Upcott, Seaton, Devon

Loosely following on from the previous two posts about coastal erosion, Upcott - a lovely Arts and Crafts style building dating from the late 1880s - is situated on Old Beer Road, part of which vanished during a cliff fall in 2012.

I took the first photo on a whim, whilst walking past a long time ago. The rest of the photos were taken in May 2012 - fortunately just a couple of months before the road was inaccessible - when I sneaked up some steps and along a side path on the other side of the property. Taking photos on the way was really lovely, partly for the fun of gradually sneaking up but also to see how the view of the building unfolded.

I found some interesting history about the building's beginnings from the website of Savills Properties, the estate agent, when It was up for sale, and which says in part...

"Believed to have been designed by David Carr, a renowned local Arts and Crafts architect, it is understood that the property was built for a wealthy Naval Officer."

I tried to find out more about the architect but the only thing I discovered was a reference to him having built Garlands House in the nearby village of Beer. He is described as being a famous architect, a resident of Beer, and also belonging to the well-known Carr's Biscuits family.

It became Upcott Christian Centre in 1968. I know two of the people that ran the centre and when my son was little we went there to the Mother & Toddler Group once a week. However, due to the increasing instability of the cliffs near to the road they decided to relocate in 2007 and the house eventually became a venue for holiday renting, which I wasn't aware of at the time of my visit..

There's a little potted history about the Christian Centre, which you can read on their website here.

From the gate up to the house put me on private property so I didn't take any more until I could ask for permission. As it happens, no-one answered the door so I just took a few close-ups of the house from where I was and left it at that.

Like many buildings of Seaton, Beer and Axmouth, it was built using traditional local materials of flintstone together with quoins of limestone from the nearby Beer Quarry. Beer Stone was also used for the columns along the terrace which support the portico and veranda above that on the first floor. To the right is a balcony without lower supports and a turret on the left corner of the front elevation. On the gables this side - above left photo - are some lovely red clay hanging tiles.

I did take these last two photos on the way out, though, to ensure I had enough of the whole building itself. And then enjoyed that lovely walk down the steps again. :)

One day I must take a walk up here again - a longer way around now that there's no Beer Road along this section - to see what's happened to the area. If so, I'll be sure to do an update post about both Upcott and the coastal erosion. Cheers, Eileen. :)