Summary

The Great House of St George, St Peter Street, Tiverton.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 4 November 2015. This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

This monument includes a Tudor and Jacobean merchant’s town house called The Great House of St George situated on St Peter Street in the heart of Tiverton. The monument survives as a gabled; two storied town house with attic. It retains important features including: mullioned windows, relieving arches, an arched entrance with screen passage, original doors and panelling. The passage leads to a garden with a coach house. It was originally used as a meeting house for members of the wool trade guild and as a business premises from 1613. It was built by George Slee a wealthy merchant and philanthropist. It was remodelled following a fire in 1731. It is listed at Grade II*.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Houses of the late Tudor and early Jacobean period comprise a distinctive group of buildings which differ in form, function, design and architectural style from those of both earlier and later date. They are the product of a particular historical period in which, a newly emerged Protestant society demonstrated wealth and taste. Many designs and stylistic details were copied from Continental pattern-books, particularly those published in the 1560s on French, Italian and Flemish models; further architectural ideas were later spread by the use of foreign craftsmen. Symmetry in both plan and elevation was an overriding principle. Surviving houses of the late Tudor and early Jacobean period stand as an irreplaceable record of an architectural development which was unique both to England and to a particular period in English history characterised by a flourishing of artistic invention; they provide an insight into politics, patronage and economics in the early post-medieval period. The Great House of St George is a good example of an early 17th century town house in a provincial market town, built by an important local merchant and philanthropist.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Pastscape Monument No: 36472

Source: Historic England