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Summary

Holyshute House was originally built as a detached 18th century villa, taking its name from a nearby Spring. It is described as 'newly-built' in 1796. Service wing extensions were added in the early 19th century and the exterior was extensively modified in 1908 including the addition of a five bay Edwardian frontage. After a period of neglect he house was removated in circa 1995 when a significant amount of original fabric was removed from the interior of the building. The house was demolished in 2013.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses: none recorded

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• VILLA (Built, XVIII - 1701 AD to 1800 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Holyshute marked comprising a large house with outbuildings attached on the east side which form part of a courtyard with other, small buildings extending south to the road. A pump is also marked. To the east of this courtyard is a walled garden with a building in the south-west corner and a small greenhouse.

English Heritage, 2011, Holyshute House, Outbuildings and Associated Walls, Monkton Road (Correspondence). SDV348216.

English Heritage received a request to assess Holyshute House for designation.
Holyshute House was originally built as a detached late-18th century villa. It took its name from the Holy Shute spring that lies within the grounds. It is first mentioned as a 'newly-built villa' in a 1796 auction catalogue, sold as the late home of Reverend John Neale. The building appears on the 1840 tithe map with the main house to the west and a service wing and range of outbuildings in an 'L' shape attached to the east; this arrangement has changed little since. The First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1882) shows the main house with a flush front (south) elevation with porch. A later Ordnance Survey map (1959-60) shows the south elevation to the main house projecting slightly forward, and the rear bays have been extended, all as they appear at present. The house originally stood within a designed garden complete with pond to the north and walled garden to the west. By the second half of the 20th century the northern end of the garden was annexed from the main house and a new house built. The pond has since been lost. Further development has occurred to the east end of the walled garden and along the north-east corner of the original garden. The house has been owned by various local figures.
MATERIALS
The main house and service wing are constructed of brick, with stone and some concrete detailing, all under a slate roof. Outhouses attached to the east are constructed of rubble stone with brick and timber detailing.
PLAN
The main house to the west has an historic core of a late-18th century villa with a symmetrical double-pile plan which has since undergone extensions to the south, west and north elevations. The building is two storeys with basement and attic all under a hipped roof. A two-storey service wing extends to the west and beyond this an 'L' shaped single-storey outbuilding range, all under hipped roofs.
EXTERIOR
The principal (south) elevation of the main house is primarily a five-bay, early-20th century re-fronting; the inscription on an attached cast-iron drainpipe-hopper dates it to 1908. The early-20th century projecting bay includes a partly-recessed first floor to the two west end bays, with a first-floor balcony with balustrade over the ground floor and a two-storey with attic section to the three east bays under a [?] shaped roof with dormer windows. The original historic core is behind a flat parapet. The entrance way sits in the centre of the projecting southern elevation and consists of a six-panel door with glazed square window-light above. The door is flanked by two sets of columns with partial glazing in between, all under a moulded pediment. The west elevation is asymmetrical and is largely 18th century with some 19th century and 20th cnetury alterations. The north elevation fronts onto the garden. It is now an asymmetrical fenestration. The most prominent features are two full-height canted bays which have both undergone alteration. The bay to the north-east corner of the house has been extended to create a square tower with dentil detailing under a parapet, likely to have been altered in the early-20th century. The other bay retains its shape and has been extended by a full-height projecting window range. Many of the external windows are modern double-glazed horned sashes. A round-headed first-floor sash window above the rear entrance door on the north elevation, between the two bays, may be original. To the east of the main house is the two-storey single-depth service wing which has had new
windows and door inserted. The outbuildings are attached. These retain much of their original historic fabric including some pegged trusses. Parts of the roof beams have been replaced to varying degrees and some internal partitions and windows have been added and replaced.
INTERIOR
The ground floor has retained some of the original 18th century house plan with a central lobby and hallway with rooms running off either side. The early-20th century extension has led to some changes including the addition of a second internal entrance door with partially-glazed surround, and the extension of the two front rooms. The remains of the original front can be identified in an overhead beam inside the hallway. The chimney-pieces remain in most of the rooms with many of the fireplaces replaced since the early-20th century. Windows to the south elevation have re-used late-18th century or early-19th century shutters. Much of the internal ceiling decoration and floor boards have been replaced in the 20th century. Some of the six panel-doors may be 18th century. The east canted bay has largely been obscured by early-20th century and late-20th century extensions and internal alterations. The west canted bay is still evident in the family room, though it has been extended by the addition of a set of windows. This room also retains a doorway from the hall with six-panel timber door and skirting which are likely to be original. The service wing contains little original fabric of note and includes a modern kitchen and two further small rooms to the east. The cellar, accessed via a short stairway from the kitchen, lies under other original 18th century building. It retains a large amount of historic fabric including various storage compartments and a rubble floor. The first floor is accessed by a dog-leg open-string staircase in the entrance hall. The section running up to the first floor appears to be largely an original late-18th century construction with simple stick strings, square newel posts with moulded detailing, wooden handrail and decorative brackets. The first floor has undergone extensive remodelling and redecoration, both to the front where the rooms have been extended and also through the insertion of stud walls to create new rooms and passageways. In the service wing a sitting room and bedroom are accessed through a recently-created corridor and are also accessible from the floor below via a late-20th century wooden staircase. Many of the chimney pieces have been plastered over with only one late-19th century fireplace remaining in the north-west tower. The stairway originally stopped at the first floor. It was later extended, in a pattern designed to imitate the original section, to the attic, which has been converted to domestic use. The attic shows evidence of late-18th century timbers, some of which have crude partial chamfering and some with signs of pegging. Many of timber joists and rafters are more recent replacements. Again the front (south) rooms have been extended. The roof of the north-west canted bay has also been converted and the roof structure has been exposed to show pegged timbers.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
A stone-rubble perimeter wall with tile cap runs around part of the site and continues along the road to enclose the late-20th century housing development to the east. Part of a walled garden sits to the east of the outbuildings; however much of this has been lost with the subsequent housing development. A further outbuilding sits adjacent to the modern entrance gates and abutting the south perimeter wall. This building has been largely rebuilt in concrete breeze block with the use of some historic chamfered timbers and the retention of some of the historic fabric to the west elevation.

