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Dartington Hall
In the civil parish of Dartington.
In the historic county of Devon (Modern Authority of Devon, 1974 county of Devon).
House constructed 1388-1399 by John Holland (Half brother of Richard II). It was altered in 1560-1, during C17 and in 1740. A restoration was carried out in 1926-36. Excavations south of the surviving hall range have revealed the remains of three further building ranges, including a free standing stone building of early C14 date. The inner court was constructed in the late C14. A further range was built during the late C14/C15 and a long gallery added in the early C16. These buildings were demolished in circa 1700. The outer court dates from the late C14 and was demolished in the early C19. To the south of the site is a terraced garden, which has been shown by excavation to have been a formal garden of C17 date, laid out with a parterre. The excavations on the site also recovered Roman tile and pottery, which have been interpreted as the possible site of a Roman villa. Occasional said to be fortified but usually, and convincingly, called undefended; It is possible Holland planed a gatehouse but none was ever built and the entry is a simple gateway, there is no moat, there are only a few token crenellations on the main hall but none on the exterior of the wings. I've rejected this site as undefended but this was a palace of a major magnate, notable for being without defensive features. However, the large lodging ranges would have housed a considerable force of knights (possibly up to 100), as part of the retinue of John Holland.
This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House
Palace.
This site is
rejected as a medieval fortification or palace.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
This site is a
Grade 1 listed
building protected by law*. (Images
of England number 101033)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SX795634
PastScape number;
444892
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p534-49
James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p130-1, 134, 175
Pevsner, Nikolaus and Cherry, Bridget, 1989, Buildings of England: Devon (Harmondsworth) p1989
Emery, A., 1975, in Swanton, M.J. (ed), Studies in Medieval Domestic Architecture p134-52
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p353-4
Lysons, D. and S., 1822, Magna Britannia Vol6 Devon p. cccxlv-cccxlviii [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/source.asp?pubid=406]
Journal Articles
- Currie, C.K. and Rushton, N.S., 2005, 'Dartington Hall and the Development of the Double-Courtyard Design in English Late Medieval High-Status Houses' Archaeological Journal Vol161
Platt, C., 1962, 'Excavations at Dartington Hall' Archaeological Journal Vol119pp208-224
Emery, A., 1958, 'Dartington Hall, Devonshire' Archaeological Journal Vol115 p184-202 [reprinted with revisions in Swanton (1975)]
Hussey, C., 1938 Aug/Sept, Country Life p548, 590, 178, 232
Thompson, A.H., 1913, Archaeological Journal Vol70 p553-7
Anon, 1873, Archaeological Journal Vol30 p440-2
Guidebooks
- Emery, A., 1970, Dartington Hall (Oxford)
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p113
Other sources and unpublished works (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
- Bonham-Carter, V., Dartington Hall, 1925-56, a report in the Dartington archive
Emery, Anthony, 2006 Sept 30, 'Dartington Hall reconsidered' paper given at Castle Studies Group autumn conference, The Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, London.
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*The listed building
may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site
of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
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