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Black Hall is a
Black Hall is a Grade II* listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
near the village of Avonwick
Avonwick is a village in the civil parish of North Huish, in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England. The River Avon runs through the settlement and the village's name derives from ''avon'' meaning ''river'', and ''wick'' an old ...
, in Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England. It was built around 1820, possibly by the London architect R. Brown, for local landowner Hubert Cornish. It is believed that the current building is on the site of an older construction called Blakehall. In 1881 the house was extended by Fredrick James Cornish Bowden who built an additional servants building to the west of the property, consisting of yellow brick with corbelled brick eaves, cornice, and a hipped slate roof. The current building is square in shape and faces south; it is three rooms deep and has two principle state rooms to the front. In the basement, a kitchen and bakehouse are located, as well as the servants hall and dairy which are at ground level at the back of the house due to the sloping elevation. To the front of the building, a five bay façade has been installed with a pillared porch in the centre. The windows are 12-pane sash window
A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...
s dating from the 19th century, and have wooden shutters on the inside.
The interior of the building boasts a fine oval staircase and hall with a mahogany handrail and baluster
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its cons ...
s, and egg-and-dart
Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an Ornament (architecture), ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of molding (decorative), moulding, consisting of alternating ...
mouldings on the walls and ceiling. The stairwell has an elliptical vault and moulded friezes and motifs. The house has a marble fireplace with detailed columns to either side. Another marble fireplace is in the dining room which dates from the Victorian era.
Black Hall was the seat of the Fowells of Fowellscombe Hall which is now in ruins. In 1815 Black Hall was sold to Hubert Cornish (1770-1832), a lawyer and accomplished painter, who built the present house and landscaped the grounds.
During World War Two, in 1940 Westerleigh Preparatory School St Leonard's on Sea in Sussex was evacuated to Black Hall and returned to Sussex in 1944. Richard Mason (explorer)
Richard Maurice Ledingham Mason (28 March 19353 September 1961) was a British explorer and the last British person to have been killed by an uncontacted indigenous tribe.
Biography Early life and first expedition
Mason was born in St Leonard ...
was a pupil at this time.British newspaper archive
References
* {{coord, 50.4045, -3.8125, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Devon Grade II* listed houses Country houses in Devon