Another very fine sixteenth century house, containing also some
earlier details, is Bradfield, near Uffculme, in which are a beautiful
music-room, a fine banqueting-hall with good panelling, a minstrels'
gallery, and a richly-carved roof. Altogether, this is one of the best
examples of domestic architecture in Devonshire.
[Illustration: Hayes Barton: Sir Walter Ralegh's House]
Other interesting and noteworthy houses of the period are Colleton
Barton at Chumleigh, Flete House at Holbeton, Hayes Barton at East
Budleigh, and Mol's Coffee House in Exeter. Flete has been rebuilt, but
it is a fine mansion, whose beauty is much enhanced by its surroundings
and its avenue of cedars. Hayes Barton, where Ralegh was born--it was
thus he always spelt his name--and where a table said to have belonged
to him is shown, is a rather modern-looking house, plainly built of
"cobb"; but its gables, its mullioned windows and its heavy door are
characteristic of the time. In Mol's Coffee House, which is one of the
sights of Exeter, is an oak-panelled room decorated with the arms of
Drake, Ralegh, Monk and others, in which the great Devonshire soldiers
and sailors of Armada days were accustomed to meet.
Two particularly interesting seventeenth century mansions are Sydenham
House, not far from Tavistock, and Forde House, near Newton Abbot. In
the former, which is a specially fine example of the work of the early
part of the century, containing also some fourteenth century details, is
some very good carved and decorated woodwork, especially in the form of
artistic panelling and stately staircases. There are also secret rooms
and passages, some of which have been contrived in the thickness of
the walls. The house was greatly damaged during the Civil War, when it
is said to have been stormed by the troops of the Parliament. At Forde
House, which was taken and retaken several times in the struggle between
the King and the Commons, the Prince of Orange slept on the first night
after his landing at Brixham. Charles I was there twice, in the first
year of his reign.
[Illustration: Mol's Coffee House, Exeter]
Some good examples of more modern houses are Kingsnympton, in the parish
of that name, about four miles from Chumleigh, surrounded by well-wooded
grounds, on a commanding eminence looking down on the Taw; Ugbrooke,
near Chudleigh, standing in a deer-park of rare beauty, finely timbered,
and most picturesquely varied by wood and hill and water, and where
Dryden's grove may still be seen; Rousdon, near Axmouth, built of flint
faced with Purbeck stone, and considered one of the most magnificent
modern mansions in Devon; Saltram House, three miles east-north-east of
Plymouth, a stately building in a large and beautiful park; and Bicton
House near Budleigh Salterton, whose trees, brought from all parts of
the world, and including a wonderful avenue of araucarias, form one of
the finest collections of the kind in Europe.
[Illustration: Sydenham House]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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