Ravelin Manor House and Little Ravelin, Barnstaple, Devon

Summary

Villa (subdivided into two dwellings in the 1970s) built in about 1893 and designed and crafted by the architect and craftsman, Alexander Lauder. C20 alterations.

Description

Villa (subdivided into two dwellings in the 1970s) built in about 1893 and designed and crafted by the architect and craftsman, Alexander Lauder. C20 alterations.

STYLE: an eclectic Domestic Revival style.

MATERIALS: built of red brick and terracotta. The principal elevations (east and south) are of alternating bands of square terracotta blocks and three rows of brick laid in stretcher bond. The subsidiary elevations (north and west) are of brick laid in stretcher bond. The roofs are covered in patterned clay tiles, with pierced crested ridge tiles and terracotta finials. The lateral chimney stacks are in the Tudor Revival style featuring cylindrical terracotta chimney pots with terracotta pattern work. The two ridge stacks are of brick with recessed panels incorporating terracotta rondels to the upper section. Horned, timber sash windows, with margin glazing beneath segmental heads of terracotta voussoirs to the principal elevations and cambered brick heads to the subsidiary elevations. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

PLAN: of two-storeys, with all of the rooms opening off a square hall centrally placed at the north side of the villa, with the principal rooms facing south and west. The former two-storey service range is to the north, and now forms a separate dwelling.

EXTERIOR: the principal (east) elevation has an asymmetrical composition. The off-centre, two-bay range beneath a hipped roof, comprises an entrance bay articulated by buttress with offsets and high relief male and female terracotta figures to the ground floor niches, and a set-back bay to the right. The segmental arch to the porch has three Tudor-rose style terracotta mouldings to the soffit, and within the porch, to either side, are niches with ogee heads and sills supported on foliate corbels. The set-back bay to the left has a lateral stack with three cylindrical chimney pots. The set-back, two-bay range to the right has a lateral stack to the outer bay, with two cylindrical pots. Across the elevation, and continuing to the south and west side, is a wide plat band denoted by offset terracotta tiles and featuring a terracotta panel above the entrance porch with a relief carving of naked male figures holding swags, and square terracotta panels with a floral motif to the lateral stacks, which is repeated to the two-storey canted bay windows to the south and west elevation. To the ground floor of the canted bays are French doors, with sash windows to either side, and all with overlights above. The eaves cornice has a Tudor-rose style motif that continues around the whole building. To the north elevation of Ravelin Manor House is a 12-light stone mullion-and-transom stair window with semi-circular heads to the upper panes.

The west elevation of the former service range has a symmetrical three-bay arrangement with a central 12-light stair window flanked by ground and first-floor six-over-six sash windows. The door to the left appears to be a later insertion, replacing a window. To the right is a single-storey ancillary range.

INTERIOR: a narrow entrance lobby with a geometric tiled floor leads to the double-height square entrance hall with a ribbed, barrel-vaulted timber ceiling. To the east wall of the hall is a Gothic-style, white terracotta fireplace with a heavily moulded ogee arch with niches above and to the jambs. Above is a concave moulded mantelshelf incorporating three pairs of acanthus leaf corbels. It has a cast iron grate with a patterned tile surround. The open-well pine staircase has an open string, hexagonal curtail step, turned balusters, and ball finials and turned pendants to the newel posts. To the west wall is a 12-light stone mullioned-and-transomed window with coloured leaded glass, including circular panels depicting birds and flowers. The hall also features a scheme of 21 bas-relief sgraffito panels in pitch pine surrounds. This was executed in-situ by Lauder and based around William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, with some panels incorporating quotations from the play. The panels vary in size, with the largest being five-foot-wide by fifteen-foot-high. The three principal ground-floor rooms have panelled timber ceilings with heavily moulded ceiling beams. The fireplaces in the rooms to the south are early to mid-C20 replacements; there is no fireplace in the room to the west. The four first-floor rooms have ribbed, barrel vaulted ceilings, and timber panelling above and below the bay windows. Each of the first-floor rooms retains a Royal Devon Art Pottery highly glazed and coloured relief tile fireplace. That in the east room is decorated with grape vines, bunches of grapes, and salamanders, with a later inserted cast iron grate, and geometric tiled hearth. That in the south-east room has round-arched niches to the jambs containing female figures, and a frieze above with, from left to right, an owl, a salamander, a cat, a frog, and a bat. The cornice and the whole features additional leaf decoration. It has a cast iron grate with a floral-patterned tile surround. That in the south-west room features grapes vines with bunches of grapes and a cast iron grate with a floral-patterned tile surround. That in the west room is decorated with frogs on lily pads with a cast iron grate and a tiled hearth featuring a border of green tiles with birds.

