Description

BIDEFORD

SS4526 NORTH ROAD
842-1/5/205 (South side)
08/11/49 Iffield

GV II

Large detached house in Cottage Ornee style. 1823, but
extended later in C19. Solid rendered walls. Slate roof.
Several red-brick chimneys, some rendered.
U-shaped plan, but with various projections; in the centre of
the U, as if infilling a courtyard, a lower range; entrance
through E wing.
2 storeys, except for single-storeyed range in centre of the
U. East front has centre gabled projection with 2
pointed-arched openings in ground storey, each with moulded
architrave.
Doorway to right has half-glazed double doors with
glazing-bars following the curve of the arch. Window to left
has sashes with similar glazing-bars. Matching window in upper
storey. Projection has raised quoins; patterned bargeboards.
To left, a pointed-arched blind window with moulded
archtitrave in each storey. To right a canted bay window, a
later addition, with reeded boards at the corners and a deep
boxed eaves-cornice. Pointed-arched windows like those to the
left, but without patterned glazing; those in ground storey
have cinquefoil arches containing coloured glass. South front
has gabled wings with patterned bargeboards; windows similar
to those on the older part of east front. Single-storeyed
section has canted bay window in centre with matching glazing.
Attached to it is a conservatory in the same style. North
front also has windows with pointed arches; those in ground
storey have heads filled with cinquefoil tracery and coloured
glass.
INTERIOR: wooden staircase with open Gothic balustrade. Room
to right of staircase has panelled doors with oil paintings of
lake and seascapes, reputed to be by the artist Arthur Hughes,
for whom the house was built. Owner says more paintings
concealed behind wall-covering in adjoining room (with later
bay window to east). The single-storeyed range (probably a
former billiard-room) has a lavishly-enriched cornice and
ceiling-band; flanking the chimneybreast 2 recesses with
multi-cusped Gothic arches. The house contains several studded
Gothic doors and plaster cornices. In 1869 TL Pridham, an
intimate friend of Arthur Hughes (1803-38), wrote that 'many
of his fresco and other paintings still adorn the walls of
Hyefield Cottage, at Bideford, which he built for his
residence, and where he resided for several years during which
time he painted several pictures of great merit'.
(Pridham TL: Devonshire Celebrities: Exeter: 1869-: P.129;
Graves A: The Royal Academy of Arts. A Complete Dictionary of
Contributors: London: 1906-: P.183; Thieme U: Allgemeines
Lexikon Der Bildenden Kunstler: 1925-: P.84).

Listing NGR: SS4510426832

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26496695

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

• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets