Summary

The first housing provided as part of Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst’s Dartington Experiment, representing their generous and humane approach to accommodating the estate’s workforce.

Description

Two pairs of semi-detached houses, 1926-1927, by Leonard Elmhirst and Albert Fincham.

MATERIALS: rubble stone with slate roofs.

PLAN: set back from and below the east side of Park Road. Each pair of houses occupies an H-shaped footprint; the main wing of each is orientated roughly north-south, with a perpendicular range linking each pair.

EXTERIOR: two symmetrical pairs of semi-detached houses of one and a half storeys. Each pair has two gabled wings linked by a pitched roofed range; wide external lateral chimneystacks on each wing and the north side of the central range. Elevations are plainly detailed masonry with large window openings on the ground floor with multi-light, timber-framed casements. Windows have timber lintels with tiled hood moulds and sloping sills. Openings to the upper floor, in the gable ends and as roof dormers, are smaller. Overhanging eaves with plain timber barge boards; hipped roof dormers with slate cheeks. The two pairs of houses are largely the same, though with some small differences, such as the single-storey outshut on the northern pair, and different forms and configuration of porches: either narrow, weather-boarded passages, or half-glazed lobbies.

INTERIOR: ground floor laid out with three principal rooms and a dog-leg stair. Kitchen on north side of each wing, originally with sink, copper, fuel store and larder. Fireplaces with dressed stone surrounds. Simple joinery: picture rails, ledge and brace doors, plank handrail to the stair. Some ironmongery survives: upright handles and strap hinges to the doors, and scrolled catches and stays to the windows. Upper floor bathrooms retain a built-in linen cupboard.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: to the north of each pair is a small, single-storey detached outbuilding. Timber box-framing with curved braces and roughcast plaster infill. Hipped slate roof.

History

At the centre of the Dartington Hall Estate are the surviving parts of the great C14 medieval house (listed Grade I, wider area scheduled), which was almost derelict by the time it was purchased by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst in 1925 from the Champernowne family, who had owned the estate since 1559. The Elmhirsts set about using their substantial wealth to renovate Dartington Hall, beginning The Dartington Experiment, an ambitious programme of rural regeneration based on modern methods of agriculture and forestry, progressive education, arts and literature. Under their patronage, Dartington became a magnet for émigré artists, craftspeople, thinkers, musicians, dancers and actors during the interwar period, and it developed into a vibrant cultural community and a centre of innovation and influence. The couple made Dartington their home for the rest of their lives.

Living accommodation on the Dartington Hall Estate before 1925 was very limited, and the Elmhirst’s pioneering venture resulted in the need for new housing, particularly for those employed at the new farms and Dartington Hall School, founded in 1926. 1-4 Park Road were the first workers’ houses to be built; plans are unsigned, but are attributed to the Clerk of Works, Albert Fincham, and Leonard Elmhirst. It has been suggested that the houses on Park Lane were built specifically for the teaching staff at the newly established school. The houses also initiated the northwards development of the estate, with the construction of Park Road (originally known as Park Lane) providing access to Aller Park School.

Reasons for Listing

1-2 and 3-4 Park Road are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* distinctive, high quality designs for estate workers’ housing, built of good quality materials and in a style appropriate to the vernacular of the locality;
* architecturally distinctive pairs of houses built on an H-plan, using good quality materials in a traditional vernacular style, with massive external chimneystacks and picturesque principal facades.

Historic interest:

* as the first housing built on the Dartington Hall estate as part of Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst’s ‘Dartington Experiment’ – a pioneering venture in C20 England of estate investment and development based on agricultural reform and cultural innovation.

Group value:

* very strong group value with the neighbouring 5-8 Park Road, 1928, designed by Rex Gardner and illustrating the stylistic diversity of estate worker’s housing.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)