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Summary

Large house overlooking the Axe valley, built circa 1697, restored 1989.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (I) 1098596: STEDCOMBE HOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY29SE/52
• Old Listed Building Ref (I): 87712

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MANOR HOUSE (XVII to XX - 1697 AD to 1989 AD (Between))

Full description

Cherry, B., Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV109648.

Restored 1989.2 rooms instead of the usual 3 on the entrance front. Belvedere is, unusually for its period, of brick and stone rather than wood, constructed between 4 stacks (cherry).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135269.

Doe/hhr: axminster r. D. /(1967)4.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135270.

Hoskins, w. G. /devon/(1954)326.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135271.

Pulman, g. P. R. /book of the axe/(1875)873-4,805.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135272.

Reichel, o. J. /hundreds of devon/(1928-1938)180,185/the hundred of axmouth in early times.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135273.

Doe/hhr:62:part of east devon(19/10/1984)8.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135274.

Pevsner, n. /buildings of england, south devon/(1952)270.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135275.

Osa=sy29se12.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135276.

Cherry, b. + pevsner, n. /the buildings of england:devon/(1989)760 and early eighteenth centuries/figs 3 and 4.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV135277.

Doe/hhr:axmouth(6/8/1992)amendment.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV135278.

Aph=slide/(22/7/1997)/in smr.

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV135279.

Aph=dap/hg 11,12/(19/12/1986).

Untitled Source (Aerial Photograph). SDV135280.

Aph=dap/ki 1,1a/(21/3/1988).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV177625.

Stedcombe house or manor. An excellent if somewhat conservative example of its date (1695). Five bays, two storeys with hipped roof and dormer windows and a belvedere on the roof. Brick with heavy stone dressings (pevsner).

Department of Environment, Untitled Source (Report - Survey). SDV326953.

Vis=estimated -/-/1984 (doe) circa 1697. Red flemish bond with stone dressings. Slate hipped roof. Square on plan. Two storeys, attics and basement. Sashes with glazing bars.18c porch. Probably 18c belvedere. Much of the fine interior stripped out after outbreak of dry rot, and still in this state at time of survey. Drawing room panelling and chimney piece remain intact. Built near the site of older house destroyed by royalists in 1644. See doe list for full details (doe).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV335.

Built 1695 to replace house destroyed in civil war in 1644 (hoskins).

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV242.

Stedcombe was estotacoma in domesday. It was held by mori of baldwin the sheriff. Before the conquest ulf held it. It is recorded in 1166, in the black book of the exchequer, and in 1241 in testa de nevil (reichel).

The Times, 1988, The Home of History (Article in Serial). SDV241817.

Stedcombe House at Axmouth, Devon is a country house that yields nuggets of English social history behind its handsome, if somewhat care-worn façade. It was built in 1697 by a merchant Richard Hallett who made his fortune from rum and sugar shipped from Barbados to Lyme Regis in Dorset.

The house stands on rising ground overlooking the wide valley of the River Axe, about a mile from Axmouth and close to Lyme Regis, on or near the site of a house burnt down in 1644 during an attack by Royalist forces on the Parliamentary garrison occupying it.

It is probable that there has been a manor house on the site since the earliest existing record of the Royal Manor of Axmouth in the year 1880.

Interior enriched in 1760 with rococo chimney place in the drawing room.
Outside its most unusual feature is the belvedere on the roof, a substantial structure incorporating chimney stacks.

Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N., 1989, The Buildings of England: Devon (Monograph). SDV325629.

Plans made in 1988 to restore to original appearance, including reconstruction of dormers (whose original appearance is unknown) and reinstatement of w entrance doorway removed in 19c (cherry and pevsner).

Exeter Archaeology, 2003-2004, East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey, Site No. 1462 (Archive - Survey). SDV351568.

Stedcombe House or Manor. Stedcombe was 'Estotacoma' in Domesday. Present house built 1695 to replace house destroyed 1644 during Civil War. Listed Grade I. Listed features include enclosing walls/balustrade, garden walls and associated features and former stableyard (Listed Grade II).
SMR.

Clark, J., 2013, Stedcombe House (Un-published). SDV358185.

Large house overlooking the Axe valley. An exceptionally fine and complete example of the this type of small late C17 country house. A compact post-Restoration house with belvedere, a rarity in Devon. It was probably built c.1697 by Richard Hallett. The Hallets bought the estate in 1691 from Sir Walter Yonge of Escot.Solidly constructed, of brick with Portland stone dressings, bold quoins, moulded window surrounds. It was erected near the site of an older house which had been destroyed by the Royalists in 1644. Much of the interior was gutted in the late 1970’s because of dry rot, but energetic restoration work from 1988-91 by C. Rae-Scott restored the building as far as possible to its original appearance.

Pink, F., 2014-2015, South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment (Interpretation). SDV357736.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Historic England, 2015, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV358087.

