Summary

Former coaching inn. Built in the C18, and re-fronted in the early C19. C19, C20 and C21 alterations and additions.

Description

Former coaching inn. Built in the C18 and re-fronted in the early C19. C19, C20 and C21 alterations and additions.

MATERIALS: the principal and rear elevations are rendered, possibly over cob. The pitched roofs are covered in slate tiles. The gable-end walls are hung with slate tiles. There is a brick stack to the south gable. The windows are timber-framed hornless sashes with glazing bars.

PLAN: an L-shaped plan, with the public bar to the front and the former accommodation wing, with a first-floor assembly room to the rear. There is a single-storey building beyond, possibly former stables.

EXTERIOR: a two-storey, three-bay principal elevation of almost symmetrical proportions. To the central bay is a canopy supported on Tuscan columns. The doorway is framed by Tuscan pilasters, panelled reveals, and has a semi-circular fanlight above the four-panel door; the upper panels are glazed. To either side is an eight-over-eight sash window. To the first floor are three, six-over-six sash windows. The moulded string course and fascia may be a remodelling of a former cornice and parapet wall. There is a moulded gutter box supported on timber brackets above.

To the rear is a single-bay, two-storey addition that cuts across a window to the rear elevation of the principal range. The rear range continues as a roughly three-bay, three-storey addition with twelve-over-eight sash windows to the first floor and two eight-over-eight sash windows to the second floor. There is a single-storey range beyond.

INTERIOR: includes a first-floor assembly room with an elaborate early C19 plaster cornice. Further historic fixtures and fittings may survive.

History

The White Hart appears to have origins as a C18 coaching inn benefitting from the establishment of the Turnpike Trusts in Devon from the mid-C18 onwards. Three of Devon’s turnpike trusts, namely Exeter (established 1753), Tiverton (established 1758), and Honiton (established 1765), converged at Cullompton. The Cullompton Turnpike Trust was established in 1813 specifically to build and manage a new route for the Exeter to Bristol Post Road, and in the 1800s the inn had an additional role as a posting house.

In the early C19, the inn was altered when the roof of the principal range was raised and the principal elevation re-fronted. The ranges to the rear also appear to date from this period, providing a first-floor assembly room and accommodation. The large thatched range at the east end of the plot, as shown on the 1831 insurance map of Cullompton by RP Davy, may have been the stables. The White Hart employed its own ostler, provided stabling and also a field to the rear of the premises for horses to graze. The 1831 map and the tithe map of Cullompton (1839) indicate that the neighbouring 21 Fore Street may have formed part of the inn.

The interior has been altered in the C20 and C21.

Reasons for Listing

The White Hart is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an example of a C18 coaching inn that was remodelled and extended in the early C19;
* for its well-preserved frontage which presents a distinctive contribution to the streetscape of Fore Street.

Historic interest:

* as a coaching inn built in response to improvements in road communication and the establishment of the Turnpike Trusts in Devon from the mid-C18, and for its subsequent remodelling to provide additional accommodation and stabling for travellers;
* its early-C19, first-floor assembly room illustrates the demand for cultural facilities such as this.

Group value:

* with 21 Fore Street (Grade II) which appears to have originally formed the south range of the coaching inn.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26461951

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)