Description

SS42SW
6/72
22.1.52

BUCKLAND BREWER
Orleigh Court

I

Manor House. Early/mid C14 hall, built for the Dennys family,
altered when very fine late C15 hammer-beam roof installed;
altered c. 1720 for Joseph Davie, whose father, a Bideford
merchant, had acquired the property in 1684; exterior remodelled
after 1869 for Thomas Rogers by J.H. Hakewill; converted into
flats in 1982. Coursed slatestone rubble; gabled slate roof;
stone ridge stacks. Courtyard plan with open hall to right of
porch. Two-storey front elevation has wing projecting to left
making L-plan. Front to left, of 3-window range, has C20 door
and plate-glass casements set in chamfered stone architraves of
c. 1870. Main front wall, of 5-window range, has moulded
stone-mullioned and transomed windows of c. 1870 to left and to
gabled projection of c. 1870 on right; C20 door set in chamfered
architrave of c. 1870 to left; tall late C16/early C17 six-light
ovolo-moulded stone-mullioned and transomed window to right of
2-storey gabled porch. Porch has oriel window of c. 1870 above
late C15 archway, with vine-trails to outer arch and fleurons to
inner arch; C15 studded plank door with original lock set in
2-centred early C14 wave-moulded doorway. Left side wall, of
5-window range, has plate-glass sashes set in chamfered stone
architraves of c. 1870; right side wall, of 6-window range, has 2
lead downpipes dated c. 1720, and plate-glass sashes set in
moulded stone architraves of c. 1870. To rear is a fine brick
Venetian window of c. 1720, with thick glazing bars to fixed
panes and switch tracery to central fanlight. Interior: open
hall, to right of front porch, has stone-flag floor, flat stone
arch over open fireplace, plastered walls, and reset late C16
panelling with scallop-carved heads and blind arches with fluted
pilasters and carved spandrels. Main feature of open hall is the
fine late C15 four-bay hammer-beam roof, supported by various
head and figure corbels; heavily moulded wood cornice; hammer
beams have carved pendentives and are surmounted by unusual
heraldic beasts; moulded beams and purlins divide ceiling into
panels of diagonal and square framing with carved bosses; fine
arch-braced trusses. Early C18 panelled double doors, set in
moulded wood semi-circular arched architrave, lead to early C18
inner hall to rear right of open hall. This inner hall has
panelled doors, dado, moulded plaster ceiling and dog-leg
staircase with landing of c. 1720: fine staircase has
barley-twist balusters set in open string, decoratively-carved
brackets and panelled dado with fluted Doric half-columns.
Staircase is lit by Venetian window with fine fluted Corinthian
pilasters and Corinthian entablature. Landing has similar dado,
doors and plaster ceiling. First-floor rooms have
bolection-moulded panelling and fireplaces. Flat to left of
porch has late C16 dog-leg with landing staircase with turned
balusters set on closed string. Room over porch has mid C19
Gothic-style fireplace and ribbed ceiling. L-plan rear wing is
not of architectural or historical interest. History: Orleigh
was granted to Dennis family in C13 by Tavistock Abbey. Sold to
John Davie, a Bideford merchant, in 1684: his son Joseph altered
the house c. 1721.
(W.H. Rogers, Buckland Brewer, (undated book of c. 1920), pp.
50-54; National Monuments Record).

Listing NGR: SS4297422259

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Orleigh Court at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q7103277

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas