Board School, Exmouth, Devon

I came across this rather lovely building whilst having a wander around Exmouth in 2009. At the time there was very little information to be found about either the building or Board Schools in general, and I was rather confused by the wording on the date stone. However, on re-writing the article for my now defunct website in 2015, I found a lot more information and was able to add to its history. And even more so for my blog. :)

Board schools were introduced by the Elementary Education Act in 1870, which enabled locally elected school boards to provide education for five to ten year olds within their area.They were allowed to charge fees, but were also allowed to raise funds from government rate and were eligible for grants. This meant that provision could be made for the children of the poorest families.  

Erected in 1877, this delightful building is an intriguing mix of the Victorian Italianate style of the 1850s & 1860s and the Victorian Gothic style of the late 19th century; the rather pretty bell tower possibly used to summon the children to school.  School Boards were eventually abolished with the introduction of the 1902 Education Act, in which they were replaced by Local Education Authorities. The building now houses the town library.

The school was built on what was once the site of a manor house. Not to be confused with The Old Manor House in North Street; an hotel which, although of early 18th century origin, wasn't given the name until the 19th century. The former manor house on this site is mentioned in two blue plaques on the wall of the board school / library, which commemorate two residents of the former building. The wording on the blue plaques is as follows...

 

"Sir John Colleton. This site was formerly the Manor House of Rill or Hill, a sub-Manor of Marpool, occupied in the early 18th Century by Sir John Colleton, retired administrator of S Carolina. He brought the first Magnolias with him which he developed by mutation to produce the 'Magnolia Grandiflora Exmouthiensis' variety which is incorporated into Exmouth's Coat of Arms."

 "Conrad Martens. This landscape artist, born in London in 1801, moved to Exmouth in 1822 where he lived in Elm Cottage, former manor house, on this site. From 1833 to 1834, he was the ship's artist on the Beagle and corresponded with Charles Darwin for many years. He is regarded as an important Australian water colour artist and died in Sydney in 1878."

 

Such a lovely building and I wish I had taken more photographs during the short time I had here. Hopefully I'll be able to visit again in the not too distant future when I'll be able to have a more leisurely mooch and add more photos. :)

Blue Waters & Warners Holiday Camps, Seaton, Devon

Long before the arrival of Butlins or Pontins holiday camps, Captain Harry Warner opened his first holiday camp in 1931 on Hayling Island. Warners in Seaton was opened in 1935 and continued under that name until it was taken over by Haven Holidays in the 1980's. Apart from the war years during WW2, the camp site remained in use until its closure and subsequent demolition in 2009. During the war it became an internment camp for German nationals already in the country, as well as POWs and some captured Nazis. Later it was used for the build up of troops as 'D' Day approached (including the Free Czechs & Free Polish Forces, the Free Spanish Army and some from the USA).

Blue Waters next door was owned by Ladbrooks until it too was bought out by Haven. The two camps were subsequently merged together and became Lyme Bay Holiday Village. Sold to Holly Bush Hotels, the Blue Waters part was later closed down and remained derelict for some years until it was demolished in 2008. All the photos are of the Blue Waters site, which I explored and photographed in 2006 & 2007, as the 'Warners side' was still in use right up until it too was demolished in 2009.
  

The former Blue Waters site comprised a main building, a row of chalets and a swimming pool near to the road entrance. To the left, and slightly isolated, was a circle of chalets where the staff lived, and the rest of its extensive site was pretty much empty apart from the hard-standings for caravans, along with the odd fire hoses, utility points and two funky little huts...all of which can still be seen on Google Earth. Having made a tentative foray into the chalet circle in December 2006, I made another visit in January 2007 to venture further. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, and the first half of the photos are from that visit.

My son accompanied me, as it was one of my first explores on a large site and I was a little trepidatious. He wore his hair in very long dreadlocks at the time and sported an old and beaten up leather jacket, so I hoped that no-one would try and mess with us while he was there, lol, even though he's actually one of the most gentle of blokes. 

 
I didn't know about the swimming pool until on our way around the main building I noticed something blue between the slats of a fence. I was delighted to see the pool when I peeped through, and further along the fence had come down and we were able to see it properly.

We were thinking of scaling a small wall surrounding the swimming pool, as we could see that the back door of the club house was open, but then we heard the sound of breaking glass and decided against it.

The chalets on the main site, above and below.

I made another visit a few months later in 2007, when I explored on my own, as there was so much to see on that first visit that I hadn't taken many photos of the main building.

The Haven Holidays Fizzer Fun Club, above. And a rather scary looking blind below. 

The remains of a fence that was originally surrounding the pool area, with La Baguette (presumably a snack bar) in the background. 

Seagull at 11 o' clock!

