Townsends

This building, originally built as public rooms for the Literary Society and later used as the Town Hall, is located on the High Street in Crediton. It was constructed in 1852, designed by R D Gould of Barnstaple. The building underwent significant rebuilding in the late 19th century, and the ground floor was altered in the 1960s to accommodate a shop front.

The exterior is constructed of Flemish bond brick on a deep stone rubble plinth, with the front elevation and the lower portion of the right return stuccoed. Painted stone dressings are used; the roof is slate-covered, and there's a stack with a brick shaft. The design is Classical in style. The two-story building has a symmetrical three-bay front above the ground floor, topped with a large pediment. It features chamfered, rusticated quoins, with vermiculated details on the ground floor. A sharply projecting moulded string is present at first-floor level, with a platband above. The piano nobile first floor has three tall windows with moulded, eared, shouldered architraves. The outer windows are topped with triangular pediments, while the central window has a segmental pediment; each window has balustraded sills and a continuous moulded string above the balustrade. The windows are fitted with late 19th/early 20th century four-pane horned sashes. The pediment is boldly moulded and features a roundel in the tympanum with a projecting bracket at its base, bearing the inscription "ANNO QUINTO VICTORIAE REGINAE MDCCCLII." The ground floor now has a shop door and a 20th-century shop window, positioned below the remnants of two 19th-century round-headed arched windows with moulded architraves. A 20th-century inserted front door is located to the right. Deep coved eaves are present, and a Venetian window is visible on the first floor, featuring a reeded drip and keyblock, with plate glass sashes. A round-headed doorway is positioned to the right of centre, with a reeded drip and a 20th-century door below a plain fanlight. A 12-pane sash window is alongside to the left, and a partly-blocked tripartite sash with small panes is to the right.

Inside, a substantial open-well staircase features an open string, turned balusters, barleysugar newels, and a moulded handrail. The first-floor room retains a coved ceiling and a moulded cornice.