Rougemont Castle, Exeter, Devon - Part Two

Part Two of Rougemont Castle deals with the inner courtyard and the buildings within the castle walls. The whole site, comprising the Gatehouse, Castle and City Walls, the ground beneath all the buildings and adjoining areas, is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Part One is on the previous post but can also be accessed here.

 

The largest and most imposing building is the Palladian style Georgian courthouse, built in 1773 for the County Assize Courts. Prior to this, the inner bailey consisted of a Sessions House, built in 1607, which was demolished along with the remaining mediaeval buildings. Interestingly, a castle was a traditional venue for court hearings, which is where the name 'the old bailey' or the terms 'court' and 'courthouse' comes from.  

The building comprises two storeys at the front in stone, with a similar east wing of four bays, which was built much later in 1905. The main entrance is through a portico with three round-headed arches whereas there's a rather nifty pedimented doorway with corinthian columns on the side east wing (above left). The top photo of the above three shows a cupola on the roof.

A Grade II* Listed building, it is now home to residential apartments, a ballroom and gallery. When I visited in November 2011, there was still interior alteration work being undertaken with workmen going in and out. I didn't want to get in their way, so I only took a few photos of the vestibule inside. The exterior was rather difficult to photograph too, as the carpark was full and I couldn't get any shots from a distance, and as the vehicles were right up to the building I only managed a few close-ups. More about that later! 

Enlarged in 1895, and more alterations made in 1905 with the addition of the new Neo-Palladian wing, it served as Exeter's Crown and County Courts until 2003. Apart from those fortunate...or unfortunate!...to have been called to court, it was an inaccessible part of Exeter's rich history. However, due to increasing difficulties of disabled access, there was a move to new purpose-built courts, and the Assize building was subsequently sold to private developers.

To the right of the inner door (above) is what looks like a reception office, which may have been the first port of call for those who were attending court.

The photo below shows a lovely ornamental pebbled pathway in front of the building, using pale stones to create the diamond within a bed of dark ones. Pebbles were used extensively in East Devon buildings, as well as the more ubiquitous cobbled streets, due to the local pebble beds in the area as well as the pebbly beaches.

As grand as the building is, I found the rear areas far more interesting. I love the way bits of the architecture get cobbled together when no-one's looking.

I wish I had more photos of the rear as it's full of higgledy-piggledy goodness, along with this fabulous cast iron pipe, above. 

And around the other side to the east, is this wonderful arch. There are lights above, therefore I assume it's an actual bridge across and over the wall to the right. 

Another Grade II Listed remain of the inner courtyard is this statue of Earl Fortesque (below), who was the Lieutenant of Devon. The statue was erected in 1863. I had difficulty getting this photo, as it was fenced off around the base, but managed to get inside the barriers to get this side shot.

 
The Lodge, below, was built in 1892, and although not a Listed Building in its own right it has been Curtillaged Listed. That was a new term for me, so I looked it up. It's a term accorded to satellite buildings within a specific area together with those which are grade listed, and which pre-date 1948. As a building which has a specific role within a Scheduled Ancient Monument, it is therefore curtillaged and protected alongside them.  

A view, below, of the inside of the castle gate and gatehouse. A wonderful view for anyone living in one of the new courthouse apartments, but...a minor rant here! One of the reasons I had difficulty getting the photos I wanted was due to the amount of vehicles inside the courtyard.

According to a pdf document from the planning department published in April 2005, and before the buildings were sold for development, it did stipulate that 'in order to create a satisfactory ambience for the buildings and the ramparts, parking should be kept to a minimum'. Before it was sold and developed there were virtually no cars there at all (as in the first photo at the top of this article, seen through the gate), but at this visit it was choc-a-bloc. In fact, the whole of the courtyard looked like one gigantic car park, even right up to the front entrance of the Georgian building, and I know I wouldn't want to live there and see that from my window. It may not be like that now, as it was almost exactly 12 years ago and there may have been an event held in the public rooms at the time. If things are different I will update with more photos when I can visit again. :)

And to end with, here are a few more of the fabulous castle gatehouse from the front. I have such a lot of these so I only put a small selection in Part One. I went a bit mad when taking photos and printing them up because I just love this amazing arch with the triangular headed openings.

I'll hopefully get some more articles done before the end of this month, although I'm not sure which ones yet. 

Cheers. :)