Description

TORQUAY

SX9163 THE TERRACE
885-1/17/263 (North side)
20/11/52 Nos.42-58 (Even)
Higher Terrace and attached front
railings
(Formerly Listed as:
HIGHER TERRACE, THE TERRACE
Nos.42-58 (Even))

GV II

Terrace of 9 houses. 1811 to the designs of Jacob Harvey. The
earliest part of Sir Lawrence Palk's development of Torquay.
Some later alterations. Houses in use as offices. Plastered;
slate roofs; stacks with rendered shafts. Classical style.
PLAN: Slightly bowed terrace, set high above the harbour,
facing south. Centre and end houses broken forward. Each house
double-depth on plan. Those to left of centre have entrances
to the right, those to right of centre have entrances to the
left. Several houses have rear stair projections; services in
basement; principal rooms on first floor. End houses entered
on the returns.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys and basement. Deep projecting cornice with
plain parapet above. Some unfortunate attic additions. Each
house has a 3-bay front except for the 5-bay No.50. Continuous
cast-iron balcony with interlace balustrade divided by
vertical panels of roundels. Round-headed doorway with moulded
architrave. Gibbs surrounds with vermiculated rustication and
keyblocks with carved or cast heads; panelled reveals.
Original doors 6-panel, mostly with plain fanlights (No.46 has
a pretty lead fanlight with a central roundel, similar to
those on Beacon Terrace, also designed by Harvey).
Segmental-headed windows: ground floor originally 12-pane but
reglazed as 2-pane sashes. 12-pane first-floor windows, 3 over
6 on the second floor. No.42 has a very large doorway on the
3-bay west end with rusticated vermiculated architrave,
incised moulding to soffit and reveals of doorcase and Greek
key moulding below fanlight. 2-leaf door of 6 panels, upper
panels with roundels and lozenges; windows mostly original.
No.58 has a flat-roofed porch block on the return, c1860, with
a projecting cornice and parapet crowned with good cast-iron
parapet. Segmental-headed doorway to right. c1860s first-floor
canted bay on return leads on to flat roof of porch block.
No.50 (in the centre) and No.58 have square-headed doorways on
the front with moulded architraves with keyblocks
INTERIOR: Partially inspected. Some houses retain good
plasterwork cornices with deep relief, including Nos 42, 48,
50. Some retain the ground floor internal partitions with an
archway between the 2 rooms. Other features of interest likely
to survive but not seen on survey.
SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: Good cast-iron railings with spear
finials to basements.
HISTORY: An elegant terrace and historically important in the
development of Torquay. Early prints, some reproduced in
Ellis, show the higher terrace.
(Ellis CA: An Historical Survey of Torquay, 2nd edition:
1930-: P.339, 340, 341; Buildings of England: Cherry B: Devon:
London: 1952-1989: P.857).

Listing NGR: SX9192963570

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26569191

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

• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Kent: West and the Weald: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas