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Tawstock Court, Devon: designs for finishings for Sir Bourchier Wrey Bt, 1789-90 (7)
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Tawstock Court, Devon: designs for finishings for Sir Bourchier Wrey Bt, 1789-90 (7)
Signed and dated
- 1789
Other Years: Journal No 1 11 February 1789 'A Journey to Tawstock, near Barnstaple' 19 February 'Sent per Exeter Mail / Seven working drawings for / finishings to Gallery, / Bedrooms / & Staircases, on six sheets of / Cartridge paper ... more drawings ... 21 May sent 8 working drawings ... August 15 sent six drawings of finishings. .... In March 1791 received 140: 8 : 6.' In all, about 40 drawings were sent to Sir Bourchier Wrey between 19 Feb. 1789 and 18 May 1790. After initial visit by Soane, Lodder sent to measure up on 16 April 1789 and 'Lodder called at Quintoins about the glass' on 27 June 1789.
Notes
Overlooking the Taw valley, all that remains of the earlier Tawstock Court is a mid-15th century gatehouse. The mansion was burned down in 1787 and was rebuilt to the designs of Sir Bourchier Wrey, 7th Baronet (1757-1826). He used a contemporary Gothic style for the stuccoed, battlemented, two-storey principal (east) front. Overall the house has a four-sided courtyard plan, with a late medieval Gothic style for the works of 1885 towards the rear.
Soane visited Tawstock on 11 February 1789. Entries in the office 'Bill Book' from June 1789 have the costs of carpenters' work for new roofs and flooring, and drawing 2 verso is a design for a small tower. However, Soane's role was mostly concerned with the construction of the top-lit staircase and with supplying the decorative details for the reception rooms and for the entrance. From 19 February 1789 to 18 May 1790 about forty drawings 'for finishings' were sent in batches. William Lodder (1757-1827) was an asistant in Soane's office from 1789 to 1796 and his name is mentioned in the office 'Journal No 1' in connection with a site visit and delivering drawings. In March 1791 Soane received payment of £140:8:6.
St Michael's independent school for boys was evacuated from Putney to Tawstock Court in July 1940, then the home of Sir Albany Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 13th Baronet (1861-1948). The school remained after the end of the War but closed in 2011.
Jill Lever
Soane visited Tawstock on 11 February 1789. Entries in the office 'Bill Book' from June 1789 have the costs of carpenters' work for new roofs and flooring, and drawing 2 verso is a design for a small tower. However, Soane's role was mostly concerned with the construction of the top-lit staircase and with supplying the decorative details for the reception rooms and for the entrance. From 19 February 1789 to 18 May 1790 about forty drawings 'for finishings' were sent in batches. William Lodder (1757-1827) was an asistant in Soane's office from 1789 to 1796 and his name is mentioned in the office 'Journal No 1' in connection with a site visit and delivering drawings. In March 1791 Soane received payment of £140:8:6.
St Michael's independent school for boys was evacuated from Putney to Tawstock Court in July 1940, then the home of Sir Albany Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 13th Baronet (1861-1948). The school remained after the end of the War but closed in 2011.
Jill Lever
Level
Scheme
Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk