Dartington Hall

Dartington Hall is a medieval mansion, now in educational use, built between 1388 and 1399 by John Holland, Earl of Huntingdon and later Duke of Exeter. The building was altered in 1560–1, the 17th century, and 1740, then restored between 1926 and 1936 by William Weir for L K Elmhurst.

The structure is constructed of limestone and shale rubble with Beerstone dressings, with slate roofs featuring raised gable end verges. The building is arranged around a large courtyard plan.

The hall range, which occupies the south side of the courtyard, contains a porch leading to a screens passage, a 3-storey low east end with chambers above the buttery and pantry, and a central axial passage leading to a large detached kitchen. At the high end of the hall stands a large fireplace with a block of apartments that were partly rebuilt and raised to 4 storeys in 1560–1. The west side of the courtyard features a range of 10 pairs of lodgings; the east side has remains of a range that probably originally comprised 14 pairs of lodgings. The north side of the courtyard contains the so-called gate-house range, believed to be workshops and dormitory. At the east end of the north range stands a large 14-bay barn of approximately 15th-century date, with a later engine house on its north side.

The hall range displays battlements and four large pointed arch hall windows (20th-century copies of 18th-century originals) with buttresses between them. The entrance is positioned to the left of centre, marked by a large 3-storey porch with a moulded pointed arch, a polygonal stair turret in the left angle, and a bellcote containing a bell dated 1737. The rear (south) elevation of the hall range features similar hall windows, with the high left end rising to 4 storeys and projecting, and the detached kitchen (now attached) at the low right end, which is square in plan with high-level lancets.

The west lodgings range is 2 storeys with an attic, spanning 18 window bays, mostly with 1740 and 20th-century fenestration but retaining some original 2-light stone mullion transom windows with shouldered head lights. It features 2-storey porches with 4-centred arches and stairs to chambers. Two porches on the right (north) remain largely unaltered, but others have lost their stairs and the centre porch is missing. At the rear of the west range is a row of lateral stacks. The north range features a rough stone round archway and 20th-century windows. The barn at the east end has a steeply pitched roof and a semi-polygonal engine house on its outer north side. The surviving north end of the east range displays two gabled wings and a lateral stack at the back. A detached wall of the former south courtyard features seven 4-centred arches and overlooks the so-called tiltyard.

Interior features include a hall porch with a ribbed vault bearing Richard II's arms (dated 1390), and a 20th-century hall roof by W Weir. A large fireplace is unusually situated at the high end of the hall, with a rebuilt screen and gallery above. Four doorways in the screens passage serve stairs to chambers, the buttery and pantry, and the central axial passage to the detached kitchen, which contains two enormous fireplaces and a rebuilt roof by W Weir. The lower end chambers retain some early 17th-century panelling and moulded plaster emblems, with a 20th-century roof but with the impression of the original roof surviving in the end gable. The high end apartment block was remodelled around 1740 but retains a 16th-century roof; a circa 1740 stairhall and staircase are also present. The south end of the lodging range contains a corridor behind a suite of 18th-century panelled rooms on the first floor, with large chamfered cross-beams below. Nine bays of roof survive at the north end of the lodgings (though restored), with a closed-truss at the centre. A drawing of a contemporary galleon has been scratched on the plaster of a partition. The gate-house range contains 6 bays of arched brace raised cruck trusses with king-posts and collar purlins, square-set clasped purlin, and wind braces.

The north range is believed to have been the earlier hall of the Fitzmartins, though evidence suggests it may be contemporary or nearly contemporary with Holland's hall range, as the lower gable end wall of the hall range bears the impression of a roof truss similar to that of the north range. The east and west lodging ranges were probably added around 1393–1400. The east side of the hall retains remains of a circa late 14th-century wall which appears to be semi-defensive, probably housing private quarters for John Holland's family. However, circa late 13th-century foundations discovered during excavations in 1962 may represent remains of the Fitzmartin manor house. In 1740, Arthur Champernowne remodelled part of the interior of the apartments at the high end of the hall. Little alteration to the plan occurred until the early 19th century, when part of the east range was demolished. The work carried out by the Elmhursts between 1926 and 1936 was largely restoration, including reconstruction of the hall roof, which had been dismantled in 1813. The barn in the north range was converted into a theatre between 1933 and 1938 by R Hening and Walter Gropius.