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Summary

Largely 1902 hotel, incorporating a circa 1800 house at one end. Interior retains large open-well timber stair to entrance hall. The house has been altered with ground-floor partition removed and two circa 1900 chimneypieces added. An important feature of Taw Vale and the 19th century riverside development close to the Long Bridge.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1385348: IMPERIAL HOTEL

Other References/Statuses

• Old Listed Building Ref: 485810

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOTEL (XVIII to XXI - 1800 AD to 2013 AD (Between))
• HOUSE (XVIII to XX - 1800 AD to 1902 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, Towns 1855-95 1:500 (Cartographic). SDV348147.

Building complex shown, but not marked.
Map object based on this source.

Ordnance Survey, 2013, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV350786.

Map object based on this source.

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

Imperial Hotel.
Hotel. Largely 1902 (Pevsner), incorporating a c1800 house at the W end. Smooth plastered; natural slate roof with lead rolls; stacks with red brick shafts with corbelled cornices. c1800 house is symmetrical, 2 rooms wide. The hotel has been built around this and to the E with a large entrance/stair hall to E of the house. 3 storeys. Asymmetrical but regular 2:3:2:10-window range (2:3:2-window to the c1800 house). Deep eaves on moulded brackets; brick eaves course; moulded string at 2nd-floor cill level. Old house is symmetrical with Doric porch with moulded cornice with central roundel and 2-leaf small-pane glazed door. Ground-floor bay windows have rounded corners and are glazed with 4-pane horned sashes. The moulded string above was the cornice of the house before an extra storey was added with 3 similar sashes to the 2nd storey. The wing to the left has tall small-pane windows on the ground floor and 6 over one-pane sashes on the first floor and 4-pane sashes on the second floor. To right of the c1800 house a one-bay projection has a tall French roof with wrought-iron railings round the top. A 2-storey flat-roofed entrance block projects off this to the front with a 2-bay arcade on the ground floor and a third arch on the return with pilastered round-headed moulded arches with keyblocks. One opening is a door with plain fanlight, the other 2 are windows glazed with plate glass. The first floor of the entrance block is glazed with ribbon windows and crowned with decorative iron railings. The remainder of the hotel, 6 bays, has a canted corner and breaks forward to the right. Ground-floor windows are glazed with C20 timber 2-pane sashes, including 2 canted bays. First-floor balcony, probably 1902, on cast-iron brackets with frontal to match that on the entrance block. First-floor windows mostly French with high transoms, re-glazed with plastic windows, have cornices, some on consoles. Second-floor windows are 2 and 4-pane sashes.
Interior: large open-well timber stair to entrance hall with turned balusters. The c1800 house has been altered with ground-floor partition removed and 2 c1900 chimneypieces.
Historical Note: a painting shows the c1800 house as 2-storey with projecting front wings. The building is an important feature of Taw Vale and the C19 riverside development close to the Long Bridge. (Buildings of England: Pevsner N and Cherry B: Devon: London: 1989-: 159).

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6132 - North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty NMP Project

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