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Summary

Greenway House was built 1780-90 on the site of an earlier, Tudor mansion which was owned by the Gilbert family. The present house was remodelled and extended in the early 19th century. It was the holiday home of Dame Agatha Christie and is now a National Trust property.

Location

Protected Status

• Registered Park or Garden (II) 1001686: GREENWAY
• Listed Building (II*) 1108548: GREENWAY HOUSE

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 446064
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX85SE/12
• Old Listed Building Ref (II*): 100580
• Old Registered Parks and Gardens Ref (II): 5281

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOUSE (Built, XVIII to XIX - 1780 AD (Between) to 1900 AD (Between))

Full description

Roberts, J., 1959, Sir John Gilbert (1536(?) - 96), 92 (Article in Serial). SDV336921.

On site of a mansion described in 1630 as a 'delightful dwelling'.

Department of Environment, 1985, Kingswear (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV336924.

Greenway House. Country house in landscaped gardens overlooking River Dart. Built 1780-90, remodelled and extended in early 19th century. Stuccoed stone rubble. Slate hipped roof. Parapet and dentilled cornice. Three storeys. Five bays. Sash windows, with vertical glazing bars only, in moulded architraves with cornices to first and ground storeys. Central plain round-headed doorway with semi-circular fanlight and glazed double doors, and early 19th century porch with Tuscan columns. Early 19th century single storey one bay wings left and right with tripartite sashes complete with glazing bars and loggias each with two pairs of Tuscan columns supporting entablature. The left hand (west) wing has wide segmental bow on west side. Stuccoed chimney stacks over side walls with moulded cornices. Service wing at rear.
Interior: Stairwell has moulded plaster rib vault with bosses displaying arm of Elton impaling Marwood and plaster modillion cornice. Plain stairs with stick balusters and wreathed handrail to column newel. Two good late 18th century marble chimneypieces and 18th/19th century iron grates, moulded plaster cornices, friezes and centrepieces. Original mahogany doors. In the dining room (to east) two curved doors. Other late 18th and early 19th century joinery intact. Sir Humphrey Gilbert (Compton Castle qv) is reputed to have been born at Greenwood about 1539 although there are no remains of a 16th century house. He founded the first British colony in North America in Newfoundland in 1583.
Reference: W G Hodens 'A New Survey of England, Devon', pages 206 and 369. Other details: LBS 100580.

Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N., 1989, The Buildings of England: Devon, 525 (Monograph). SDV325629.

Devon Gardens Trust, 1995, Greenway House (Worksheet). SDV336920.

18th century house with stables and boating house on river Dart. Sub-tropical gardens in informal picturesque and Victorian styles. Woodland with specimen trees from China and South America.

Brown, S. + Matthews, A., 1999, Greenway Stable Block: Rapid Archaeological Survey (Report - Survey). SDV336789.

Dyer, M. J., 2002, Greenway, Galmpton: Archaeological and Historic Landscape Survey: Part 1 (Report - Survey). SDV169254.

Greenway, comprising Greenway House, its gardens and Lower Greenway Farm, occupies an area of 112.5 hectares. It is first mentioned as La Grenewey in 1328 and in 1493 as Greynway. It is believed that the first house was built c. 1530.

Dyer, M. J., 2002, Greenway, Galmpton: Archaeological and Historic Landscape Survey: Part 2, 78 (Report - Survey). SDV169255.

Three storey house built c. 1790, remodelled and extended in early 19th century. Of stuccoed stone rubble with a hipped slate roof.

Dyer, M. J., 2003, Greenway, Galmpton, Devon: Archaeological Recording during the Installation of New Visitor Facilities, 2 (Report - Watching Brief). SDV336097.

In 1588, Sir John Gilbert is said to have used Spanish prisoners of war from the Armada to landscape the garden and grounds. An early 17th century plaster overmantel in the house is said to have come form the first house. The house was purchased by Dame Agatha Christie in 1938 and given to the National Trust in 2000.

English Heritage, 2004, Greenway, Devon, 5281 (Register of Parks and Gardens in England). SDV346363.