I managed to take quite a few extra photos of and around the club house and swimming pool, then I ventured towards the bottom of the grounds, where there was a laundry room. Unfortunately, I was spotted from the other campsite, and before I knew it a car roared up with two very angry men inside. One of them jumped out and started shouting at me and threatened to call the police. As it happens, trespassing is a civil offence in Britain, not a criminal one, therefore I just apologised and offered to leave straight away. His bark must have been much worse than his bite, as the shouty man quickly calmed down and allowed me to take more photos on the way out if I wanted.

Another shot of the swimming pool, and to finish up, some photos of the chalet circle below.

And on the way out, after being 'escorted off the premises', I took this last photo. Oops!

Oh, and a self portrait taken in a window of the main building.

Blue Plaques, Seaton, Devon

A joint celebration of the 1000th anniversary of seaton in 2005, along with the centenary year of Rotary International, gave rise to the idea by Rotarian member Douglas Smith of providing blue plaques for the historic buildings in the town. The official English Heritage blue plaques are used to identify buildings where famous people once resided but, along with the expense and difficulties in gaining approval, this wasn't felt to be applicable. Therefore a different approach was used whereby the historic buildings themselves were highlighted, rather than who lived there.

With a short list of 20 buildings, 16 owners agreed to have blue plaques on their walls. Manufactured by Rob Gibbons, of R & H Signs, they were made in aluminium with a pvc laminate and bear both the Seaton Coat of Arms and the Rotary International symbol, together with a brief history of the building.

Check House

Check House was built by Sir William Trevelyan and his wife, Pauline, and was used as their seaside residence between 1864 and 1866. Originally called Calverly Lodge, it is thought that it may have been designed by John Ruskin. Sir William had inherited the manor of Seaton, and he and his wife developed and made many improvements to the area. Pauline was a patron of the Pre-Raphaelites and they entertained many well-known people of their day, including Thomas Carlyle and Florence Nightingale. Their friends also included Tennyson, Christina Rosetti, John Millais and William Morris’s wife Jane.

A grade II listed building, the interior includes a Beer Stone staircase with a wrought iron balustrade entwined with lilies. Now a Care Home, in 2005 an extension won the Healthcare Design Award for the best extension to an existing home.

The building itself is quite lovely, and there are some delightful examples of late Victorian Gothic features. Personally I feel that the additional check design on the new extension has taken a quirky, but beautifully designed building, and totally unbalanced it. Despite that, it's unusual and interesting with some fabulous history...just ignore the new bit; that's what I did when taking the photos! ;)

The separate page for Check House with a lot more history, information and photos, and can be accessed here. 

Seaforth Lodge 

Seaforth Lodge is a short distance along from Check House. and was built in 1863 for the Dowager Lady Ashburton, who also entertained noted visitors of the day, including the Carlisles and various members of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

Wonderful wrought iron balconies and porches can be seen to the side and rear of the building, and is one of the delightful features of its time.

Still residential but it's now separated into different apartments. The main building, complete with an observatory on the roof, overlooks the cliffs, and at the front is a two-cottage building facing the road.

 

The separate page for Seaforth with more history, information and photos, can be accessed here.

Axmouth Old Bridge

Although it looks stone-built, the bridge was actually completely manufactured in concrete and moulded to look like stone blocks. Built in 1877 by Sir Walter Trevelyan, who was a keen advocate for its use, it is now the oldest mass concrete bridge in England.

Taken on a lovely misty day, the photo above shows the old bridge on the right with the new one on the left. The old bridge is now used as a pedestrian walkway.

Seen at low tide, below, is a line of rocks just upstream from the bridge. I did think this was part of the remains of two attempts to dam the river during WWII, but have been recently informed that there's nothing left of those, and that these piles are placed to protect the new bridge piers from erosion.

Subsidence at the Axmouth side of the bridge. This is the 'fishing side', whereas the yachts and pleasure craft are moored on the Seaton side where they can access the sea from the harbour.

A lot more information about Axmouth Harbour can be seen on its separate page here.

Axmouth Bridge Toll House

A toll bridge until 1907, the little toll house still remains on the Seaton side of the river and is now a residential house. The Lord of the Manor at that time was S. Sanders Stephens. He paid £2,200 towards the sum of £5,000 raised to free the bridge from tolls. Interestingly, Mr Stephens owned the company Stephens Ink and lived at the nearby Queen Anne style house, Stedcombe Manor...once known by locals as 'The Inkpot', both due to the style and the ink association. 

And, as with the others, there's a full article of the Toll House with extra photos and information, which can be accessed here.

One of the things that I sometimes struggle with is what to include, and more importantly, what to leave out. It's very tempting to take photos of everything, just for the sheer joy of photography and working on my (now defunct) website. But, I sometimes have to remind myself that it isn't a gazeteer, but a personal journey of places that I've visited and found interesting. This is why I've only included the above blue plaque buildings in Seaton so far. 

Mind, I haven't visited all of them so there may be additions on my blog if and when I do. :)