Shell House About 75 Metres North, North East of Oldstone is a Grade II listed building in the South Hams local planning authority area, England. First listed on 25 March 1991. Shell house.

Shell House About 75 Metres North, North East of Oldstone

WRENN ID
quartered-trefoil-jay
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
South Hams
Constituency
South Devon MP: Caroline Voaden (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
25 March 1991
Type
Shell house
OS grid reference
SX 817 518
Coordinates
50.35467, -3.66387
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Shell house, built around the late 18th century, located about 75 metres north-north-east of Oldstone. It is constructed from rustic quartz and sandstone, with slate rubble and limestone dressings. The shell house features a square chamber with flanking quadrant walls and arches at either end.

The exterior includes a large reused Medieval moulded two-centred arch made of limestone, which has multiple mouldings and cusped panels on the intrados. The outer arch is rusticated, while the flanking quadrant walls consist of massive quartz boulders that return at each end with a chamfered two-centre arch, with the outer voussoirs also rusticated. Notably, the left-hand arch head has collapsed.

Inside, the shell house has a barrel-vaulted roof, and the walls are rusticated, lined with sea shells, blue-and-white china, and glass arranged in decorative patterns. Both the back wall and the end wall feature a central alcove, with two round niches above the alcove in the end wall. The arch at the front of the shell house was originally sourced from Torr Abbey.

Local climate

Shell House About 75 Metres North, North East of Oldstone receives an average of 890 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 66% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 90% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 6 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 96% of listed buildings. Of these, 3 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.

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