Throughout are four panel doors with associated door furniture. The house also retains the remains of the bell system with a bell push next to each fireplace.

The former service range (now Little Ravelin) has been altered internally to become a separate dwelling.

History

Ravelin, as the villa was originally known, was built in about 1893 and designed by the architect and craftsman Alexander Lauder as his family home.

Alexander Lauder (1836–1921) was born in London and studied architecture and art in Edinburgh. He set himself up as an architect in Barnstaple in 1864. In 1876 Lauder, with his brother-in-law William Otter Smith, founded Lauder and Smith, a brickworks on the site of his father’s shipyard and limekiln at Pottington Point, Barnstaple. They produced bricks, tiles, and terracotta work and undertook experiments in art pottery, although these were largely unsuccessful due to the unsuitability of the red clay. In the late 1880s the partnership dissolved and Lauder, buying shares in the failing Marland Brick and Clay Works, restyled Lauder and Smith as the Devon Art Pottery. The clay beds at the brickworks provided much better clay, and the fortunes of the company improved. In 1890, it became the Royal Devon Art Pottery when it received royal patronage from the Duke of Edinburgh during the reign of Queen Victoria. The company became particularly well known for its production of slip and sgraffito decorated pots with designs inspired by the natural world. Lauder subsequently moved his architectural practice and the pottery shop to New Bridge Buildings on The Strand, Barnstaple (Grade II, National Heritage List for England (NHLE) entry 1385355).

Ravelin features brick, terracotta work, and relief tile fireplaces produced by Lauder’s firm. The decorative scheme to the hall of Ravelin includes 21 bas-relief sgraffito panels, based around the theme of William Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, executed in-situ by Lauder himself.

Besides his architect and pottery business, Lauder was also a teacher at the Barnstaple School of Art. His pupil, WR Lethaby (1857–1931) became Lauder’s architectural apprentice before going on to work with Richard Norman Shaw and becoming a notable architect in his own right. Another pupil was the potter CH Brannam (1855–1937). Brannam worked at his father’s pottery, Litchdon Street Pottery, Barnstaple (Grade II, NHLE entry 1385202) from the age of 12 before taking over the running of the firm in 1881. The pottery received royal patronage in 1885, with Brannam renaming the company Royal Barum Ware. Following the opening of a shop in London, the pottery established a national and even international reputation, and continued to produce art pottery into the mid-C20. It has been argued that a major factor in the closure of Lauder’s Royal Devon Art Pottery in 1914 was due to the intense competition from Brannam.

Lauder was also an important figure locally. He was Mayor of Barnstaple (1885-1887), served on the Barnstaple School Board, and was known as a gifted Methodist lay preacher. Lauder died at Ravelin in 1921.

In the 1970s the land surrounding Ravelin was developed for housing, with two houses being built in the villa’s grounds. It was around this time that the villa was subdivided, with the principal house becoming Ravelin Manor House and the service range becoming Little Ravelin.

Reasons for Listing

Ravelin Manor House and Little Ravelin, designed by the architect and craftsman Alexander Lauder in about 1893 as his family home, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural and historic interest:

* for its accomplished design in an eclectic Domestic Revival style featuring good quality materials and exhibiting high-quality craftsmanship and attention to decorative detailing throughout;
* for its artistic distinction as an illustration of the breadth of Lauder’s skill as an architect, artist, and craftsman and his emphasis on fixtures and fittings being artworks in their own right;
* for the complete survival of 21 bas-relief sgraffito panels designed and executed in-situ by Lauder which reflect the late C19 revival of the craft;
* for its retention of fireplaces produced by Lauder’s firm the Royal Devon Art Pottery.

External Links

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