Description

BIDEFORD

SS4526 NEW ROAD
842-1/6/199 (West side (off))
19/03/73 The Folly including boundary walls
on N & S sides
(Formerly Listed as:
TORRIDGE HILL
"Woodah" (or "Wooder") with the
Tower in the grounds)

GV II

Folly, originally belonging to Wooda, on Torridge Hill (qv);
converted into a house about 1982. General appearance late
C19, but it may be an enlargement of an earlier building,
perhaps of 1848; north wing added about 1982. Stone rubble
with cream-brick dressings; west side rendered. Roof not
visible from below. Small rectangular building with splayed
corners on east side; added wing on north.
2 storeys on a high plinth; addition single-storeyed.
Battlemented structure set on high ground overlooking the town
and the River Torridge; on north side a sheer rocky drop to
Torridge Hill, cut through about 1825.
South front of 3-window range, including one window on the
splayed corner; one window on east front, another on the
farther splayed corner, and a third on north front.
Pointed-arched windows (except for flat-headed one in upper
storey of east front) with plain glazing; cream-brick
surrounds in upper storey.
Raised bands above plinth and each upper storey, the top one
of cream brick finished with a battlemented parapet. The stone
bands do not extend to the left-hand window of the south front
and the corresponding part of north front is merely rendered.
West end of south front and all the battlements have
cream-brick quoins. Set into the wall of the addition is a
stone tablet discovered when the foundations were dug. It
reads: G. RICHARDS 1848.
On north side of garden, on the cliff-edge, is a section of
battlemented stone-rubble wall. Similar wall on south side,
abutting the house, except that in the west section the
battlements are more crudely formed of upright blocks of
stone.
The building is not shown on the Bideford Tithe map of 1841.
George Richards was an actuary living at Wooder (now Wooda) on
Torridge Hill in 1850.
(Bideford Tithe Map: 1841-; White W: Directory of Devonshire:
1850-: P.762).

Listing NGR: SS4532026152

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26496693

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

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Surrey (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)