Portland House
PORTLAND HOUSE, 29, BEAR STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1384994
- Date first listed:
- 31-Aug-1988
- List Entry Name:
- Portland House
- Statutory Address:
- PORTLAND HOUSE, 29, BEAR STREET
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:
- 2004-06-19
- Reference:
- IOE01/12633/20
- Rights:
- © Dr Ann Allen. 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:
- 1384994
- Date first listed:
- 31-Aug-1988
- List Entry Name:
- Portland House
- Statutory Address 1:
- PORTLAND HOUSE, 29, BEAR STREET
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:
- PORTLAND HOUSE, 29, BEAR STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Devon
- District:
- North Devon (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Barnstaple
- National Grid Reference:
- SS 56159 33337
Details
BARNSTAPLE
SS5633 BEAR STREET
684-1/3/15 (North side)
31/08/88 No.29
Portland House
GV II
House and shop. Early C19 with shop front dated 1891.
Rendered, solid walls, probably of brick, except for shop
front which is of limestone ashlar. House has asbestos-slated
roofs with red ridge-tiles; shop has flat roof. No chimneys.
1 room wide, 2 rooms deep with gallery and back block at rear.
Entrance passage on right hand side of ground storey, leading
to staircase at rear. The shop stands on the original front
garden. The gallery and back block are shown on Wood's map of
1843.
House 2-storeyed with garret in front block; shop
single-storeyed. House has 2-window range. Round-arched
doorway to right of ground storey; 6-panelled door, the 2
lowest panels flush. Windows have 6-paned sashes. Gable-wall
to right, facing Gaydon Street, has 2 blind windows in each
storey; 6-paned sash window in garret. To right of gable wall
is a tall, rendered courtyard wall, ramped up at each end. At
left end is a doorway with pointed arch; door with 6 flush
panels and lion-head knocker. 10-paned shop window at right
hand end.
Rear wall of front block has round-arched stair window to
left; 6-paned sashes with radial glazing bars in head of upper
sash. 2nd-storey window to right has 6-paned sashes. Gallery
has no windows in upper storey. Side wall of back block has
6-paned sash window to left of upper storey; narrow,
small-paned window, probably lighting a staircase, in centre.
C20 wood casement window to right.
Fine shop front has range of 4 tall, trefoil-headed windows
under canted hoodmoulds. Between window-heads, 3 trefoil
panels containing shields, the centre shield carved with date
1891. Return front to Gaydon Street has window with pointed
arch to left and round-arched doorway to right, both with
hoodmoulds; double doors with panel below and glazed,
trefoil-headed panel above. Corner rounded, being carved with
sunflower and inscribed scrolls. Crenellated parapet round
both fronts with carved inscription: W YOUINGS AND SONS.
MARBLE AND STONE MASONS. Beneath the main range of windows is
carved: EST. 1857.
INTERIOR: partly inspected. Entrance passage with moulded
cornice; panelled, round-headed archway opening into stair
compartment. Wooden open-well stair with balustrade of thin,
square-section balusters, voluted at the foot. Ground-floor
front room has white marble chimneypiece with incised
decoration and date 1886; there are reported to be 2 similar
chimneypieces in the house, all carved by Mr Youings.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the Youings family, who still run the firm,
have been in business on this site since the 1870s. Their work
has always included architectural as well as monumental
masonry.
(Photograph of house before erection of shop front; John
Wood's map of Barnstaple: 1843-; Barnstaple Castle records;
Plans Committee Minute Book, 2.5.1891).
Listing NGR: SS5615933337
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 485453
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Plans Committee Minute Book in 2nd May, (1891)
Other
Title: Map of Barnstaple
Source Date: 1843
Author:
Publisher:
Surveyor:
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 30-Jun-2026 at 05:45:16.
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.