Description

DARTMOUTH

SX874510 BAYARDS COVE
673-1/8/30 (West side)
11/12/69 No.4
The Old Custom House

GV II

Formerly known as: No.4 Custom House or Trinity House BAYARDS
COVE.
House, former Custom House. Built 1737-39 on site of 4
cottages which were acquired by John Seale who erected the new
building and leased it to H.M. Customs and Excise; extra
storey added c1930, converted to domestic residence c1985.
Painted Flemish-bond brick; brick chimneyshafts to front end
and rear lateral stacks; slate roof.
PLAN: Double-depth plan building, 2 rooms wide with central
entrance to passage and rear staircase. Service rooms to rear
with rear lateral stack.
EXTERIOR: Originally 2 storeys with attics, raised to 3
storeys c1930. Symmetrical 1:3:1-window front, the centre
broken forward very slightly under pediment. 16-pane sashes
under flat arches at ground-floor level, larger 12-pane sashes
under low segmental arches on the first floor, and three
12-pane sashes to C20 added second floor. Large timber central
front doorway has double 3-panel door under a plain overlight
and timber surround with eared architrave under segmental hood
on shaped timber brackets - the date 1739 is painted below.
Shallow plat band at second-floor level in place of original
eaves cornice. Present deep eaves with plastered soffit to
parallel gable-ended roof with front pediment. Lower part of
left lead downpipe is original with winged cherub heads on the
fixing straps.
INTERIOR: Well-preserved. Entrance passage lined with
panelling in 2 heights - flat rails and muntins with shallow
ovolo mouldings and vertical plank panelling (fragmentary
remains of similar panelling first-floor front). Open-well
open-string stair with slender turned balusters with blocks,
turned newel posts, moulded flat handrail and (early) curtail
step. First floor has timber box cornice including deep
coving. Late C20 partitions curve round central moulded
plaster section of ceiling - hollow rib oval panel around
central face in starburst and, around the oval, female heads
and fleur-de-lys-like finials.
Interesting brick building with many similarities with The
Mansion House, No.2 Mansion House Street (qv) built in 1736.
Freeman publishes an 1887 photograph of The Custom House,
before the third storey was added (see sources). One of a good
group of listed buildings on the old quay.
(Freeman, Ray: Dartmouth and its Neighbours: Phillimore:
1990-: PL.99; P.139).

Listing NGR: SX8783051024

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26492027

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

• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Period property manual, victorian house manual 2 books collection set by ian rock
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)