current standards
SX 55 SE
4/248
YEALMPTON
Kitley House
23/4/52
I
Large country house in landscaped park. 1820-25 extensive remodelling by G.S. Repton, for E.P. Bastard, of a 1710 house, which itself was a rebuilding of a circa C16 house, traces of which exist in the basement. Ashlar with granite dressings. Bitumenised slate roof. Tudor/Jacobean style. Approximately square on plan. Symmetrical elevations with gables, octagonal turrets on the corners with granite pinnacles and ogee finials, and large octagonal granite chimney stacks with moulded caps and bases. Two storeys, attics and basement.
The north entrance front 3:1:3 bays with crenellated porch and chimney stack above over the central projection. South elevation similar, but has central crenellated oriel and gable above flanked by chimney stacks on shallow oriels. The south elevation is built over a four-centred arch arcaded loggia with pinnacles at either end. The west elevation is gabled right and left with shallow crenellated bays, set back at first floor level with clock turret in the roof. The ground floor projects with a gabled bay, and below at lower garden level large round-headed windows in moulded four-centred arch opening. The west and south sides are built on terraces overlooking the landscaped gardens which fall away steeply from the house. The east side has gables left and right with shallow crenellated bays. Central three bays project with gabled shallow oriel at centre. The wooden dormers are crenellated and the windows have moulded wooden mullions and transoms. Some C16 material survives in the basement, including mullion windows and four-centred arch doorways.
Interior: largely C18 and early C19. Early C18 panelled staircase hall with giant fluted pilasters flanking round arched doorway, and a very fine early C18 staircase with diverging flights meeting on a landing with three twisted and fluted balusters per tread and Corinthian column newels. Regency Library with remarkably intact circa 1825 decorations
The estate came into the possession of the Pollexfens in the early C16 and in 1710 passed to Pollexfen Bastard whose father had married the Pollexfen heiress. Sarah Martin wrote the Mother Hubbard Rhymes ("The Comic Adventures of Old Mother Hubbard and Her Dog") here in 1805. The character Mother Hubbard is believed to have been based on the housekeeper at Kitley.
The landscaped park is C18 with some C19 planting.
Listing NGR: SX5596951462
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 100524
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Martin, S, Mother Hubbard Rhymes, (1805)
Transactions of the Devonshire Association in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol. 76, (1944), 98-99
Country Life in 7 October, Vol. 86, (1939), 362-367
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 04-Jun-2026 at 06:20:37.
Download a full scale map (PDF)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2026. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2026. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry