Plympton House
| Plympton House | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Plympton House | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX54665590 |
| Location: | 50°23’6"N, 4°2’45"W |
| History | |
| Built 1715-1720 | |
| For: | Sir George Treby |
| Country house | |
| William-and-Mary classical | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Converted for development |
Plympton House is a grand, Grade I listed country house, in the William-and-Mary tradition,[1] near St Maurice's Church in Plympton, Devon, and which now stands as the principal residence at the Plympton House Estate, in the parish of Plympton St Maurice. Plympton, once a village of itself, is now a swollen eastern suburb of the City of Plymouth and the estate has fallen within the irresistible necessity for development, with the house standing no longer in the countryside but presiding over Devonian suburbia.
The building of the house was begun by Sir George Treby (1643–1700), Lord Chief Justice of England, and completed around 1715–20 by his son, also George Treby (c.1684–1742). The architect is unknown, however accounts in 1720 refer to William Veale, mason.[1]
The house has had three main uses in its 300-year history: firstly a family home; secondly an asylum; and thirdly a convent and residential care home.[2]
Having been disused for several years, in 2016 a new plan was announced to bring the estate back into regular use with a redevelopment plan, creating a community of 14 homes across the site.[3]
History
Before 1700
It has been suggested that the site of Plympton House was, until about 1700, a group of mediæval strip fields, possibly with early origins[4] but there is no direct evidence of pre-mediæval activity on the site of Plympton House and no record of excavations. Opinions differ as to whether the development of the mediæval town reached as far east as the site. The pattern of burgage plots suggests that it did not. A mediæval leper hospital stood at the junction of George Lane and the Ridgeway but this is some way from the site. As related below, there were however buildings on the site before 1700, the most likely location being along the frontage at the lower end of George Street and into Longcause.[2]
1700 to 1835 - Family Home
The building of Plympton House was begun by Sir George I Treby (1643-1700). He had been baptised at Plympton St Mary, the son of Peter Treby “Gent” and after attending Exeter College Oxford studied the law at Middle Temple and was called to the Bar in 1671. He had a successful legal practice and became Member of Parliament for Plympton in 1676. He held other important offices and was knighted in 1680 but fell from favour in 1683 and took little part in public affairs until the landing of William of Orange in 1688, following which he rose rapidly again, becoming Lord Chief Justice in 1689. His career was cut short by his death in December 1700 in his 58th year.[5]
Sir George had decided to build a mansion near the house where he was born, believed to be the old manor house of Plympton Grange. Whether or not this was within the grounds of the present house is not clear. For some years in the late 17th Century he assembled the site, acquiring land from several landowners. The site is on the east side of George Lane, then called Maudlin Street, which at the time had houses on either side.[5] He had plans for the house and grounds and had cleared the site but had made little progress with the building work at the time of his death. His son, (also George Treby) was then only 16 years old, but took over the project as soon as he was able, about 1715.[5] The younger George later became Secretary for War and a Privy Councillor.
The ancient Borough of Plympton had declined into a 'rotten borough' (known as Plympton Erle) which nevertheless elected two members of Parliament, and the Treby family's estate was extensive in the environs, giving them great influence over parliamentary elections, which influence however they shared with the Strode family of Newnham, another family of major local landowners.
Of the landed estate formerly attached to Plympton House, only an early 18th-century formal garden of seven and a half acres remains.[6]
The estate was inherited by Charity Treby and her husband Paul Ourry. Their son, Paul Treby Ourry (1758–1832), in 1785 by royal licence assumed the surname and arms of Treby, becoming therefore "Paul Treby Treby". At some time after 1805, Paul Treby Treby moved to Goodamoor in Plympton St Mary parish and Plympton House was let to a succession of tenants.[2] In 1811, Risdon described the house merely as the property of Paul Treby[7] and in 1821 a guide book, ‘The Panorama of Plymouth’, says it was “at present uninhabited”.[8] There are conflicting accounts of this period but the house may have been unoccupied for as long as 40 years.
