See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Turbine House located to the southeast of Castle Drogo on the south bank of the River Teign. The electricity generating plant designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens was built in the late 1920s and it remained in use into the 1990s. Both turbines were to be refurbished and repaired in 1995.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1396453: HYDRO-ELECTRIC ENGINE HOUSE AT CASTLE DROGO

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX78NW68
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 1468166
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX78NW/66/1
• Old Listed Building Ref (I): 508438

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATION (Built, Early 20th Century - 1920 AD (Between) to 1929 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1963, Untitled Source (Cartographic). SDV320771.

The 'Weir' below Hunter's Tor is located c360m to the southwest of the generating plant at SX72278963.

National Trust, 1982, Castle Drogo (Leaflet). SDV277065.

The weir below Hunts (Hunter's) Tor provides water for the Turbine House on south bank of River Teign. This generates electricity for Castle Drogo and was designed by Lutyens.

Trueman, M., 1994 - 1998, Electric Power Generation, Step 1, Step 3 & Step 3 Report Update, Appendix 2 (Report - non-specific). SDV335661.

Castle Drogo was designed by Edwin Lutyens and built between 1911 and 1930. The hydro-electric scheme probably dates to the 1920s and survives virtually intact. The power house stands on the south bank of the river Teign. A weir below Hunter's Tor feeds water through a sluice into a pipeline of flanged concrete sections, which runs to a set of screening tanks at the rear of the power house, with a stepped outflow on the north side. The power house itself is a single story building of rough cast concrete construction with a tall half-pyramidal roof, a single door in the east wall and wooden casement window in each of the east and north walls.
Proposed for Scheduling.

Harris, W. B., 1995, Hydro-Electricity in Devon: Past, Present and Future, 286 (Article in Serial). SDV125385.

Privately owned hydroelectric generator installed at Castle Drogo in 1927 using water from a leat to power two turbines. The larger turbine had been damaged and both were to be refurbished and reinstated in 1995.

Chitty, G., 2000, Electric Power Generation, Step 4 Report, Monument Protection Programme, 17, 31, 41, Site 8 (Report - non-specific). SDV335660.

Site visited in 2000 (estimated). Small single storey power house with screening tanks for a hydroelectric scheme to power the Castle Drogo estate. This is an exceptionally well-preserved system, complete with turbine and generator set, and screen house. The building, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, is also little altered apart from loss of the original thatch roof, now covered with corrugated tin. Important as in integral part of Lutyens' design for the Castle Drogo estate, and as a fine example of a large country house supply from the 1920s. Other details: Site Assessment: Devon 8, Castle Drogo.

Watts, M., 2005, Hydroelectric Works at Castle Drogo (Report - Survey). SDV320774.

Turbine House located to the southeast of Castle Drogo on the south bank of the River Teign. The electricity generating plant designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens was built in the late 1920s & included a powerhouse, a holding tank & penstocks. Th holding tank & tailrace are heavily silted with sluices allowing water into the penstocks housing the turbines. The power house 4.88m x 6.10m is of reinforced concrete is partly below ground with two windows & an entrance on the east side. The large turbine & generator have been removed to the stable block at Castle Drogo but the smaller turbine remains in position along with the governor. The electrical control & switch gear for the installations is mounted on a slate panel in the northeast corner of the power house. The electricity was carried to the castle by a two-core lead-covered cable originally in a trench under the river but after a flood c1946 it was altered to an overhead supply. A mains supply was installed in the 1950s but the hydroelectric works continued in use into the early 1990s. The power house had a telephone link to the castle installed in 1915.

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

English Heritage, 2011, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV347072.

Hydro-Electric Engine House at Castle Drogo. Turbine house by Sir Edwin Lutyens and built in the 1920s to supply electricity to Castle Drogo. The turbine house comprises a small concrete building with a roof now covered in corrugated metal, but formerly thatched. It is a single storey building with a steeply pitched roof. It lies in the valley of the River Teign and is fed by a pipeline which carried water into the screening tanks and then, under pressure, through the turbines within the turbine house.
EXTERIOR: It has a plank double door with two light casement to the east with a second casement window to the north elevation overlooking an adjacent stepped outflow sluice and sluice gate. A series of screening tanks are attached to the west.
INTERIOR: Internally, the turbine house is open to the roof which is of boarded common rafters. A Crompton turbine with a Gilkes governor, generator and distribution board survives in situ along with the machine base and conduit for a second turbine. The paired turbines were intended to be used alternately with one in use during the summer months and the other in winter.
HISTORY: Castle Drogo is an ambitious country house designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens for Julius Drewe (1856-1931), a self-made man who made his fortune in the grocery business, retiring at 33 to pursue his dream of creating a fitting family home which gave dignity to his lineage. Commonly called the 'last castle in England', Castle Drogo (listed Grade I) is undoubtedly one of Lutyens's masterpieces. The foundation stone was laid on the 4th April, 1911 and work continued, intermittently during the war, until 1930. In addition to the house, Lutyens also designed the stables and coach house garages (listed Grade II) and the turbine house, located to the south east of the house on the south bank of the River Teign.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The 1920s turbine house by Sir Edwin Lutyens is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest: a deliberate use of vernacular references in a small industrial building by Sir Edwin Lutyens at the edge of a designed landscape
Intactness: an unusually complete private electricity generation scheme of the 1920s Group Value: strong group value with Castle Drogo (listed Grade I); the stables (listed Grade II) and the designed landscape (registered Grade II*) Other details: LB UID: 508438.

Bodman, M., 2015, Mills on the Teign. A gazetteer of water-powered sites on the Teign and Bovey and their tributaries, 54 (Monograph). SDV360401.

Castle Drogo turbine house, Moretonhampstead SX 7251 8987. A weir across the Teign below Hunter's Tor at SX 7227 8963, directs water here. Single storey, reinforced concrete building built here in 1927, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens with tow Gilkes turbines, one of 75hp, one of 35hp. Originally thatched, it is now roofed with corrugated metal. Electricity generated was carried to Castle Drogo under the Teign by means of a culvert; flooding after the Second Word War resulted in a change to overhead cable use. Continued in use to supply power until the 1990s, although mains supply to the castle had been established by the 1950s. Larger damaged turbine and generator removed to the stable block, but the smaller turbine remains in-situ.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events

• EDV6046 - Archaeological Survey of National Trust Teign Valley Properties (Ref: 6764)
• EDV8616 - Architectural survey of the hydroelectric works at Castle Drogo
• EDV864 - Archaeological Survey of Castle Drogo

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.