Description

WEST BUCKFASTLEIGH
SX 76 NW

4/142 Brook Manor House
-
- II*

Former Manor House. Dated 1656. Stone rubble, partly slate hung and partly
rendered. Bituminised turned slate roof with gabled ends. Three storeys. Now
L-shaped on plan originally E-shaped but west (left hand) coving burnt down in
C19. The West wing (the original central range) has three-storeyed gabled porch
to right of centre with round arched doorway and hood moulds over first and blocked
second floor windows. Datestone 1656 over first floor window. To left two four-
light chamfered wooden mullion windows to hall and horizontally sliding sashes
above with glazing bars. Second floor blank. Large rendered external chimney
stack on rear wall. South east wing projecting on right hand has slate hung
west side and lean-to along ground floor. The east side of south east wing was
remodelled in circa early C19 to form principal front. Two storeys and attic.
Five bays. First floor slate hung. Ground floor two-light sashes with glazing
bars and first floor four two-light casements. Both ground and first floor windows
have dripmoulds. Four C19 gabled attic dormers. Central two storey gabled porch
with round arch doorway. Interior: Original inner door (of west wing) has heavy
moulded doorframe with carved steps and moulded and panelled door with wrought
iron door knocker inscribed RC 1656 (RC initials for Richard Cabell). Large
newel staircase to right of screens passage. Fireplace on rear wall of former
hall to left of screens passage, has chamfered granite jambs and wooden lintel
with ovolo moulding with gem-cut steps. Heavily moulded doorframes with carved
steps. Richard Cabell was Lord of the Manor of Brook. He was a man of very
ill repute and the subject of a local legend. It is said that on the night of
his death (allegedly 1677) black hounds, breathing fire and smoke, raced over
Dartmoor and surrounded Brook Manor House, howling. He is buried at Holy Trinity
Church, Church Hill, Buckfastleigh Teignbridge District qv and his tomb in the
churchyard was designed to imprison his remains and prevent his haunting the
neighbourhood. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based "Hounds of the Baskervilles" on
this legend. -

Listing NGR: SX7132967680

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533675

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

• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Warwickshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy