46, 48 AND 50, CECIL ROAD

A row of three houses at 46, 48, and 50 Cecil Road, Paignton, displays a complex development history spanning the 16th century or earlier to the 18th century. Number 50, at the left end, is likely the earliest, with extensive subsequent alterations. Number 48 may be an 18th-century rebuild of the lower portion of Number 50, while Number 46 is probably also of the 18th century, again with later changes.

The building materials are rendered, with Number 50 reputedly constructed of cob. The roofs are slate, gabled at the right end, and contain stacks with rendered shafts. Initially, Number 50 comprised a two-room plan and was described in documents dating back to 1777 as "the hall and the parlour and chambre over the parlour," suggesting the presence of a late medieval open hall that survived until sometime between 1777 and 1828. Number 48 has a simpler one-room plan main block, and Number 46 also has a one-room plan main block.

On the exterior, the asymmetrical front has a 1:2:1 window arrangement. Access to Number 50 is via a 20th-century front door on the left return. Number 48 has a small 20th-century lean-to porch with a corrugated-iron roof, and Number 46 has a 20th-century slate-roofed lean-to porch across the front. All the windows are 20th-century timber casements, some with glazing bars. A blocked doorway is found on the right return of Number 46.

Inside Number 50, a chamfered lintel with run-out stops is visible above the left-end stack. A partition between two rooms has been removed, and a rear right lateral stack is now enclosed by later additions. The interior of Number 46 is plain; Number 48 was not inspected. Evidence of pitched stone paving has reportedly been found inside both Numbers 46 and 50.

Historically, Numbers 46 and 48 were once used as stabling for horses providing rides on the beach. The buildings represent an early part of Paignton’s development.