Description

SY 08 NE
3/41
11.11.52

COLATON RALEIGH
CHURCH ROAD, Colaton Raleigh
Place Court

GV
II*

House, part of a former manor house which belonged to the Deans of Exeter before the
Reformation. Parts may be C14 but most appears to be early C16; it was rearranged
in the late C16-early C17 and altered in the late C17-early C18; renovated in 1983.
Mostly built of local stone rubble, some is rebuilt with late C17-early C18 brick,
and the rear is plastered; the porch is built of roughly dressed blocks of coursed
local sandstone with the putlog holes showing; some Beerstone and volcanic trap
ashlar; stone stacks, the oldest with ashlar chimney shafts; slate roofs, probably
thatched originally.
What remains is basically a T-shaped building. The main block faces east-south-
east, say east, and comprises the original hall with a through-passage at the right
(northern) end. Beyond the passage is a 2-room plan crosswing which projects a
little front and back. Although they lie on the lower side of the passage these are
high quality rooms and the first floor room is presumably the master chamber since
it has a chapel attached (in the room over the porch). The front rooms of the
crosswing have a lateral stack backing onto the passage. The hall has a projecting
rear lateral stack. It was floored and subdivided in the late C16-early C17 with an
end stack for the first floor fireplace. The stairwell was probably built then
although the present stairs are later. There was probably another crosswing once at
the southern end and maybe more buildings to the rear. The service extension now
behind the crosswing is C19. 2 storeys throughout.
2:1:1 window front. The 2-window section to the hall are C20 casements with glazing
bars. Here the first floor front and back have been rebuilt with late C17-early C18
brick. The passage doorway at the right end of the hall is an early C16 Beerstone
Tudor arch with a broad chamfered surround and it contains an ancient plank door
with plain strap hinges. There is a 2-storey gabled porch in front. Its Beerstone
outer arch has a 2-centred, almost round, head and the surround is richly moulded.
The room above was a small chapel with an arch-headed Beerstone window, 2 lights
with Decorated tracery, on the front. On the left side there is a small 2-light
window with cinquefoil heads built of volcanic stone. There is a similar single
light on the right side. To right of the porch is the gable end of the crosswing
containing an early C16 Beerstone 3-light window with hollow-chamfered mullions and
hoodmoulds on each floor. All the stone windows contain rectangular panes of leaded
glass. The hall roof is gable-ended to left and hipped to right. The crosswing and
extensions are gable-ended.
The long northern side of the crosswing contains an irregular disposition of 1- and
2-light Beerstone windows similar to those on the front and including a C20 3-light
copy ground floor rear. At the end a flight of C20 steps lead to a first floor
doorway, an early C16 Beerstone 2-centred, nearly round-headed arch with chamfered
surround. Set on the inside of the wall this was evidently once an internal doorway
suggesting either that the crosswing once extended further westwards or that there
was once a garderobe turret here (it does lead from the master chambers). The rear
wall of the hall and the extensions contain C20 casements with glazing bars. The
rear passage doorway is identical to the front one and lies behind a small C20
single storey extension. The rear hall stack has weathered offsets and a tall
double chimney shaft of local sandstone ashlar. The end wall of the hall block is
blind but a small section of plaster has fallen away at first floor level revealing
what looks like part of a relieving arch over a fireplace. The chimney shaft
directly above is Beerstone ashlar.
Good interior of a house with a long and complex structural history and showing the
work of several building phases. The through-passage has a stone wall to the
crosswing and an oak plank-and-muntin screen to the former hall. The screen has
chamfered muntins with cut diagonal stops and includes 2 flat-arched doorways. It
appears to be late C16-early C17 in date and related to the flooring and subdivision
of the hall. There are 2 small rooms the other side of the screen and a larger room
beyond. The rear room houses the stair (apparently a C20 copy of a late C17-early
C18 dogleg with turned balusters) and a lobby connecting to the room beyond. The
subdivision of the hall appears to have caused a reduction in the size of the hall
fireplace. Its mutilated remains have been uncovered and only part of its soffit-
chamfered oak lintel remains. The crossbeam here has square corners and may be as
late as the C18. On the floor above there is a crosswall directly over the ground
floor crosswall. It is a late C16-early C17 oak frame in which riven oak lathes are
slotted into individual holes on the edges of the studs and thus form a ladder
backing for the cob infil. Some traces of red paint show suggesting that the wall
has a painted frieze towards the larger end room. This room has a fireplace of the
same date; it is Beerstone with a chamfered surround and rounded corners on the
lintel. Here both side walls have been rebuilt in late C17-early C18 brick and the
roof probably dates from the same time although it looks earlier being mortise,
tenoned and pegged together; it is 3 bays with large A-frame trusses on the beams
which are soffit-chamfered and show over the chambers.
From the passage to the crosswing there is a stone wall. To the rear room there is
a Beerstone doorway identical to those either end of the passage. The front room
however has a C17 oak doorframe with chamfered surround and scroll stops. The front
room has a 6-panel false intersecting beam ceiling, "false" in that the axial
lengths appear to be nailed to the crossbeams and may well have been added later.
The beams have broad soffit chamfers and are unstopped. They are presumably early
C16. The fireplace here may be an insertion since the stack projects very slightly
into the passage. It is built of Beerstone and is missing its original lintel; it
might have been hooded. The jambs have a broad chamfer containing a hollow panel
and straight cut stops. The partition between the 2 ground floor rooms is oak
framed but plastered over. That above it on the first floor is C17 and cob nogged.
The first floor front room fireplace has a Beerstone fireplace with an ovolo
surround and runout stops. The lintel has many old graffiti, some featuring
sailing boats and others crowned heads. To the left there is a 2-centred Beerstone
arch doorway with moulded surround leading to the chapel. Only the front 3 bays of
the C16 roof survive above the later ceiling. The A-frame trusses have chamfered
arch braces, they have 3 sets of chamfered butt purlins and 2 sets of windbraces,
the upper ones inverted. The chapel has a wagon roof and there is a small window in
the back wall which must originally have overlooked the open hall.
Place Court is an interesting house. It seems likely that the house was much
improved in the late C15-early C16 and then much rearranged after the Reformation.
It was once a larger house. The pace of alterations through the C16 and C17 make
definitive interpretations very difficult. The house has an attractive setting in
extensive grounds.
Place Court became the house of the Deans of Exeter when the parish and its revenues
were given to the first Dean of Exeter who is also recorded as the first rector of
Colaton Raleigh. A chapel is first mentioned in 1335.
Source: R J Kaye, Colaton Raleigh, Trans.Devon.Assoc. Vol. 96 (1964), p.77.

Listing NGR: SY0797687226

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17546638

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

• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)