Old Rectory Nursing Home

Details

SX 9293 OLD TIVERTON ROAD
871/12/10103 (West side)
23-JUN-00 Old Rectory Nursing Home

II

Rectory to the church of St James. Late 1870s/1880s to the designs of Robert Medley Fulford, who also designed the church (since rebuilt). Currently used as a nursing home. Brick with polychromatic detail and tile-hanging with ornamental bands of shaped tiles; Ham Hill stone dressings; tiled roof; stacks with staggered brick shafts with corbelled cornices. Free Vernacular Revival style.
Plan: Roughly rectangular plan with entrance into passage with stair rising towards entrance. Some alterations to the internal partitions, especially on the first floor; rear additions not included in the listing.
Exterior: 2 and 3 storeys. Asymmetrical 4-window front, the right hand bay gabled to the front and slightly broken forward. Blue brick banding to ground floor and cogged brick cornice below first floor tile-hanging. Deep eaves and verges on timber brackets. Shallow projecting porch with lean-to roof with ornamental tile detail. 2-centred chamfered stone doorway with moulded arch and stone slit window alongside. Plank door with strap hinges below shallow hipped porch hood on brackets with pierced timber spandresl and cast iron fliral finial. 4-light stone mullioned ground floor window to the right with ovolo-moulded mullions and a high transom, the lights above the transom shoulder-headed. 3 ground floor windows to left of front door are 3 and 2-light and stone mullioned with chamfered mullions. First floor window right is a 3-light transomed timber oriel with 3 Sgraffito panels below the sill; 3-light ovolo-moulded 2nd floor window above with small pentice on brackets over. 4-light mullioned stair window with ovolo-moulded mullions and a high transom has quatrefoils with stained glass in the head. 2 left hand first floor windows are under hipped hoods with sahped spandrels. They are 2 and 3-light ovolo-moulded mullioned windows with high transoms, the upper lights trefoil-headed, the sills on brackets. The right return has a projecting stack and 2 2-light ovolo-moulded mullioned high transomed windows.
INTERIOR: In spite of some alterations for the current use good interior detail survives. Staircase with pierced timber balustrade and ornamental timber ceiling with to stairhall. The former library, right of the entrance, preserves a timber ribbed ceiling with a wall frieze with texts in latin appropriate to the library use. The chimney-piece may be a 1930s replacement. Principal rear right room also has an orignal cornice and historic chimney-piece.
Historical Note: Robert Medley Fulford was one of the best late C19 Devon architects. He was pupil of John Hayward of Exeter, but also worked in the office of William White, whose influence can be seen in this building. Fulford specialised in church work and domestic buildings to his designs are rare, although he also designed Harry Hems workshop in Longbrook Street. The stained glass is likely to be by Drake of Exeter, who frequently worked in combination with Fulford.


Listing NGR: SX9301293776

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

480956

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LBS

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