Forde House

Forde House is a manor house, now the property of Teignbridge District Council. It was built around 1550 for John Gravelock, enlarged in 1610, and altered around 1625 for Sir Richard Reynell. The building was restored in the 1930s and again between 1981 and 1983.

The house is constructed of roughcast over stone rubble with 20th-century slate roofs featuring ceramic ridges. The roofs are double-pitched to the central ranges, with tall 20th-century diagonal stacks positioned at the central valley and gable ends. The plan follows an E-shape dating from the 1610 expansion, with the original house of around 1550 forming the service wing to the rear right. A further late 19th-century wing was added at the rear right corner.

The south front, built in 1610, is two storeys high with a symmetrical seven-window range. A high parapet surrounds the building and rises at the front in five large semicircular Dutch gables extending over the outer forward wings, the two-storey porch, and the flanking ranges. A central cupola with weather vane is flanked by triple stacks in the roof valley. Windows are stone mullioned and transomed: five-light to the outer wings, four-light to the other forward-facing windows, and blind three-light to the inward-facing returns of the wings. First-floor windows have late 19th-century glazing with four panes to each light, while ground-floor windows have leaded lights with some old glass, except for the outer wings which match the first floor and have lowered sills.

The right return, slightly lower at the rear where it rises to three storeys, has paired stacks flanking a semicircular Dutch gable; the stack to the left is external. A continuous dripmould is shaped over a central three-light second-floor leaded window, while the lintel of a similar window to the far right reaches the dripmould. To the right of centre is a first-floor 20th-century cross window over a tall three-light leaded window. The late 19th-century wing has four gables facing north.

The two-storey left return also has a central Dutch gable flanked by paired external stacks; the stack to the left is corbelled out approximately one metre from the ground. Cross windows with cavetto moulding (restored in the 20th century) are positioned at the outer first-floor corners, with label moulds to two central ground-floor windows between the stacks. The window to the left has its lower half blocked.

The three-storey rear elevation features spectacular alternating semicircles and triangles to the parapet. Formerly fitted with oak-mullioned leaded windows with label moulds, it now has a variety of four-, three-, and two-light casements and an early 18th-century sash window with 12-over-12 panes and thick glazing bars at the first-floor centre. A large five-light window at the upper right corner has similar 19th-century glazing to those at the front. A 17th-century stop-moulded architrave to the right now contains a 20th-century panelled door in 17th-century style. A door close to the angle of the rear wing has a repaired 17th-century studded door with three horizontal panels in a restored frame. The roof of the rear wing is hipped to the rear with large tall paired ridge stacks.

The west side facing the courtyard has a small four-light timber-mullioned leaded casement window at eaves level to the right and a similar two-light window to the left, flanking a tall central 19th-century half-dormer. To the left is a 19th-century lean-to porch on chamfered supports over a 17th-century wide-planked studded oak door with wrought-iron strap hinges. To the left of the door is an 18th-century cross window with 20th-century leading.

Inside, evidence for an older house discovered during repairs of 1981 to 1983 includes remains of a north doorway to the screens passage, part of a turret stair by the hall chimneystack, and the ends of two cruck blades over the main range. The rear north wing is two bays, possibly a former lobby entrance plan divided by back-to-back open fireplaces with massive granite lintels and full-depth jambs. The ground floor is stone-flagged. Along the east wall is a complete set of 18th-century servants' bells. A lobby at the junction of the 17th-century house has a wide 17th-century oak door to the rear courtyard.

The 1610 E-plan building is particularly notable for its retention of exceptionally fine woodwork and especially plasterwork. The hall, probably formerly with a low screens passage, is fully panelled with strapwork carving to the smaller upper panels, all painted and grained around 1980. The ribbed plasterwork ceiling's design includes the passage (hence a low screen) and features a large central pendant. The four wide doors to the porch, rear stairs, right-hand room, and left-hand room are elaborately panelled with studded squares and rectangles; the upper panels are set in semicircular arches with carved spandrels; the moulded architraves have vase stops. An open fire to the rear has a wide white stone Tudor arch with a painted arcaded timber overmantel; the floor of the fire, and all the other fireplaces, is a chequer-pattern of small slates set edge-on.