English Heritage, 2011, Honiton (Correspondence). SDV348694.

English Heritage has received a request to assess Holyshute House for designation.
Holyshute House was originally built as a detached late-18th century villa. It took its name from the Holy Shute spring that lies outside the boundary wall. It is first mentioned as a ‘newly-built villa' in a 1796 auction catalogue, sold as the late home of Reverend John Neale. The building appears on the 1840 tithe map with the main house to the west and a service wing and range of outbuildings in an ‘L’ shape attached to the east. The First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1882) shows the main house with a flush front (south) elevation with porch. A later OS Map (1959-60) shows the south elevation to the main house projecting slightly forward, and the rear bays to have been extended, all as they appear at present. The house originally stood within a designed garden complete with pond to the north and walled garden to the west. By the second half of the 20th century the northern end of the garden was annexed from the main house and a new house built. The pond has since been lost. Further development has occurred to the east end of the walled garden and along the north east corner of the original garden. The house has been owned by various local figures. Holyshute House, and its surrounding landscape, are included within a planning application which involves the demolition of the house. This is due for determination early in the New Year. We have also received a request to designate Holyshute Cottage, which is subject to the same planning application. This has been dealt with as a separate assessment. Holyshute House has clear local interest as one of the few remaining late-18th century suburban villas in Honiton. However, though it is anticipated that a building of this type and date would have undergone some alteration, the degree of change in this instance has led to the substantial loss of historic fabric. On balance, the house and its associated outbuildings and walls do not meet the criteria for listing in a national context.
After examining all the records and other relevant information and having carefully considered the architectural and historic interest of this case, the criteria for listing are not fulfilled. Holyshute House, its outbuildings and associated garden wall are not recommended for listing.

Milward, J., 2013, Holyshute House, Honiton, Devon: Results of Historic Building Recording (Report - Survey). SDV356450.

Historic building recording undertaken prior to the demolition of buildings. Holyshute House dates to the later 18th century and was a large free-standing villa, originally on the edge of Honiton. It takes its name from a nearby spring. It was first documented in sale details of 1796 in which it is described as ‘new-built’. The house comprised two storeys with attic and cellar under a hipped roof with service wing extensions on the east side. Five constructional phases were identified. The original house (phase 1) was a typical Georgian double-pile plan villa, with two storeys raised above a cellar and two full height canted bay windows on the rear elevation. At some time during the early 19th century, prior to the 1840 Tithe Map two phases (2 and 3) of two storey service wing were added to the eastern elevation, the phase 3 extension having a lower ceiling height and lower roofline than that of phase 2. The exterior was extensively modified in 1908 (phase 4) with the addition of a new five bay front facade. The front, south, elevation was then stylistically Edwardian with a central entrance framed by two pairs of pillars beneath a triangular moulded pediment in classical style. The two western bays were recessed level with the original frontage to form a first floor balcony with a timber balustrade. In addition a slightly projecting tower extension was built at the northern end of the western elevation and the two canted bays in the northern elevation were also modified. The western bay window became a full height square tower and the eastern window was extended outwards. These changes are also thought to date from 1908. The final phase (5) comprised the addition of a single storey extension of rubble construction which linked the house to an outbuilding on the north side of the service courtyard, dating to the latter half of the 20th century. After a period of neglect the house was renovated in about 1995 at which time a significant amount of original fabric was removed from the interior of the building. The cellar is located beneath the two eastern rooms of the Georgian villa and accessed by a non-original stairway in the kitchen. During demolition it was noted that the original building was constructed of brick with the footings and cellar perimeter wall of stone rubble. Both the two storey eastern extensions were of rubble stone.
The house and its ancilliary structures occupied a large site defined by a brick wall on the south and west sides. To the east of the main gated entrance the wall is of stone rubble with a tile cap. This wall was part of the original walled garden referred to in the 1796 sale document and which is visible on historic maps. The larger part of the walled garden is now covered by a modern housing development.

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

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV5618 - Assessment of Holyshute House, Outbuildings and Walls
• EDV6452 - Historic Building Recording at Holyshute House, Honiton (Ref: 0076)

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