1835 to 1934 - Asylum
It is reported a Dr Duck became a tenant around this time, using the house as a private lunatic asylum.[5] The identity of the mysterious Dr Duck is not clear but is seems that the asylum was set up in 1835 (possibly earlier) with Dr R C Langworthy as the proprietor and the 1841 tithe apportionment shows that Plympton House Gardens etc. and Back Lawn (the area north of the house up as far as the Ridgeway) was owned by Laetitia Anne Treby and occupied by Richard Langworthy.[2]
Records of the early years of the asylum in the 1844 report of the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy describe appalling conditions for the patients and it was severely censured by the commissioners.[9] The institution was described as a mansion and outhouses asylum, and it seems that the proprietor and his family lived in some style in the house, while the pauper lunatics (66 in 1844) were housed in the outbuildings, confined in squalid conditions as it seems were some of the private patients, of which there were 17 the same year.[9]
Devon County Asylum was opened in July 1845[9] and by 1847 conditions had improved. By 1858 the asylum no longer received pauper patients.[2]
In 1876 the Treby family sold the property to Mr Coplestone Lopes Radcliff, who intended to re-develop the land but died before he could proceed, whereupon his son sold it to Dr Charles Aldridge and it continued as an asylum.[5] A prospectus of that date describes the running of the institution. It was promoted as “licensed for the accommodation of insane persons of both sexes of the higher and middle classes”. Dr Aldridge was the resident physician and proprietor and Joseph Aldridge the resident superintendent and general manager. The prospectus declared that Plympton House was a hospital rather than a place of detention. Dr Aldridge and his family lived in the house and it was the intention that they should mix freely with the patients and dine with them, and various forms of recreation were provided for the patients.[10]
Plympton House was acquired in 1921 by Dr J C Nixon who continued to use it as an asylum until 1933.[2]
1933 to 2015 - Convent and Residential Care Home
In 1933, coinciding with the sale of Plympton House, it was described in an article in Country Life magazine with photographs. There is probably some artistic licence in the account but it describes the house and garden as having “scarcely been touched since the time it was built, threadbare but with all the bones of its formal garden still intact”.[11]
In 1934 the premises were acquired by The Sisters of St Augustine, who established a home for the mentally ill, renaming the house St Peter’s Convent. The premises were enlarged over the years, becoming a care home for up to 50 patients, the 3 Sisters being assisted by 80 staff.[2]
By the 1960s the west boundary wall had been rebuilt, set back to allow the widening of George Lane. A recessed gateway had been formed and tree planting introduced replacing the yard to the west of the chapel garden. The chapel was described as such for the first time. A bank is clearly shown on the north side of the link to the chapel. The stable building had been demolished leaving the dairy. The building at the north end of the old service drive had been removed and the present mortuary building erected.[2]
Subsequently, in the 1980s, a further two-storey extension was built between the chapel building and north walled garden to provide accommodation for the Sisters, the track to the north modified and a car park constructed to the west of the chapel garden.[2]
In the 1990s the c 1960s extension on the east side of the house was enlarged and remodelled, with associated landscape works including vehicle access from the south garden.[2]
In 2012 St Peter's Care Home closed.[12] The house was offered for sale as 'the 44 bedroom Plympton House, with significant modern additions including an accommodation block and a convent with its own chapel, in all 2984 sq.m (32118 sq.ft)', with 5.6 acres of surrounding gardens.[13]
Redevelopment
By 2015 Plympton House had no permanent use, with the only residents being a team from 'Protects By Occupation' to keep the building secure.[12] In October 2015 a public consultation was launched with the object of bringing Plympton House back into use. The website stated: "The concept is to return the site to a low density residential usage that allows the main house to be restored to its former glory but in a way suitable for use in the 21st century, all the while enhancing the village of Plympton-St-Maurice."[14]
On 31 May 2016 Plymouth City Council granted conditional planning permission for change of use from care home to residential property and a scheme to develop a selection of 14 exclusive three to six bedroom properties was launched.[15]
Property description
Approach
The main entrance to Plympton House is from Longcause to the south.[16] Two pairs of tall stone gate piers (listed grade II) set in a concave red-brick boundary wall with up-swept coping (listed grade II) are surmounted by stone heraldic beasts.[16] The central pair of gate piers support simple wrought-iron gates which give access to the south drive which follows an S-shaped course across the south lawn to reach stone steps below the south facade of the House.[16] There is a second entrance to the estate, the West Gate from George Lane, which passes the remains of the early 18th century stables and dairy barn to reach a courtyard on the west side of the House.[16]
The house
The principal or south façade of the main building is of Portland stone and comprises two storeys above a basement.[16] The central pediment is ornamented with a carved coat of arms, and the facade is articulated by rusticated quoins.[16]
Due to the lie of the land, the basement storey is exposed to view on the west side of the building, which is constructed in brick with stone quoins and segment-headed windows.[16]
Externally the House is largely unaltered since the early 18th century, except for the construction of a late 20th-century east wing which housed ensuite bedrooms for the care home[16] and a modern west wing which houses accommodation for the nuns and the chapel.[17]
Outbuildings
The early 18th-century stables and dairy barn stand to the north-west of the House. To the north-west there are further walled enclosures and courts, one of which formerly served as a wood yard.[16]
Gardens
Early 18th century walled garden enclosures surround the House, and the rectangular plot is divided into two unequal halves by the service drive and the House.
