Grange

The Grange is a country house of early 16th-century origins, substantially extended and remodelled in the early 17th century by Sir Thomas Drewe, son of Edward Drewe, Recorder of London and Serjeant-at-law to Queen Elizabeth I. Thomas Drewe died in 1622, and the house served as the principal seat of the Drewe family until 1903. Further significant alterations occurred in the early and late 18th century, probably carried out by Francis Drewe, who lived at the Grange from 1712 to 1773, and Francis Rose Drewe, who died in 1801.

Construction and Materials

The house is built of colourwashed plastered stone with some cob and brick. The first floor of one wing is of framed construction. The roof is slate with rendered chimney stacks.

Plan and Development

The overall plan forms a long rectangle on an approximate north-south axis. The north end comprises an enclosed courtyard arrangement, parts of which are probably early 16th century, possibly originating as the pre-Reformation building owned by Dunkeswell Abbey. The south block of the courtyard range was probably a conventional three-room plan with cross passage, having a lower-end kitchen at the west end and a high-quality chamber over the inner room. The east block may have been a parlour wing, with the north and west blocks probably serving as service wings.

The house developed southwards over time. In the early 17th century, a double-depth block was added on a north-south axis with a crosswing at the south end. This addition, combined with the old hall range, created an overall H-plan with the most sumptuous surviving 17th-century rooms in the south crosswing. It appears likely that the early 17th-century hall was located in the main block but was recast in the 18th century to provide the present entrance arrangement: a wide passage flanked by 18th-century principal rooms with a fine staircase to the rear.

The 18th-century remodelling also created a garden entrance on the south side. This refurbishment is of high quality and preserved several 17th-century rooms, including a spectacular, richly panelled room in the south crosswing, possibly the great parlour. The old hall range associated with the courtyard was gradually re-partitioned and altered to serve as the main service wing. The house appears to have been virtually untouched in the 19th century.

The property was sold away from the Drewe family in 1903. In 1929, the panelling from the room in the south crosswing was sold and removed to the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.

Exterior

The house has two storeys with an attic storey to the main block.

West Elevation

The west elevation consists of the main block to the right and the west block of the courtyard range to the left. The asymmetrical front has a 4:5 window arrangement with regular fenestration. The main block features a gabled projection to the left and is gabled to the front at the right, with an open Corinthian porch positioned right of centre, complete with pediment and a half-glazed 19th-century recessed front door with panelled reveal.

To the right of the front door, the gabled bay has probably 18th-century paired sash windows on each floor with hexagonal lead glazing bars, matching the windows on the right (south) return, which forms the 18th-century garden front. The other windows are 18th- or early 19th-century small-pane timber sashes, paired to the gable projection at the left, with three round-headed attic dormers behind the parapet. Sashes and casements appear on the west front of the west courtyard block to the left.

South Garden Front

The south return, the 18th-century garden front, is symmetrical with five bays. It features a cornice with dentil frieze and a central pediment containing an oculus. The left and right bays project forward with hipped roofs and rusticated quoins. The central two-leaf panelled 18th-century front door has a moulded eared architrave and an engaged pedimented porch with Corinthian columns and an entablature with frieze. The paired sash windows, probably 18th century, have hexagonal lead glazing bars; one is a 20th-century copy.

East (Rear) Elevation

The rear (east) elevation has four bays to the centre with gabled projections to left and right, the left-hand projection rising to three storeys. Both projections are crowned with weathervanes, said to be 17th century and carrying the initials of members of the Drewe family. Each projection has a first-floor four-light mullioned and transomed stone window with ovolo-moulded mullions, and a similar three-light window appears on the inner return of the right-hand projection. The ground-floor window on the left is an 18th-century paired sash matching those on the garden front; the other windows are 18th- or early 19th-century small-pane sashes.

Adjoining at the right is the east block of the courtyard, which has a first-floor two-light stone mullioned window to the left with ovolo-moulded mullions and an adjacent similar single-light window to the return. A similar three-light window appears to the right.

