Description

CREDITON

SS8399 STATION ROAD
672-1/4/160 (West side)
10/11/72 3 & 4 Taw Vale Terrace rear yard and
garden walls and adjoining stable
blocks

GV II

Includes: Taw Vale STATION ROAD.
2 adjoining houses including garden walls and stable blocks,
the right hand pair of four built together. Erected on land
bought by the Taw Valley Railway Company in 1830 (information
from the owner of No 1) and probably part of the same
development that includes the Railway Inn (q.v). Local
volcanic trap rubble, the front elevation stuccoed, the
remainder roughcast; slate roofs; stacks with brick shafts.
Plan: each is L-plan, 2 rooms wide with a central entrance and
centre rear lavatory projection. Outer rear service wings at
right angles roofed parallel to the main blocks.
Exterior: 2 storeys. Each villa has a symmetrical 3-bay east
front with deep eaves carried on brackets. Clasping pilasters
with sunk panels to left and right. Central Tuscan doorcase
(matching the Railway Inn, part of the same development) with
panelled reveals and steps up to 6-panel front doors, the
lower panels flush, the upper panels of No 1 glazed. Original
sash windows throughout, 16-pane except for first floor
centre, which is 12-pane. The outer returns with 2 gables are
also very complete with original sash windows and panelled
doors to the services with doorcases with pilasters and flat
porch hoods. Rear centre stair windows, cut across by the
stair are small-pane with margin glazing, No 1 retains C19
stained glass to the margin panes. The enclosed rear service
yards are also very complete: No 1 contains a small 2-storey
building, said originally to have housed the coachman before
being converted to a wash-house and coal store. Unrendered,
tall volcanic stone rubble walls to the rear gardens, each
with a doorway off Four Mills Lane. 2 stable blocks adjoin the
service wing of No 2 at the rear. They are roofed parallel to
the carriageway, each with a carriage door and 2 loft doors
over. The carriageway retains the remnants of pitched stone
paving.
Interior: No 1 only inspected. Very complete internally with
decorated plaster cornices and decorated plasterwork to the
arches at the end of the entrance passage and into the service
winged. original joinery includes skirtings, panelled doors
and shutters. Marble chimney-piece to front left room. Stick
baluster stair with a mahogany handrail. As mall unheated
room, either butler's pantry or office, overlooks the service
entrance. Comparison with the details of No 4 (q.v) indicates
that each villa was fitted out with slightly different
details.
An unusually complete pair divided by an east west wall with a
curving drive between Nos. 2 and 3. The survival of the
overall plan of the development, along with Nos 3 & 4 and all
the ancillary walls and stables is particularly rare.

Listing NGR: SX8394799594

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26491574

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

• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)