The main garden lies below the south facade of the House and is of about the same width as the building. It runs down to the principal entrance on Longcause. To the west of it, and parallel to it, lies the kitchen garden, between the north end of which and the south elevation of the stables is the Mount Garden.
To the north of the House is a court, set into rising ground, which is laid down to grass. Parallel to the west facade of the House, and separated from it by a brick wall, is a narrow walk which extends the length of the kitchen garden, from which it is screened by a second high brick wall (listed grade II). At the north end of this walk a gate leads into the north-east corner of the Mount Garden which lies to the south-west of the House and to the north of the kitchen garden. This walled enclosure is dominated by a large mount c 3.5m high, which occupies most of the area. The south face of the north wall of the Mount Garden is constructed with recessed arcading for espaliered fruit trees.[16]
Kitchen Garden
The walled kitchen garden lies to the south-west of the House and to the south of the Mount Garden. The rectangular area with its perimeter walk was originally subdivided into three sections by two internal walls running from east to west across it. The kitchen garden walls contain further recessed arcading for fruit trees. The north wall has been demolished. The present wall which screens the garden from George Lane is a late C20 reconstruction, necessitated by widening of the road beyond.[16]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Plympton House) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon, 1952; 1989 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8page 684
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Chadburn, Jeremy: 'Heritage Statement for Plympton House Redevelopment' (2015)
- ↑ Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News, 3 June 2016 (digital edition)
- ↑ Waterhouse, R.: 'Plympton House Archaeological Notes' (2008)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Brooking Rowe, J.: 'A History of the Borough of Plympton Erle etc' (James G Commin, Exeter, 1906)
- ↑ parks and Gardens: Plympton House
- ↑ Risdon: 'Risdon’s Survey of Devon' (1811)
- ↑ Rowe, R.: 'The Panorama of Plymouth or Tourists’ Guide to the principal objects of interest in the towns and vicinity of Plymouth, Dock and Stonehouse' (1821)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 1844 Report of the Metropolitan Commissioners in Lunacy
- ↑ 'Prospectus for Plympton Asylum' (1876)
- ↑ 'Country Life' (1933)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Plympton House: The present
- ↑ Plympton House brochure: Drew Pearce
- ↑ http://www.plympton-house.com/
- ↑ http://edition.pagesuite-professional.co.uk/launch.aspx?eid=9424b399-a825-435d-a595-c1b9a2633dce&skip=true
- ↑ 16.00 16.01 16.02 16.03 16.04 16.05 16.06 16.07 16.08 16.09 16.10 National Heritage List 1001267: Plympton House
- ↑ Plympton House Estate | Homes & plots for sale on 18th Century Estate
- Nikolaus Pevsner: Pevsner Architectural Guides
- Treby family papers, including diaries and estate records, West Devon Record Office, ref 2607 (1797–1858) [1], ref 864 (1724–1886)[2]
- Plympton House, listed building text
- Country Life Magazine, 1933, article on Plympton House.
- Plympton House redevelopment heritage statement, October 2015