Description

PLYMOUTH

SX5355 DRUNKEN BRIDGE HILL
740-1/47/538 (West side (off))
01/05/75 Plympton, Hardwick
Telegraph Cottage

II

Telegraph house for signalling messages across the land to
give warning of invasion from France, now a cottage. c1800 and
extended slightly later. Built for the Admiralty as part of a
chain of signalling stations designed by Lord George Murray
who was inspired by a more complicated system designed by the
Frenchman, Claude Chappe. Original part rendered, otherwise
painted rubble; bitumen-grouted rag slate roof; rendered brick
stacks: a central axial stack and an stack on the right of the
present front. Small rectangular single-depth plan of 2 rooms
plus an original lean-to on the left with a C20 conservatory
in front. Single storey; 2-window front plus conservatory on
the left in front of doorway. C20 windows.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
HISTORY: originally there was a 20 foot high stayed signalling
panel above the ridge and this contained 6 pivoting shutters
which could be adjusted by a system of ropes, cranks and
counter-poises from inside the house and messages could be
relayed up or down the country; 63 shutter combinations were
possible and a pre-arranged message could be sent for hundreds
of miles in a matter of minutes. There are some remains of
this structure in the roof space.
This is the only building of its type known to survive and it
is therefore historically and technically of national
importance.
(Devon Life: November 1984: 50 & 51; Devon County Magazine:
Autumn 1985: 14 & 15).

Listing NGR: SX5318555345

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26605666

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

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  For the Record
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living