Large house overlooking the Axe valley. Built c1697 by Richard Hallett; restored 1989 by C Rae-Scott. Red brick in Flemish bond with Beer and Portland stone dressings. Slate hipped roof with modillion eaves cornice and leaded flat around the belvedere. PLAN: square double-depth plan with opposed entries in W and E elevations, of 2 rooms wide with main and service stairs between rooms on N side. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys and attic. Five by five bays. Moulded stone plinth, rusticated quoins and moulded band at first-floor level. Moulded stone window architraves with small keyblocks. 2-light stone- mullioned basement windows. West door, doorcase and steps of 1989 (a reproduction of the original) with similar moulded architrave and canopy on scrolled consoles with carved acanthus ornament. To east elevation is semi-circular arch over half-glazed doors of 1989, a conjectural reconstruction of the original. Original 6/6 pane sashes with thick glazing bars to north elevation and one to belvedere; other to belvedere is an early C18 repair; other sashes, after the original, were installed 1989, incorporating glass from decayed early C19 sashes. Lead rainwater furniture of 1989; 3 triangular- pedimented dormers to each facade, reproductions of 1989. Belvedere to centre of roof, a square brick structure with moulded stone cornice, quoins and semi-circular arched window on each side with stone voussoirs and small chimneystacks at the corners, these being Portland stone caps of 1989. Stone-mullioned basement windows, 5 being restorations after the original, and original studded basement door to west elevation. Basement surrounded by path enclosed by brick walls surmounted by iron railings of 1989. INTERIOR: restored to an exceptionally high standard by Mr Rae-Scott in 1989, 14/45 doors, 27% of the panelling and almost all fireplaces being careful reproductions after the original. Basement has original features including keyed arched stone door architrave to wine cellar, plank doors with bolts and Norfolk latches and C18 panelled cupboard doors (one to NE dated 1742). Panelled throughout with straight-cut ovolo-mould and bolection-moulded panelling. c1730 egg and dart surround to fireplace in west first-floor room. Main first-floor rooms each open into two closets. Main stairhall has cyma-moulded cornice of 1989 (after the original) to ground floor and enriched cornice to first floor (a quarter of which is restored) with corner shells and foliate/floral motifs: open-well stair with 2 twisted balusters per tread and plain dado. Back stairs positioned to north rise from basement to attic, with turned balusters on closed string rising around open well. Cornice and balustrade installed 1989.

Historic England, 2018, Gate Lodge to Stedcombe House, and Gate Piers and Boundary Wall, near Axmouth, Devon (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV361667.

Stedcombe House was built in around 1697 by Richard Hallett (d.1747), whose family had owned the estate since 1691. They were a merchant family who traded in Barbados sugar and rum to fund the purchase of the estate and construction of the house. The plan is an exact square with five window bays on each elevation, built of red brick with Beer and Portland stone dressings. A slate hipped roof surrounds a central, brick, square belvedere incorporating the chimney stacks. The Hallett family owned Stedcombe House and its estate until 1890, when it was bought by Samuel Sanders Stephens (d.1910). High Sherriff for Devon and Justice of the Peace and a member of the County Council, Stephens also had philanthropic inclinations, having paid for the removal in perpetuity of the public toll on Axmouth bridge in 1907.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV109648	Migrated Record: Cherry, B..
SDV135269	Migrated Record:
SDV135270	Migrated Record:
SDV135271	Migrated Record:
SDV135272	Migrated Record:
SDV135273	Migrated Record:
SDV135274	Migrated Record:
SDV135275	Migrated Record:
SDV135276	Migrated Record:
SDV135277	Migrated Record:
SDV135278	Aerial Photograph:
SDV135279	Aerial Photograph:
SDV135280	Aerial Photograph:
SDV177625	Migrated Record:
SDV241817	Article in Serial: The Times. 1988. The Home of History. The Times. Photocopy + Digital.
SDV242	Migrated Record:
SDV325629	Monograph: Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N.. 1989. The Buildings of England: Devon. The Buildings of England: Devon. Hardback Volume.
SDV326953	Report - Survey: Department of Environment.
SDV335	Migrated Record:
SDV351568	Archive - Survey: Exeter Archaeology. 2003-2004. East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey. East Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Archaeological Survey. Digital + Mixed Archive Material. Site No. 1462.
SDV357601	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2015. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey Digital Mapping. Digital. [Mapped feature: #80495 ]
SDV357736	Interpretation: Pink, F.. 2014-2015. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment. AC Archaeology Report. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV358087	National Heritage List for England: Historic England. 2015. National Heritage List for England. Website.
SDV358185	Un-published: Clark, J.. 2013. Stedcombe House. Devon Local Register of Parks and Gardens of Local Historic Interest. Digital.
SDV361667	List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest: Historic England. 2018. Gate Lodge to Stedcombe House, and Gate Piers and Boundary Wall, near Axmouth, Devon. Notification of Completion of Assessment. Digital.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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