Parish Church Hall (Old Grammar School)

The Parish Church Hall, previously the Old Grammar School, was originally built in 1636 and extensively restored and extended between 1830 and 1860. The building is constructed of coursed limestone rubble, with a plinth and dressings in Ham Hill stone. The slate roof has stepped stone coping and stacks, with the lower three courses to the left section.

The building has a rectangular plan, with a rear stair turret and a 19th-century extension to the right. The left half of the front elevation is single-storey, with a symmetrical four-window range. The right half is two storeys high, including a half dormer, and has a two-window range. All main windows have label moulds, and the gutters are supported by wrought-iron brackets. The left section, slightly longer than the right, features four tall, four-light stone mullioned and transomed windows with leaded glass, likely dating from the 19th century. These windows break through a continuous string course that runs around the left return. Steps lead up to a projecting gabled porch, which has Tudor-arched openings on both sides and at the front. The porch has a stone roof with moulded coping, obelisk finials to the kneelers, and a finial to the apex. A worn 19th-century carving in the gable end bears the date 1499. The right end of the building has four-light stone mullioned windows in the centre of both floors, with a smaller finial to the slated gable above the half dormer. A Tudor-arched planked door is situated directly below a two-light window without a hoodmould, with a similar one-light window above under the eaves. The rear of the left section has a two-storey gable incorporating stone-mullioned windows and similar details to the porch, while the rear of the right section is 20th century in design.

The interior includes a late 19th-century staircase and tongued and grooved panelling. The remainder of the interior is 20th century, except for an early 18th-century square raised and fielded dado panelling to the left end. This panelling is higher than the current floor level, which has been lowered, and displays considerable graffiti with dates from the early and mid-19th century. The Grammar School was founded in 1499 by John DeCombe, precentor of Exeter Cathedral. Trustees, including six of the town’s most discerning men, provided financial support to the town from 1577, including lending money during the plague, charitable contributions, and a substantial donation in 1626 towards the conversion of the bridewell into a workhouse with associated structures.