1, PALK STREET (See details for further address information) is a Grade II listed building in the Torbay local planning authority area, England. First listed on 10 January 1975. Library, office. 5 related planning applications.
1, PALK STREET (See details for further address information)
- WRENN ID
- high-railing-solstice
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Torbay
- Constituency
- Torbay MP: Steve Darling (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 10 January 1975
- Type
- Library, office
- Address
- 1, PALK STREET (See details for further address information), 2, Vaughan Parade
- OS grid reference
- SX 918 635
- Coordinates
- 50.46159, -3.52543
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
No. 1 Palk Street, also known as No. 2 Vaughan Parade, is a Grade II listed building in Torquay, built in 1831 by Jacob Harvey. This structure was originally a library, billiard, and public rooms, and is now used as offices. It features a plastered exterior with a gabled slate roof and a stack with a rendered shaft and plain band.
The building has three storeys and a symmetrical five-bay front, distinguished by giant engaged columns on the first and second floors, which spring from a platband topped with a plain parapet. The columns were originally Ionic. Each bay on the ground floor has a segmental-headed recess filled with modern doors and windows. The first-floor windows are 6 over 9-pane sashes, while the second-floor windows are 3 over 6-pane sashes. The rear elevation retains two original ground floor tripartite sashes and a door to the left.
Historically, this building was first known as Cole's Library and later referred to as the Public Rooms until 1846, when it was converted into a house for W. Kitson, a solicitor, and subsequently included offices. An illustration from 1840 shows a central round-headed doorway with a fanlight and small-pane round-headed windows on the ground floor.
Local climate
1, PALK STREET (See details for further address information) receives an average of 870 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 64% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 83% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 11 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 90% of listed buildings. Of these, 4 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 1 transaction since 2006
- Related listed building consents — 5 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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