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Summary

Large town house, now used as offices. Early 18th century, thoroughly restored 1966.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II*) 1384877: GOTHAM HOUSE INCLUDING FORECOURT WALLS AND ENTRANCE GATES

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS91SE/84
• Old Listed Building Ref (II*): 485336

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (XVIII - 1701 AD to 1800 AD (Between))

Full description

Devon County Council, Gotham House (Ground Photograph). SDV345952.

Other details: Film 244, 268, 497.

Chalk, E. S., 1920 - 1921, Early brick buildings in Devon and Cornwall, 56 (Article in Serial). SDV44101.

Gotham House, Fore Street, Tiverton. The finest early brick structure in Tiverton. Probably built subsequent to fire of 1731.

Pevsner, N., 1952, The Buildings of England: South Devon, 286 (Monograph). SDV336217.

Author refers to Gothic house in Hammets Square as being an especially fine brick house, but derelict at the time of writing.

Department of Environment, 1972, Tiverton, 25 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV52494.

Has been a very good 18th century house, probably early 18th century, restored after damage, red brick. Possibly built by a member of the prosperous Davey family. Five window three storey front with giant doric order, and smaller order above at attic storey. Brick entablature with dentil cornice above centre attic window. Good doorway with doric pilaster and fanlight. Garden front has large arched staircase sash window with bars interlaced at head and fine stone case. Brick forecourt wall partly about four feet high with railings above and a pair of high square piers with stone caps and gadrooned urns. Wrought iron gates.

Devon County Council, 1975, Tiverton Town Trails, 66 (Article in Monograph). SDV352466.

Express & Echo, 1977, 2 Hammett Square (Article in Serial). SDV349347.

Tiverton District Council wish to demolish the three-storey 18th century house, as it is claimed to be dangerous. Help of Devon Historic Buildings Trust to be sought to repair and restore it.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1978 - 1982, SS91SE32 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV345951.

Mid Devon District Council, 1995, Tiverton Conservation Area Partnership Scheme. Preliminary Application, 6 (Un-published). SDV346055.

Fore Street still retains some historic character with several good three storey 18th and 19th century town houses in the vicinity, particularly the fine Baroque-style of Gotham House off Fore Street.

Collings, A. G., 2001, Archaeological Assessment of Proposed Centralised Offices at Phoenix Lane, Tiverton, 6 (Report - Assessment). SDV336255.

Other details: Figure 2.

Wessex Archaeology, 2003, Blundells Road, Tiverton, Devon: Archaeological Desk Based Assessment, 7, 17 (Report - Assessment). SDV345760.

Other details: Figure 2, site WA 17.

English Heritage, 2010, Historic Houses Register (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV154869.

Gotham House including forecourt walls and entrance gates. Large town house, now used as offices. Early 18th century, thoroughly restored 1966 by Clement Toy, architect with Raymond Erith, consultant architect.
Materials: Flemish bond brickwork with some blue headers; rear left return has bands of rubbed brick headers; left return is Flemish bond; rubbed brick flat arches over windows; purple slatestone footings. Slate roof. Glazed ridge tiles; cast-iron rain water goods; stacks with brick shafts; brick bands, corbelled cornice and tapering yellow pots.
Plan: double-depth plan, under an M profile roof, two rooms wide heated from end stacks with an open-well stair in a central stair hall and through-passage. Kitchen in half-basement with service stair at south-west end.
Exterior: three storeys and basement. Symmetrical five-bay front. Ground and first floor have giant brick pilasters to left and right and flanking centre bay. These have moulded caps and bases and fluted sections below a deep moulded cornice that projects out round the pilasters. Shorter pilasters above the cornice rise to the top of the parapet. Moulded brick string at first-floor level. Pilastered doorcase with round-headed outer doorway with fanlight and two-leaf door. Ground and first-floor windows have segmental-headed arches and are glazed with six over nine-pane sashes with triple keystones. Second-floor windows are small four over eight-pane sashes with a moulded brick cornice over the central window. Basement area has iron railings. Rear elevation almost symmetrical, three-bays with five windows. Bays divided by pilasters. Small blind projection at right end, perhaps a lavatory shaft. Platband below parapet; platband at ground-floor level; bands above window sills in outer bays only. Steps up to rear doorway which has segmental hood on shaped timber brackets. Pilastered segmental-headed doorcase with panelled reveals. Two-leaf half-glazed door, panelled below with glazing bars with margin panes and intersecting glazing bars in the head. Large, impressive stair window with round-headed architrave of fluted Doric pilasters, rusticated arch and apron. Window glazed with eight/twelve sash with intersecting glazing bars. Segmental-headed basement windows glazed with high-transomed casements with glazing bars. ground-floor windows have rubbed brick arches and keyblocks. They are sash windows with boxed frames glazed with six/nine sashes to left of front door and 18-pane sashes to right. Similar first-floor windows six/nine sashes. Second floor attic windows glazed with four/eight sashes. The left return has one ground and one first floor segmental-headed six/nine sash. Second-floor windows are square-headed four/eight sashes.
Interior: good interior detail. Fine early 18th century open string stair with ramped wreathed flat-handrail and alternating barleysugar and fluted balusters, three balusters to each breacketed tread. Joinery includes six-panel doors with fielded panelled reveals; two-panel doors to service. Panelled stair dado with fluted pilasters. Massive wall cornice and plaster roundel to stair hall. One good chimneypiece seen; others believed to survive. Marble chimneypiece has Corinthian columns and frieze of sphinxes and cherubs; cast-iron grate. Nineteenth century fittings include butler's pantry and dumb waiter.
Subsidiary Features: forecourt walls are crowned with 20th century cast-iron railings. Square brick gate piers have urn finials.
History: the cornice on the front elevation was replaced in 1966 and the front boundary wall was coped.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

Adams, A., 2010, Sgraffito - Decorated and Painted Plaster on Devon Fireplaces, 4; Fig 13 (Report - non-specific). SDV354436.

Refers to sgraffito-deorated fireplace at 'Gotham', but does not specify whether Gotham House or Gotham Farmhouse.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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