Church Hill House

Church Hill House is an early to mid-19th century house with shops, situated within a small island group in Lynton. Originally likely a symmetrical villa, the building was extended to the right by two bays, slightly set back but maintaining consistent detailing.

The house is two storeys high, but develops into large lower-storey areas due to the site's steep slope to the south. It has a five-window facade; the upper level features three canted oriels with two or four-pane sash windows, their flat tops set below a deep projecting plain eaves soffit. The slightly projecting central gable contains a three-light casement with pointed heads to the lights. A replacement window is located to the far right within deep reveals.

The ground floor showcases three 19th-century shop fronts with moulded cornices. The shop to the left retains original plate-glass display windows with thin cast-iron mullions forming very flat four-centred heads and spandrels, a single-pane return to a recessed door, and a tile stall riser. This unit has a deep fascia and moulded cornice. The central shop features a 20th-century replacement within the pilasters, and the right-hand shop has a symmetrical plate-glass front with thin cast-iron colonnette mullions, recessed double doors with a transom light, and a plain window replacing a former door to the right. Remnants of cast-iron brackets, which formerly supported a continuous decorative cast-iron balustrade to a shallow balcony (stepped forward to the gabled bay), are visible across the frontage. Early photographs, including one in Bartlett of 1929, show this balcony. A pair of 19th-century doors with vertical panels and edge moulds are located under the gabled centre. Chimneys are present on each gable end.

The roof is hipped over the first three bays, while the added two bays have a gabled outer end, covering the former hipped end to its left. The return to the right features a narrow display window, followed by a wide gable over three storeys set against the steep Queen Street, continuing on a curve with an added range. Various openings are present, including an eight-pane sash window and a deep three-light casement. The interiors were not inspected and the shops do not retain significant original detail.

Church Hill House, along with the adjoining Old Coach House, forms an important element of the streetscape opposite St Mary’s Church, situated within a triangular island block across a steep slope.