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Summary

Country house. Dated 1838, by Henry Roberts for Sir John Kenneway.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1098137: ESCOT INCLUDING COURTYARD OF SERVICE BUILDINGS ADJOINING TO NORTH
• SHINE: Cropmarks of possible prehistoric or Roman settlement, ditches of water meadow system, section of former leat to Talaton Mill and Escot Park, an C18 historic parkland
• SHINE: Cropmarks of possible prehistoric or Roman settlement, ditches of water meadow system, section of former leat to Talaton Mill and Escot Park, an C18 historic parkland

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SY09NE/16
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 86913
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• COUNTRY HOUSE (XIX - 1838 AD to 1838 AD (Throughout))

Full description

Hoskins, W. G., 1954, A New Survey of England: Devon, 484 (Monograph). SDV17562.

Department of Environment, 1988, Talaton, 138 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV341348.

Cherry, B., 1988, The Devon Country House in the Late Seventeenth and Early Eighteenth Centuries, 107 (Article in Serial). SDV129144.

Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N., 1989, The Buildings of England: Devon, 356 (Monograph). SDV325629.

Escot House. Built 1837 to replace the house built circa 1680 and illustrated in Vitruvius Britannicus before its destruction by fire in 1808.

Clark, J. + Richardson, D., 2013, Escot (Un-published). SDV356812.

Ordnance Survey, 2014, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV355681.

English Heritage, 2014, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV355683.

Country house. Dated 1838, by Henry Roberts for Sir John Kenneway. Flemish bond brick, yellow-coloured on the main fronts, red-coloured to rear and service outbuildings; limestone ashlar detail; brick stacks with limestone ashlar chimneyshafts, many with original chimneypots; slate roof. Plan: large house. Essentially it is a square-plan building, 2 main rooms wide and 2 deep, and faces south-south-east, say south. This south front is a garden front onto a raised terrace, so too is the west front. The entrance front is on the east side with the main doorway into the basement. It leads into a large hall containing the main stair in the centre of the house. All the rooms are heated by a series of axial stacks. The house is 2 storeys with attics, basement and cellars below. At the back (to north) the ground drops away so that the cellars face into the service courtyard there. The west wing projects from the back of the house and it is a service block. The other wings contain coach house stables and the like with service accommodation above. There is a sunken carriageway entrance through the west wing. Exterior: the east (entrance) has a symmetrical 5-window front. The basement level is plastered. The central doorway is contained in a flat-roofed porch with stone parapet. The doorway breaks forward very slightly and contains panelled double doors flanked by Tuscan pilasters. To left are two 9-pane sashes but the 2 to right have been replaced by C20 garage doorways. The upper windows are 12-pane sashes, those on the ground floor are taller than those on the first floor. All have limestone architraves with entablatures supported on scrolled consoles. The centre bay breaks forward a little and here the window architraves include flanking panels. There are moulded bands across at each floor level and below the bottom one at the right end is an inscribed stone which records the building of the house in 1838 by Henry Roberts after the old house was destroyed by fire in 1808. Moulded eaves cornice includes a dentil frieze and the parapet contains balustrades of turned stone balusters. The low pitch parallel roofs are hipped. The southern (garden) front has a 1:3:1-window front on to the terrace and is in the same style as the entrance front. Here the end bays break forward and they contain French windows. The other garden front (to west) continues the same style and here the centre 3 ground floor windows are recessed behind a 3-bay colonnade. A glass-roofed conservatory projects forward from the left end. The service side (to north) has none of the stone detail. It has 1:3:1-window front. The centre 3-window section is recessed a little and it contains round- headed sash windows. The same plain style is continued through the service courtyard buildings which have regular courtyard fronts with 9-pane sash windows. The west (outer) side of the service wing has more varied fenestration, mostly 9- pane sashes and some are round-headed. Interior was not inspected although it is said to be little-modernised and contains a great deal of original joinery and other detail. Escot is set in a landscaped park. The former Escot house was designed by Robert Hooke in 1677-8 for Sir Walter Yonge, subsequently altered by James Wyettt in circa 1795 and destroyed by fire in 1808. Source: Colvin, H. A Birographical dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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