Description

PAIGNTON

SX8861 TORQUAY ROAD
1947-1/4/105 (West side)
Walls, steps and sphinxes to garden
south of Oldway Mansion

GV II

Walls to garden S of Oldway Mansion, including flights of
steps and sphinxes. c1907-1907, contemporary with the
remodelling of Oldway Mansion (qv) for Paris Singer. Grounds
laid out by A Duchesne, the leading French formal landscape
architect. Concrete walls; paved terrace; white Italian marble
sphinxes.
Plain, low, coped concrete wall to paved terrace immediately
in front of the house, with flights of steps up from the south
garden. Central flight of steps is flanked by fine C18 style
sphinxes, described in Pevsner as "delightfully haughty", with
elaborate hairstyles, earrings and fichus. Low, coped concrete
walls to W and E of the garden return at the N end with a
flight of steps up to the lawn.
Part of the setting of Oldway Mansion, the sphinxes setting
off the erotic scuplture in the pediment of the south front.
(Buildings of England: Pevsner N: Devon: London: 1952-1989:
839-40).

Listing NGR: SX8877661504

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26585774

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

• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Worcestershire Revised Edition (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)