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Summary

House built in 1866 by Thomas Lidstone, in the style of the 17th century merchants' houses, with slate-hung gables and reused oriel windows. The interior includes architectural fragments salvaged from the demolition of merchants' houses in Lower Street in 1864.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1297101: NEWCOMEN COTTAGE

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX85SE/171
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 387322

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (XVII to XIX - 1601 AD to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, First Edition 1:500 Town Map (Cartographic). SDV338879.

'Newcomen Cottage' shown.

Department of Environment, 1972, Dartmouth, 37 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV155627.

No 4, (Newcomen House), Ridge Hill. Picturesque gabled house built by Thomas Lidstone, a local architect, 1866. It incorporates carved oriels, fireplace, etc, taken from Newcomen House in Lower Street, demolished at that time (Elias Newcomen 1663-1729, inventor with Thomas Savery of the steam pump). Three storey including multi-light casement in gabled end east with hung tiles, and two canted casements at first floor, slate roof.

Ordnance Survey, 2008, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV340009.

English Heritage, 2013, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV350785.

House built in 1866 by Thomas Lidstone, surveyor and architect, for himself. Mixed construction; stone rubble with red sandstone and Salcombe sandstone dressings, ornamental timber-framing, some slate-hanging; stone rubble stacks with different brick chimneyshafts; slate roof. Plan: L-plan. Dining-room wing projecting forward in front of the kitchen to left; low ancillary service block projecting northwards behind the parlour to right. Exterior: 2 storeys with attics. In the style of the 17th century merchants' houses, with slate-hung gables and reused oriel windows. The 2 main fronts, the east end of the parlour and the south end of the dining-room wing, have stone rubble side walls, sandstone ashlar ground-floor levels containing sash windows with glazing bars (the dining-room ones with fat glazing bars, possibly 18th century), first-floor small-panel timber-framing and 17th century oriel windows, and slate-hung gables with smaller 17th century oriels. The framing and oriels are obviously mended and adapted to their new position but contain a great deal of genuine 17th century work. Front doorway immediately to right of the front wing contains a large 19th century studded door in Jacobean style under a hood carried on late 17th century carved scroll brackets. Directly above, a 16th century red sandstone single-light window lighting the stair landing, another larger 3-light version on the north side. The other sides in the same style but using less salvaged work. East end is slate-hung. Ornamental shaped bargeboards to the main gables except for the plain replacement at the east end. Interior: As with the outside the main features of interest are those salvaged from Newcomen House and the other houses on Lower Street. The large open-well stair using early 18th century twisted balusters incoporates a carved 17th century panel; later 18th century balusters on the stair from the first-floor landing to the attics. Oak-panelled dining room with high quality moulded plaster overmantel of circa 1640, featuring the Pentecost scene. Other 17th century plaster, notably the single rib ceiling featuring fleur-de-lys and other motifs in the chamber over the parlour, and the fragments on the first-floor landing (includes a plaque dated 1636). Other reused work includes an oak-panelled overmantel in the chamber over the dining room. Tudor-style chimneypiece in the parlour probably 19th century. History: The house was fitted out with the salvaged architectural fragments rescued from the demolition in 1864 of merchants' houses in Lower Street for the construction of the Newcomen Road ramp (see sources for old drawing of Lower Street). The most famous house demolished was the house of Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729), inventor with Thomas Savery of the atmospheric steam engine. (Freeman, Ray: Dartmouth and its Neighbours: Phillimore: 1990-: p117/Plate 65).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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