Dyer, M. J., 2007, Archaeological Monitoring and Recording of Structural Investigation Pits at Greenway House, Galmpton, Devon in 2006, 5-6 (Report - Evaluation). SDV344596.

The monitoring of the trial pits has provided additional information on the construction and development of the present house, and further evidence of the earlier 16th to 18th century house. The footings and associated levelling deposits were revealed, as well as late 19th to early 20th century glazed ceramic drains. A buried masonry pier abutting the footings on the south-west corner of the original house was interpreted as a buttress, date unknown. A masonry pad on the west side of the portico was interpreted as either the base of a former portico or more likely, a truncated wall or garden feature from the earlier house. Remains of the this were identified inside the house, in the form of a cobbled surface that was overlain by the stone footings of a wall from the 1790 house. The surface may have been part of a yard or outbuilding. Other details: Figures 1-2; plates 1-8.

Young, G. M., 2010, Greenway, Galmpton, Devon: Archaeological Recording During Refurbishment and Re-servicing Works 2007-8 Part 1: The House, 4-7 (Report - Watching Brief). SDV347401.

From the prodigious quantity of evidence collected during the refurbishment works it is now possible to arrive at a fairly detailed chronological scheme for the development of the house. The evidence has been used to create detailed plans showing features and phasing. Nowhere in the existing building was evidence found of any in situ fabric from the earlier Tudor house. However a number of re-used masonry blocks, many with mouldings, in a number of different stone types, were observed in the existing fabric of both the main house and service wing. The re-used fragments are presumed to have come from the 16th century house, and suggest that this building was demolished as the new house was built. It has been suggested that the cross wing (the two storey block at the north end of the service wing) occupied the site of the east end of the Tudor house, and may even have re-used part of the structure of that building. No evidence was found to support the second hypothesis, but evidence was forthcoming that the west wall of the service wing, at its southern end at least, was seated on a cellar wall of the Tudor building. The earliest phase to which evidence revealed during the refurbishment can be attributed is that depicted on a late 18th century map, see report for full details. Other details: Figures 3-12.

Ordnance Survey, 2011, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV346129.

Gaimster, M., 2011, Post-Medieval Fieldwork in Britain and Northern Ireland in 2010: Devon (Article in Serial). SDV361542.

Between 2000 and 2008 Exeter Archaeology undertook a range of projects, including landscape survey, historic building recording and archaeological investigation and monitoring, which identified remains of the Tudor house and established its location and extent. Groundworks exposed a series of walls to the west and north of the standing Georgian house, and extending below it; further remains were identified inside an outbuilding known as the Coal House. Architectural fragments from this structure were also recovered. A fine overmantel of c. 1600–30, presumably from Greenway Court, is now displayed in the Georgian house. No standing fabric relating to the earlier Greenway Court was found in the house of 1780, but it was shown to have had a very complex history of secondary alterations, the latest dating to the 1930s.
A number of historic garden buildings have been recorded prior to restoration work. Two main periods in the development of the gardens and garden buildings were established: 1791– 1832, under the ownership of the Elton family, and 1851–82, when Greenway belonged to Richard and Susanna Harvey.
The ruined early 19th-century circular stone Gazebo was recorded; postholes from the doorway and roof (probably thatched), and evidence of a wooden seat around the inside were identified.
A rectangular open-fronted stone structure, originally roofed with slate and built between 1839 and 1865, proved to have the stone base for a seat extending continuously around the interior; evidence for the timber seat and back rest were found. Remains of a patterned cobbled floor were also uncovered. Two phases of roofing were identified.
The Vinery was a brick greenhouse with a glazed timber superstructure built between 1839 and 1865. The timber elements had been much repaired, but the identification of original fabric allowed the design to be reconstructed. The original stoves were uncovered in the service range to the rear of the greenhouse, and the remains of flues were found under the floor.
The Coal House was outwardly of 19th-century date, and proved to be a very complex building. It incorporated an earlier 19th-century garden terrace wall and a flight of steps; functions included storehouse and latrines (citing Exeter Archaeology Reports 02.48, 03.10, 03.41, 06.67, 07.88, 09.105, 09.108, 10.07–9, 11.05).

