Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 23 June 2025 to amend the name, address and description ue to change in building use, and. to reformat the text to current standards

SS7149
858-1/4/8

LYNTON AND LYNMOUTH
Lynton
Castle Heights
Former Royal Castle Hotel

(Formerly listed as Royal Castle Hotel, CASTLE HILL)

03/09/73

GV
II
Former hotel. c1810, much modified internally late C19. By a Mr Colley of Barnstaple. Rendered ground floor, painted slate-hung upper level, slate roof. The hotel much reduced in size since the previous list, is now one unit, parallel range, the wing and larger range described in the previous list having been demolished; on the northeast corner, rear, is a lightly attached billiard room. The front block appears to have originated as a symmetrical three window range, with a later extension to the right. Two storeys. 3+2 window front, all sashes; the upper floor has a central arched twenty-pane with radial bars, flanked by twelve-pane, and two further twelve-pane to the far right. The ground floor has a semi-octagonal granite porch with crenellations over a central arched opening, on three steps; to each side are glazed arched openings. To the left is a door with margin-pane glazing, and to the right a sash. Across this part of the frontage, broken by the porch, is the original tent canopy, with felted roof, and decorative cast-iron frieze and standards, returned also to the left. To the right is a complex gabled glazed porch over a pair of glazed doors with transom light. The left gable has a broad stack, and a lower hipped slate-hung extension, with west facing window, set above and cutting through the former tent canopy. The eaves course is formed by slates spaced as 'dentils'.

The sea frontage has three original twelve-pane and a later four-pane sash, and a small hipped semi-octagonal conservatory with cusped lights and patterned glass, and a later C19 double-gabled extension, set back to the right. To the left, projecting forward from the front, is a former billiard room with large twennty-pane sashes with Y-tracery and a central six-panel door in a deep arched reveal; there are two sashes facing north, above a basement. This is in the form of a pavilion, with pyramidal hipped roof.

INTERIOR: much modified, and much of the detailing is of the late C19. To left of main entry is one large space, formerly two rooms. To right is the staircase, rising from a lateral passage, with Minton tile floor, leading to service rooms on the ground floor. Beyond this is an inner room with an Art Nouveau fireplace surround including a beaten copper frieze and fine tiles, with decorative cast-iron grate; this is said to have been made from fragments of other fireplaces in the building, but looks consistent. The ceiling frieze is in flat scrolls. This room is enclosed by the later conservatory, at a lower level, with which it communicates through a full-width opening. Opposite the stair is a room with palmette cornice and Minton tile floor, the doorcases are reeded. The polished hardwood dogleg staircase is late C19 or early C20, with tapered octagonal balusters and capped newels, and panelling to the upper floor. Many doors are panelled with mouldings.

Listing NGR: SS7212949357

External Links

• Wikidata Q26501714

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

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  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
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  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
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  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)