Telegraph Cottage
TELEGRAPH COTTAGE, DRUNKEN BRIDGE HILL
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1319611
- Date first listed:
- 01-May-1975
- List Entry Name:
- Telegraph Cottage
- Statutory Address:
- TELEGRAPH COTTAGE, DRUNKEN BRIDGE HILL
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2004-03-30
- Reference:
- IOE01/09111/06
- Rights:
- © Mr Duncan Ferguson. Source: Historic England Archive
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1319611
- Date first listed:
- 01-May-1975
- List Entry Name:
- Telegraph Cottage
- Statutory Address 1:
- TELEGRAPH COTTAGE, DRUNKEN BRIDGE HILL
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:
- TELEGRAPH COTTAGE, DRUNKEN BRIDGE HILL
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- City of Plymouth (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SX 53185 55345
Details
PLYMOUTH
SX5355 DRUNKEN BRIDGE HILL 740-1/47/538 (West side (off)) 01/05/75 Plympton, Hardwick Telegraph Cottage
II
Telegraph house for signalling messages across the land to give warning of invasion from France, now a cottage. c1800 and extended slightly later. Built for the Admiralty as part of a chain of signalling stations designed by Lord George Murray who was inspired by a more complicated system designed by the Frenchman, Claude Chappe. Original part rendered, otherwise painted rubble; bitumen-grouted rag slate roof; rendered brick stacks: a central axial stack and an stack on the right of the present front. Small rectangular single-depth plan of 2 rooms plus an original lean-to on the left with a C20 conservatory in front. Single storey; 2-window front plus conservatory on the left in front of doorway. C20 windows. INTERIOR: not inspected. HISTORY: originally there was a 20 foot high stayed signalling panel above the ridge and this contained 6 pivoting shutters which could be adjusted by a system of ropes, cranks and counter-poises from inside the house and messages could be relayed up or down the country; 63 shutter combinations were possible and a pre-arranged message could be sent for hundreds of miles in a matter of minutes. There are some remains of this structure in the roof space. This is the only building of its type known to survive and it is therefore historically and technically of national importance. (Devon Life: November 1984: 50 & 51; Devon County Magazine: Autumn 1985: 14 & 15).
Listing NGR: SX5318555345
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 473333
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Devon County Magazine in Autumn, (1985), 14 and 15
Devon Life in November, (1984), 50 and 51
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 19-Jun-2026 at 20:46:43.
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.