Pack o' Cards

Last updated

The Pack o' Cards in 2017 Pack o Cards Combe Martin.jpg
The Pack o' Cards in 2017

The Pack o' Cards is a historic house built about 1690 in Combe Martin in North Devon. Today it is a public house and hotel. [1] It is listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England. [2]

Contents

Located on the long High Street in Combe Martin, the building was constructed in about 1690 by local squire George Ley, who, it is said, celebrated his good luck at card games when, after winning a large sum of money, he built a house to represent a house of cards [3] on a plot of land measuring 52 × 53 feet, representing the cards in a pack plus the joker. It has four floors representing the four suits, with 13 doors and fireplaces on each floor equaling the number of cards in each suit, and fifty-two stairs. Before the imposition of the window tax, the panes in all the windows added up to the total value of a pack of cards. [4]

As The King's Arms Inn c.1905 Pack o' Cards Combe Martin 1905.jpg
As The King's Arms Inn c.1905

Eventually the house passed out of the hands of the Ley family, but it is not certain when exactly the building became an inn. Records show that it was serving that function early in the 19th century, when in 1822 it was called the King's Arms Inn and a Jane Huxtable was the landlady. It was offered for sale in 1831 by the same name. The hotel is said to have been visited by the author Marie Corelli, who supposedly wrote part of her novel The Mighty Atom (1896) in the "Corelli Room" on the third floor, at a desk still preserved in her room. [5] The inn was renamed the Pack o' Cards on 1 June 1933, but it had probably been known by that name for many years before that date. [4]

Rear view of the Pack o' Cards Pack o' Cards Combe Martin rear.jpg
Rear view of the Pack o' Cards

In spite of 20th-century alterations, much of the joinery and moulded cornices in the ground floor have survived. The first and second floors are largely original and untouched, with decorative plaster ceilings to the main first floor room in the left-hand wing and to the through-corridor. Both corridors are panelled, as is the central room on the third floor, where Marie Corelli is said to have stayed. All the principal rooms have moulded plaster cornices, while good quality panelled joinery survives throughout the building. [2] Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as the only noteworthy building in the village, being "a rare folly, built on a cruciform plan with a towering display of symmetrically grouped chimneys, eight together". [6] The hotel featured on The Paul Daniels Magic Show on BBC television in 1987.

The Pack o' Cards remains an inn and has been a Grade II* listed building since 1953. [2] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combe Martin</span> Village in Devon, England

Combe Martin is a village, civil parish and former manor on the North Devon coast about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Ilfracombe. It is a small seaside resort with a sheltered cove on the northwest edge of the Exmoor National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maristow House</span>

Maristow House in the parish of Bickleigh, Devon, England, is a large country house set in landscaped parkland, on the River Tavy to the north of Plymouth. It was built in about 1560, rebuilt in the mid-18th century and further remodelled in the early 20th century. Between 1798 and 1938 it was the residence of the Lopes family, Barons Roborough. The house was ruined by fire after World War II, but was restored and converted into apartments in the late 1990s by Kit Martin. It is a grade II* listed building, having been so designated on 29 March 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haccombe</span> Hamlet and historic manor in Devon, England

Haccombe is a village and former civil parish and historic manor, now in the parish of Haccombe with Combe, in the Teignbridge district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated 2 1/2 miles east of Newton Abbot, in the south of the county. It is possibly the smallest parish in England, and was said in 1810 to be remarkable for containing only two inhabited houses, namely the manor house known as Haccombe House and the parsonage. Haccombe House is a "nondescript Georgian structure" (Pevsner), rebuilt shortly before 1795 by the Carew family on the site of an important mediaeval manor house. In 1881 the parish had a population of 14. On 25 March 1885 the parish was abolished and merged with Combe in Teignhead and to form "Haccombe with Combe".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop Lloyd's House</span> Historic site in Cheshire, England

Bishop Lloyd's House is at 41 Watergate Street, and 51/53 Watergate Row, Chester, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. The architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner considered it to be "perhaps the best" house in Chester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamb Hotel, Nantwich</span>

The Lamb Hotel, now known as Chatterton House, is a former public house in Nantwich, Cheshire, England. It is located on the north side of Hospital Street, at the junction with Church Lane. The present building by Thomas Bower dates from 1861 and is listed at grade II; Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as "decent" and "staid".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Feathers Hotel, Ludlow</span> Grade I listed hotel in Shropshire, England

The Feathers Hotel is an historic inn in Ludlow, Shropshire. Its imposing half-timbered frontage was constructed in 1619, over an earlier core, for a local lawyer, Rees Jones. John Newman describes the hotel as a "prodigy" of Tudor architecture and it is noted for its Jacobean furnishings. It is a Grade I listed building, listed on 15 April 1954, and is one of approximately 500 listed buildings in Ludlow, but one of its best known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King and Queen, Brighton</span> Pub in Brighton, England

The King and Queen is a pub in the seaside resort of Brighton, part of the city of Brighton and Hove. The present building, a "striking" architectural "pantomime" by the prolific local firm Clayton & Black, dates from the 1930s, but a pub of this name has stood on the site since 1860—making it one of the first developments beyond the boundaries of the ancient village. This 18th-century pub was, in turn, converted from a former farmhouse. Built using materials characteristic of 16th-century Vernacular architecture, the pub is in the Mock Tudor style and has a wide range of extravagant decorative features inside and outside—contrasting with the simple design of the neighbouring offices at 20–22 Marlborough Place, designed a year later. English Heritage has listed the pub at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gotham House</span>