Rance, H., 2012, DAS Visit to Greenway, 1, 6-7 (Article in Serial). SDV351766.

The house was built 1780-1790 by Roope Harris Roope and exended in the early 19th century. It became the holiday home of Agatha Christie and her husband, Sir Max Mallowan and during the Second World War was used as a mess by the 10th US Patrol Boat Flotilla.

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

Historic Environment Record, c2000, Greenway House (Unattributed Sites and Monuments Register Entry). SDV336923.

Now a National Trust property. Application in April 2000 for visitor facilities.

Sources / Further Reading

SDV169254	Report - Survey: Dyer, M. J.. 2002. Greenway, Galmpton: Archaeological and Historic Landscape Survey: Part 1. Exeter Archaeology Report. 02.48. A4 Bound.
SDV169255	Report - Survey: Dyer, M. J.. 2002. Greenway, Galmpton: Archaeological and Historic Landscape Survey: Part 2. Exeter Archaeology Report. 02.48. A4 Stapled + Digital. 78.
SDV325629	Monograph: Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N.. 1989. The Buildings of England: Devon. The Buildings of England: Devon. Hardback Volume. 525.
SDV336097	Report - Watching Brief: Dyer, M. J.. 2003. Greenway, Galmpton, Devon: Archaeological Recording during the Installation of New Visitor Facilities. Exeter Archaeology Report. 03.10. A4 Stapled + Digital. 2.
SDV336789	Report - Survey: Brown, S. + Matthews, A.. 1999. Greenway Stable Block: Rapid Archaeological Survey. Stewart Brown Associates Report. A4 Stapled + Digital.
SDV336920	Worksheet: Devon Gardens Trust. 1995. Greenway House. Worksheet.
SDV336921	Article in Serial: Roberts, J.. 1959. Sir John Gilbert (1536(?) - 96). Transactions of the Devonshire Association. 91. A5 Hardback. 92.
SDV336923	Unattributed Sites and Monuments Register Entry: Historic Environment Record. c2000. Greenway House. Not Applicable.
SDV336924	List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest: Department of Environment. 1985. Kingswear. Historic Houses Register. Website.
SDV344596	Report - Evaluation: Dyer, M. J.. 2007. Archaeological Monitoring and Recording of Structural Investigation Pits at Greenway House, Galmpton, Devon in 2006. Exeter Archaeology Report. 07.88. A4 stapled + Digital. 5-6.
SDV346129	Cartographic: Ordnance Survey. 2011. MasterMap. Ordnance Survey. Map (Digital). [Mapped feature: #108628 ]
SDV346363	Register of Parks and Gardens in England: English Heritage. 2004. Greenway, Devon. Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. A4 Stapled + Digital. 5281.
SDV347401	Report - Watching Brief: Young, G. M.. 2010. Greenway, Galmpton, Devon: Archaeological Recording During Refurbishment and Re-servicing Works 2007-8 Part 1: The House. Exeter Archaeology Report. 10.07. A4 Stapled + Digital. 4-7.
SDV351766	Article in Serial: Rance, H.. 2012. DAS Visit to Greenway. Devon Archaeological Society Newsletter. 111. A4 Stapled + Digital. 1, 6-7.
SDV357736	Interpretation: Pink, F.. 2014. South Devon Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Desk-Based Assessment. AC Archaeology Report. ACD618/4/3. Digital.
	Linked documents:1
SDV361542	Article in Serial: Gaimster, M.. 2011. Post-Medieval Fieldwork in Britain and Northern Ireland in 2010: Devon. Post-Medieval Archaeology. 45. A4 Stapled + Digital.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV4111 - Greenway, Galmpton, Devon. Archaeological and Historic Landscape Survey
• EDV4700 - Archaeological Monitoring and Recording of Structural Investigation Pits at Greenway House, Galmpton, Devon in 2006
• EDV5103 - Historic Building Recording During Refurbishment of Greenway House

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