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Summary

Chelston Cross, built to designs of Froude and Henri Marc Brunel and the site of the world's first experimental ship tank the science of hydrodynamics was established

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1218606: MANOR HOUSE HOTEL
• Listed Building (II) 1218606: MANOR HOUSE HOTEL
• Listed Building (II) 1280034: CHELSTON MANOR HOTEL
• Listed Building (II) 1218606: MANOR HOUSE HOTEL

Other References/Statuses

• Torbay HER: MTO47863

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (XIX to Unknown - 1867 AD)
• LABORATORY (XIX to Unknown - 1871 AD)

Full description

Torbay HER record (SMR record). SDV361984.

Chelston Cross, now Chelston Manor House Hotel. Built around 1867 as a rather eccentric, red lime- and sandstone, large house of two-and-a-half storeys. Asymmetrical parts with gabled dormers and gothicised fenestration; entrance front splayed with central gabled tower porch with lancet windows to side and oriel to front on 1st floor; tower to right with Belvedere surmounted by slate spire. The home of William Froude; inside the house the most remarkable feature to survive is the "flying" staircase in the full height hall, behind the porch, this was designed with assistance from Henri Marc Brunel, the son of Froude's great friend I. K. Brunel, and is constructed entirely from Columbian pine. It rises to a gallery from which springs diagonally across the hall, a "flying" flight, built on the suspension principle similar to that of the Tamar Bridge, up to the cantilevered landing at 2nd floor level in the far corner.

Brunel developed and built at this house, on a site marked by plaque in Seaway Lane, the first experimental ship tank in the world. In this purpose-built research centre, one of the earliest experimental centres in Britain, the science of hydrodynamics was established. [1] List description at [2]

<1> William Foude's House and Research Centre at Torquay (Un-published). SDV362308.

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<2> Department of National Heritage, 1994, Revised List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, p.319; 885-1/17/343 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV362056.

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Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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