Brunel Manor, previously known as Watcombe Park, is a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

on the outskirts of the seaside resort of

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignt ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England.

Ownership history

The manor and its gardens were designed by

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

to be the retirement home of

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel ( ; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was an English civil engineer and mechanical engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history", "one of the 19th-century engi ...

. He discovered the area while surveying for the Great Western Railway, and he and his family later spent many holidays in the town. He eventually purchased the plot of land with a view to designing and building his dream home to which he would retire. Brunel never saw the house or gardens finished due to his death in 1859. He had already imported large quantities of

Oregon Pine The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Ore ...

timber and the foundations were laid, so a buyer had to be found who was prepared to work with what was already done. It was briefly owned by John and Robert Vicary but the site stood idle until acquired by paper manufacturer James Crompton in 1873. He re-designed the exterior appearance from Brunel's Italianate style to the French style and built the present house on Brunel's foundations. He also purchased a large amount of the surrounding land, the estate amounting to some 200 hectares (500 acres) at that time and named as Watcombe Park. During the following 90 years the house was variously occupied by Charles Ichabod Wright, Mr James Peck, Sir John Edwards-Moss, Frederick James Lund, Thomas John Crossman,

Stockwell College of Education Stockwell College of Education was a teacher-training college based in South London, England. It was located in Stockwell, South London from 1860 to 1935 and then relocated to the grounds of Bromley Palace, Bromley until its closure in 1980. ...

(evacuated from London during World War II), and the Holiday Fellowship (who gave the estate its current name). Various portions of the estate were sold off with each transaction and by 1940 just 4 hectares (10 acres) of land were left. The house and gardens were purchased in January 1963 for £28,500 by The Woodlands House of Prayer Trust who relocated from premises in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

1963 to 2021

Brunel Manor was until 2021 operated by The Woodlands House of Prayer Trust as a Christian holiday, retreat and conference centre. The house was considerably extended for this purpose during those years, and the gatehouse lodge was re-purchased from private owners in 1986.

2021 to present

During the COVID-19 pandemic the conference centre became unviable and in 2021 Brunel Manor was sold to ATA Estates (Brunel Manor)

LLP A limited liability partnership (LLP) is a partnership in which some or all partners (depending on the jurisdiction) have limited liabilities. It therefore can exhibit aspects of both partnerships and corporations. In an LLP, each partner is n ...

, a residential property development company. In 2023 they published plans to remove various 20th century additions and subdivide the Manor into residential apartments.

About the building

The Manor was recorded as a Grade II

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

in 1988 due to its historical and architectural significance.''British Listed Buildings'' (http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-390814-brunel-manor-torquay) Retrieved 27 November 2010 It is mainly constructed of local grey limestone with window surrounds and other decorative features in

Bath Stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

. The original house was mostly built as three storeys (a fourth over the entrance tower). A hall in matching style was later added to the east; available dates for this addition are vague, quoted by Brunel Manor's own information document as being between 1907 and 1923. The

Fire Precautions Act 1971 The history of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom formally covers the period from the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801 but is founded in the history of such legislation in England and Wales, and Scotl ...

came into force in 1972, when hotels and boarding houses were the first class of premises to be designated. Under the Fire Precautions (Hotels and Boarding Houses) Order 1972, (Statutory Instrument (SI) 1972 /238) any premises where there was sleeping accommodation for more than 6 persons (staff or guests) or sleeping accommodation above the first floor required a fire certificate issued by the local fire authority. This required partitioning to be built across previously open galleried landings, fireproofing of many doors and door frames, removal of combustible material, and installation of a fire alarm system. This means that many original features are now hidden behind plasterboard, corridors divided by modern fire doors or internal views seen through wired glass. The scale of this internal alteration can be appreciated by its cost in 1973 of £9000, the same as the average price of a house bought in the UK that year.''Nationwide Building Society'' (http://www.nationwide.co.uk/hpi/downloads/UK_house_price_since_1952.xls ) Retrieved 27 November 2010 Between 1980 and 1998 two loft conversions and four extensions were added which are in a more modern style, built to serve the present day needs of the holiday centre.

References

External links