Courtyard

The interior of the courtyard is extremely attractive. The putative old hall range (the south block) has three lateral chimney stacks, two projecting, and a good 16th- or 17th-century moulded doorframe right of centre, possibly the original entrance to the cross passage. Two stone mullioned windows survive, one transomed; the other windows are small-pane sashes and casements.

The east block has six first-floor three-light stone mullioned windows, one ground-floor window with a moulded timber frame, and a three-light casement to the left with a hoodmould. Most of the windows retain square leaded panes. The west block is of framed construction at first floor with two blocked first-floor windows and one three-light casement. The north block has two first-floor three-light stone mullioned windows and two large 42-pane 18th-century sashes on the ground floor.

Interior

The interior is rich in 17th- and 18th-century features. Although the spectacular panelling in the south-east room was sold in 1929, it retains a splendid 17th-century enriched rib plaster ceiling with pendants and a moulded stone chimneypiece. The walls have been re-panelled in an 18th-century style. The closet opening off the south-east corner of the room also has a decorated plaster ceiling with a pendant.

On the first floor above this room, a fine chamber has a probably slightly earlier single-rib decorated plaster ceiling, enriched with sprays. The remains of 17th-century wall panelling survive, along with a splendid early 17th-century chimneypiece bearing the arms of Sir Thomas Drewe impaling those of his wife (described by H.L. in Devon Notes and Queries), flanked by figures of Justice and Truth in early 17th-century costume.

The first-floor room in the south-west corner retains its 17th-century panelling from floor to ceiling with a painted frieze and a fine chimneypiece with armorial bearings (also described by H.L.). Other rooms retain 17th-century or earlier features and panelling (not necessarily in situ): a small room in the north-east of the main range is panelled with a repaired strapwork frieze; the old kitchen (west end of the hall range associated with the courtyard) has a massive fireplace with a bread oven and a high ceiling with chamfered crossbeams; the east-end room of the same range (the putative inner room) has the remains of 17th-century oak panelling, extended in pine, and an incomplete strapwork frieze and cornice. The first-floor room above, which has a coved plaster ceiling, features a good moulded stone chimneypiece. Two moulded stone chimneypieces survive on the first floor of the east block associated with the courtyard.

18th-Century Features

The 18th-century fittings include two very fine rooms and a splendid open-well staircase with delicate vase-turned balusters, an open string, a flat-topped ramped handrail, and Corinthian newels. The ceiling of the stairwell has delicate 18th-century plasterwork, and the walls are decorated with swags of fruit.

To the right of the entrance, a very complete late 18th-century room retains its wall panelling, picture hooks, panelled doors, an Adam-style ceiling in three sections, and a fine chimneypiece (a receipt dated 1780 is said to survive) with guns carved on the jambs and a frieze of hounds and game carved on the lintel.

To the left of the entrance, an 18th-century room retains a grey Ashburton marble chimneypiece, an exquisite 18th-century decorated ceiling, wall panelling, and panelled doors. Eighteenth-century cornices and doors survive on the first floor.

Roof Structure

The south block associated with the courtyard retains a jointed cruck roof construction at the east end, originally designed for a coved plaster ceiling. The trusses have been repaired with mid-17th-century collars lap-dovetailed into the principals, and the original trusses may be 16th century. The cruck feet have been removed on the south side, and the principals rest on a timber wall plate.

The roof of the framed west block associated with the courtyard has, as far as could be judged with limited access, A-frame trusses with lap-dovetailed collars, suggesting a mid-17th-century date. The attic storey of the main range and south crosswing is plastered for service accommodation, and access to the roof structure is limited, but the south crosswing trusses appear to be A-frames.

Historical Significance

The Grange is an outstanding evolved house. The early 17th-century enlargement was very grand, and the 18th-century refurbishment is of high quality. Before the sale of the panelling, the great parlour must have ranked as one of the finest early 17th-century rooms in the country. Photographs of the room in 1904 were published in Country Life, and the extant plasterwork, panelling, and chimneypiece of the early 17th century reflect the quality of the enlargement of the house and the prestige of Sir Thomas Drewe.