Location: The
cross sits on the roof apex of Holystreet Manor, which lies about ¾ mile
to the west of the town of Chagford.O/S Grid Ref: SX/68911/87812
Longitude/Latitude (Degrees+/-): -3.86064/50.66904
Map location: Click here
to view map.
Purpose: A
roof cross on the Manor Chapel
Size: The cross is not
able to be measured.
Information:
Holystreet Manor is an impressive Grade II listed building that was
originally built in the late 16th or early 17th century. However, by
1913
the house had fallen into a dilapidated state and was bought by Mary
Ellis, who was a member of the wealthy Howard de Walden family. In
her day, Mary Ellis made a name for herself by racing motorcycles but, by
the time she bought this house, she had retired from her racing career and
was more interested in hunting wild animals with her dogs. She hired
an architect, Turner Powell, who was an expert on Tudor houses, to draw up
the plans and oversee the renovation. This required rebuilding most
of the exterior walls and the inside was completely redesigned and
refurbished. The inside
of the house now features granite stone arches and lead-paned windows in a
style similar to the nearby Castle Drogo. The house was also
redesigned with an unusual form of central heating. This involved
extracting water from the nearby River Teign and forcing it through a
kilometre of narrow metal piping to extract the heat, in the opposite way
to the workings of a refrigerator.
The
roof cross sits on the apex over what is now the chapel, dedicated to St.
Boniface, and beneath the cross and set back into the wall is a fine stone
statue of St. Boniface. The chapel is actually on the first floor of
the house to which access is gained by way of an external staircase.
The top of another stone cross is just about visible inside the chapel
window.
Holystreet used to have its own
corn mill until it fell into disrepair but, happily, this building was
restored during the latter half of the 20th century. The mill-leat
follows the road for some distance and has a real magical appearance when
the golden coloured stones in the bed of the leat sparkle in the sunshine.
If you look carefully, a number of fish can also be seen darting in and
out of the shadows. There was also a private school based at Holystreet in
the middle of the 20th century. This was originally named St.
Brides, before being re-named Holystreet Manor School. The school
had about 40 pupils and catered for both day and boarding pupils.
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