Gotham House is a

Grade II* listed 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 ...

early 18th century

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

merchant's

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

on Phoenix Lane in the town of Tiverton in Devon, England. An ancient estate named "Gotham" also exists in the parish of

Cadeleigh Cadeleigh is a small village in the county of Devon in England. It sits in the hills above the valley of the River Exe and is about 15 km (9 miles) north of Exeter and 6 km (4 miles) southwest of Tiverton. The village has a church th ...

, near Tiverton, now represented by Gotham Farm. It was one of a number of buildings constructed in Tiverton following the disastrous Tiverton fire of 1731. The building was restored in 1966 and currently serves as the base for a firm of solicitors. The house and its forecourt walls and entrance gates became listed on 12 February 1952.

History

Gotham House was built in the early 18th century by clothing merchant and

Mayor of Tiverton The ancient borough of Tiverton in Devon, England, is governed by a Mayor and Councillors. The historic seat of government was Tiverton Guildhall, which was demolished to make way for the surviving Tiverton Town Hall, built in 1864 by Samuel Ga ...

George Davey (1690–1746). It was one of a number of buildings rebuilt in Tiverton following a fire of 1731, making it a rare example of an elaborate

townhouse. The house remained in the Davey family for a few generations, passing to George Davey's son Roger after his death, and then to his brother George. It then became the property of George's daughter and son-in-law, Captain John and Bridget Hamilton. George In the 1880s, Major Poyntz, Chief Constable of Essex, resided at Gotham House. Since 1960, the building has served as offices of law firm Ashford's Solicitors. The house was restored in 1966 by architects Clement Toy and

Raymond Erith Raymond Charles Erith Royal Academy of Arts, RA FRIBA (7 August 1904 – 30 November 1973) was a leading classical architect in England during the period dominated by the modern movement after the Second World War. His work demonstrates his contin ...

. It has occasionally been opened to the public since then.

Architecture

Exterior

Gotham House is a 3-storey

Flemish bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks ...

red brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

building, with a basement. It has a symmetrical 5-bay front with four brick columns reaching to the top of the first floor, two surrounding the entranceway and one at each end. These are topped with moulded caps and a projecting white

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. Four columns extend from this cornice to the roof. The windows have slate stonework below and are topped with arches of rubbed brick in a lighter colour; there are fourteen windows at the front and fifteen at the back. The house has

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

ed doorcases at both the front and rear. At the front, there is also a round-headed outer doorway. The house has a slate roof with an 'M' profile, with chimney stacks at either end constructed of brick with yellow

chimney pot A chimney is an architectural ventilation structure made of masonry, clay or metal that isolates hot toxic exhaust gases or smoke produced by a boiler, stove, furnace, incinerator, or fireplace from human living areas. Chimneys are typic ...

s. There is cast-iron guttering.

Interior

The house has a double depth plan, being two rooms wide. The interior retains many 18th-century features, including a library containing books and manuscripts from the period and a

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

staircase dating back to its original constructions. There is a marble

mantelpiece The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and ca ...

, with

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

and a

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

with depictions of

sphinx A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...

es and

cherubs A cherub (; plural cherubim; he, כְּרוּב ''kərūḇ'', pl. ''kərūḇīm'', likely borrowed from a derived form of akk, 𒅗𒊏𒁍 ''karabu'' "to bless" such as ''karibu'', "one who blesses", a name for the lamassu) is one of the u ...

. Surviving additions from the 19th century include a

pantry A pantry is a room or cupboard where beverages, food, and sometimes dishes, household cleaning products, linens or provisions are stored within a home or office. Food and beverage pantries serve in an ancillary capacity to the kitchen. Etymol ...

and a dumb waiter. Several historical items have been found in the basement, including documents signed by

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

References

{{Coord, 50.902, -3.4872, type:landmark_region:GB-DEV, display=title Houses in Devon Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in Devon Tiverton, Devon