The room to the left forward wing, the Chairman's Parlour, has a 17th-century strapwork plastered ceiling with a truncated pendant to the centre. To the left is an arcaded overmantel flanked by Ionic columns with taller ones below; set into the former open fire is a circa 1830 black marble fireplace with roundels to block corners. There is 17th-century panelling up to a dado rail. Two pairs of late 19th-century paired Ionic columns to the rear with a lower ceiling support a frieze of cartouches framing rectangular panels which encircle the room.

The room to the right of the porch is a 20th-century kitchen. The room to the right forward wing, a parlour, has a 19th-century rear division. Pilasters flank the rear end which has a simple cornice; the rest has rib moulding to the ceiling, a 17th-century heavily-painted two-arch panelled overmantel similar to that in the hall with an inserted 19th-century fireplace. The left-hand internal wall has a recess with a 19th-century architrave to adjustable shelves.

The stairwell to the rear right of the hall (the upper end) has a 17th-century foliate frieze and an open-well closed-string staircase with carved octagonal vase balusters and newels with gadrooned vase finials; the sides of the straight moulded handrail is carved with daisies and nailhead panels. There is evidence of some structural alteration. The stair window is three-light with hollow-moulded stone mullions.

The axial barrel-vaulted room to the first floor above the hall, known as the King Charles Room and thought originally to have been the great chamber, has a shallow Tudor arch to a fire at the rear, rib moulding to the ceiling, and elaborate tympana, that to the left with cartouches surrounding a mermaid. The door to the rear left has a late 17th-century cyma-moulded architrave. Double-doors to the left are 19th or 20th century. A small room of the same depth over the porch has strapwork axial barrel-vaulting with a 17th-century anthemion frieze. The glazed porch has a flat ceiling with a Pegasus frieze.

The Long Room to the first floor left over the Chairman's Parlour, formerly two rooms, has a spectacular strapwork barrel vault with three large pendants. Projecting from the rich frieze are female supports to the vault; they are in 17th-century costume and each holds a different flower. Toward the front of the left-hand wall is a large fireplace similar to that in the hall without an overmantel; toward the rear is a similar smaller fireplace. Architraves and raised-and-fielded panelling below the windows are early 18th century. To the front right is an early 19th-century recess with adjustable shelving.

Two rooms to the first floor right of the porch; that to the left, a former withdrawing room, has a plain axial barrel vault, early 18th and 19th-century panelling around the window, and steps to a narrow passage in the rear right corner leading to a rear staircase. A fireplace is positioned to the rear. The ceiling of the similar-sized bedchamber to the right has repeated rectangular panels with strapwork surrounds. A fireplace to the rear has massive red sandstone full-depth jambs and lintel. Joinery is late 18th or early 19th century.

The bedchamber in the right-hand projecting wing has a similar ceiling to the left wing with strap moulding, three pendants, and an anthemion frieze; to the right is a large Tudor-arch fireplace. The rear of the house is three storeys and rooms have lower ceilings. To the lower ground-floor rear left is an unheated storage room; above it is a heated room with painted decoration to the walls, some original, some restored; two plastered-over axial beams and a simple 19th-century fireplace. This room may have been a former steward's room; the room above is part of the present great chamber. To the right of these three rooms is the main stairwell.

The room to the first floor right can be entered from both sides. The entrance to the right of the mezzanine landing of the main staircase is through a 16th-century panelled and studded door, probably repositioned from the original building, set in a 17th-century moulded frame. Known as the Trophy Room, it is complete circa 1700. Full-height and pine-panelled, the raised panels have bolection moulding; those to the rear wall conceal shelves and drawers within the thickness of the wall. The mullioned window of this room was replaced by a 16-over-16-pane sash window with thick glazing bars over an integral window seat. Bolection moulding frames a two-panel door to the right with a large brass lock and small wrought-iron knob. The corner fireplace backing onto the fire of the King Charles Room has a circa 1700 architrave panelled above and an early 19th-century hob grate. Wide oak floorboards are present. To the right is a passage and rear stair, possibly a former gallery. To the far right-hand corner is a closet and staircase to the rear of the bedchamber. The roof structure was not seen.

John Gavelock was steward to the Abbey and Convent of Wolborough before the Dissolution. He bought the Wolborough portion of the Abbey property from the Crown in 1545 and built a house from around 1550. The property was sold around 1599 to Sir Richard Reynell, who spent 30 years as a lawyer at "some office in The Exchequer in London, and got great wealth". The house, built around 1610, was given its spectacular interiors for the visit of King Charles I and his large retinue in 1625. The Reynell tomb is in the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Old Totnes Road.