Cockington Court

Cockington Court is a mansion set in landscaped grounds in Cockington, now serving as headquarters of the Devon Rural Skills Trust. The building has 16th-century origins, with the south-west wing dated to 1577 when the house was the seat of the Cary family. It was sold in 1654 to Exeter merchant Roger Mallock, who commissioned extensive remodelling around 1673. Reverend Roger Mallock undertook further significant refurbishment circa 1820, removing the top floor and refurbishing the interior.

The exterior is constructed mostly of local stone rubble, coursed in places, with 19th-century brick dressings and earlier Beerstone dressings. The main front is of coursed Beerstone ashlar with red sandstone chimney shafts and hipped slate roofs. The building is two storeys with attics. The south-east facing main front is a late 17th-century classical composition of seven bays with 20th-century mullion and transom windows, some blocked at first floor level. A central doorway features a marble round-headed arch with voussoirs and imposts, with a 6-panel door with round head containing Y-tracery, side lights, and glazing carried round the head. The doorway is flanked by fluted Corinthian columns (introduced from elsewhere) with a plain entablature at first-floor cornice level, with an eaves cornice below a parapet.

The plan consists of a main block of double depth with a central passage leading to a large rear stairhall, with main rooms facing the front and end chimney stacks. Crosswings project forward at each end with projecting lateral stacks. The north-east wing contains the kitchen and service stair.

The front ends of the crosswings have broad replacement 5-light timber mullion-and-transom windows with stone hoodmoulds and relieving arches, with more windows on the inner returns (blind to the north-east wing). The outer side of the south-west wing displays an irregular 7-window front, mostly casements with a couple of 12-pane sashes and a tall arch-headed window containing Gothic tracery to the first floor corridor (a similar window exists at the opposite end). The north-east wing includes several late 16th-century stone mullion-and-transom windows, one containing leaded glass, though others are blocked or contain later windows. A probably reset late 16th-century stone Tudor arch doorway with carved trefoil spandrels is also visible on this side. Both crosswings show straight joins with later rear extensions. The rear elevation is partly slate hung with mostly timber casements, but contains a large early 19th-century stone Gothic stair window with Y-tracery containing stained glass featuring The Seasons.

The interior predominantly reflects 19th-century refurbishment. The entrance passage features Gothic vaulting leading to a large stair well with an open well stair of stone steps and iron balustrade. Most 19th-century joinery and plaster detail remains throughout. A 19th-century Jacobean-style chimneypiece incorporates some late 16th-century marquetry. A late 17th-century ground-floor room to the right of the entrance passage retains bolection panelling and a high relief moulded plaster ceiling. The north-east wing contains most work predating the 19th century, including remains of a late 16th-century kitchen fireplace at ground floor front, late 17th-century panelling, a late 16th-century granite fireplace at first floor front, and a late 17th-century service stair, a dogleg stair with turned balusters.

Cockington Court forms part of an exceptional group of listed buildings within the landscaped park, including the nearby Church of St George and St Mary, as well as vernacular buildings and Lutyens work in the adjoining unspoilt village.