Wood House

Wood House is a large country house built between 1899 and 1905 on the site of an older house in South Tawton. The architect was Dan Gibson, commissioned by William Lethbridge. The house forms part of a significant formal landscaped scheme designed by Thomas Mawson, a leading Arts and Crafts Movement figure. The garden itself was laid out by the Lakeland Nurseries firm under Robert Mawson, Thomas's brother, following Mawson's initial ground plan. This integration of house and garden is central to the building's importance; it is conceived as a house planted in a garden rather than a garden planted around a house.

The house is constructed primarily of roughcast stone rubble or brick with granite ashlar detailing. The hall is built of coursed granite ashlar blocks. Chimneyshafts are either rectangular in granite ashlar or circular in roughcast brick, though a couple have been replaced with 20th-century concrete blocks. The roof is of slate.

The plan is essentially H-shaped. The central feature is a full-height hall articulated like a medieval hall, possibly occupying the site of the original building, with the main staircase positioned behind. The hall is flanked by two crosswings that project both front and back at each end. The front rooms of both wings are large parlours, heated by projecting outer lateral stacks. The north-eastern wing probably serves as the dining room, with kitchen and service rooms and servant accommodation over in the rear portion. The south-western wing contains the entrance hall in the middle and a library behind, with further service rooms to the rear. Both rear blocks return inward a short distance and nearly enclose the rear courtyard. A gatehouse projects south-westwards from the rear end of the south-western wing. Most rooms are heated by a series of prominent lateral and axial stacks. The building is predominantly two storeys with some attic servant accommodation. The architectural style is restrained Arts and Crafts with Tudor influences and some Voyseyesque touches.

The garden front faces south-east and displays a symmetrical 1:3:1 window arrangement. The recessed hall section of granite features full-height windows with a continuous hoodmould and an open parapet of granite balusters across the top, matching those used around the front garden terrace. The gabled fronts of the wings contain large mullion-and-transom windows with hoodmoulds. The inner sides of the wings have small twin-gabled bays facing each other across the paved courtyard. Nearly all windows feature barely-moulded granite mullions, with the larger ones transomed. Most have functional slate dripstones rather than hoodmoulds, though some bear them. A few rear windows are of timber. All windows contain rectangular panes of leaded glass. The entrance front shows an irregular 1:2:1:2 window arrangement. The gabled porch features a Tudor outer arch with an ovolo-moulded surround and urn stops. The gatehouse wing contains a large round arch opening to the carriageway, gabled above and flanked by massive projecting stacks with circular chimney shafts. The chimneyshaft on the entrance front was originally similar in design. The rear elevation continues in the same style with a two-storey gabled bay window. The service courtyard is shielded by woodsheds projecting at right angles; the back wall of these sheds contains two round-headed granite niches. The rear and service sections are more irregular, enlivened by a series of gabled cross roofs. Throughout, the style is plain, relieved only by prettily decorated lead gutters and downpipes.

The interior remains largely original. The hall is enclosed on three sides with bold exposed timbering and an open (now glazed) gallery overlooking from the stair landing. The staircase rises around a solid framed wall in 16th-century style. The main rooms in the wings feature 17th-century style small field oak panelling and Tudor-style fireplaces and chimneypieces. The ornamental plasterwork of the ceilings is particularly noteworthy in Jacobean vernacular style; no two rooms are quite the same. The rear rooms are more Arts and Crafts in character. Original detail extends throughout to door fittings and Art Nouveau light fittings.

Wood House represents the Arts and Crafts Movement, though it is good rather than remarkable in itself. Its true significance lies in its integration with Mawson's formal landscaped scheme, which remains mostly intact. This interaction between house and garden gives Wood House its special character. Mawson himself considered Wood House one of his major achievements and it remains a rare example of his work in southern England. The architectural features of the garden are also listed.