Gotham House is a Grade II* listed early 18th century Georgian merchant's townhouse on Phoenix Lane in the town of Tiverton in Devon, England. An ancient estate named "Gotham" also exists in the parish of Cadeleigh, near Tiverton, now represented by Gotham Farm. It was one of a number of buildings constructed in Tiverton following the disastrous Tiverton fire of 1731. The building was restored in 1966 and currently serves as the base for a firm of solicitors. The house and its forecourt walls and entrance gates became listed on 12 February 1952.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roborough, Torridge</span> Village in Devon, England

Roborough is a village and civil parish 5.5 mi (8.9 km) from Great Torrington, in Devon, England. Situated topographically on the plateau between the Torridge and Taw Rivers, the parish covers 1,258 ha and contains a population of some 258 parishioners. It is surrounded by a pastoral landscape of rectangular fields, high hedges and scattered farmsteads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forde House</span>

Forde House, now also known as Old Forde House, is a Grade I listed Jacobean former manor house in Newton Abbot, Devon, England. It was built in c. 1610 and is noted for its fine 17th-century wood-carving and plasterwork. Once the manor house of the parish of Wolborough, it is now absorbed into a suburb of Newton Abbot. The south front is clearly visible from the busy Brunel Road which cuts across the house's front lawn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Customs House Hotel, Maryborough</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Customs House Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 116 Wharf Street, Maryborough, Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1868. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palmer House, Great Torrington</span>

Palmer House is a grade II* listed Georgian residence built in 1752 in the town of Great Torrington, North Devon, England. It is notable as it retains many original features, including fine ornate plaster ceilings, marble and carved fireplaces, mahogany doors and a fine balustraded staircase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Tabard, Chiswick</span>

The block of three buildings containing The Tabard public house is a Grade II* listed structure in Chiswick, London. The block, with a row of seven gables in its roof, was designed by Norman Shaw in 1880 as part of the community focus of the Bedford Park garden suburb. The block contains the Bedford Park Stores, once a co-operative, and a house for the manager.

Gayton Hall is a country house in Gayton Farm Road, Gayton, Merseyside, England. It was built in the 17th century and refaced in the following century. The house is constructed in brick with stone dressings, and has an Ionic doorcase. William of Orange stayed in the house in 1690. In the grounds is a dovecote dated 1663. Both the house and the dovecote are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated Grade II* listed buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Swan Inn, Swan Creek</span> Historic building in Queensland, Australia

White Swan Inn is a heritage-listed former hotel, now a detached house, at Stevens Road, Swan Creek, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built c. 1876. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criterion Hotel, Warwick</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

The Criterion Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 84 Palmerin Street in Warwick, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Dornbusch & Connolly and built in 1917 by Connolly & Bell. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langham Hotel, Warwick</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Langham Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at 133 Palmerin Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Dornbusch & Connolly and built from 1912 to 1913. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992. It is now home to a registered club, the Condamine Sports Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haccombe with Combe</span> Civil parish in Devon, England

Haccombe with Combe is a civil parish in the Teignbridge local government district of Devon, England. The parish lies immediately to the east of the town of Newton Abbot, and south of the estuary of the River Teign. Across the estuary are the parishes of Kingsteignton and Bishopsteignton. The parish is bordered on the east by Stokeinteignhead and on the south by Coffinswell. Most of the southern boundary of the parish follows the minor ridge road that runs between the suburbs of Milber in Newton Abbot and Barton in Torquay and it bisects the Iron Age hill fort of Milber Down.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St Peter ad Vincula, Combe Martin</span> Church in Devon, England

The Church of St Peter ad Vincula is the Church of England parish church for the village of Combe Martin in North Devon in the UK. Possibly built on the site of a Saxon church, construction of the present building began in the 13th-century with additions in the 15th-century and later. It has been a Grade I listed building since 1965. The church comes under the Diocese of Exeter. Pevsner describes the church as "One of the best in the neighbourhood." The church is one of only 15 in England dedicated to St Peter ad Vincula, after the basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cleatham Hall, Lincolnshire</span> English stately home in Manton, North Lincolnshire

Cleatham Hall is an English country house located near Manton in Lincolnshire, England. The building is of special interest and has a Grade II listing on the National Heritage List for England. The main building was constructed in 1855 but some of it dates back to the 18th and perhaps the 17th century. The Hall was, in its early years, in the ownership of ancestors of Charles Darwin. It is now a boutique hotel and event venue.

References

  1. Cartmill, Claire (6 July 2022). "The Hotel Inspector visits The Pack O' Cards". Belfast News Letter.
  2. 1 2 3 Historic England, "The Pack of Cards including courtyard walls incorporating bee boles on north-west side (1169072)", National Heritage List for England , retrieved 15 March 2018
  3. "The Pack O' Cards Inn - Combe Martin North Devon Holidays website". Archived from the original on 13 October 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 "History of the Pack o' Cards - Pack o' Cards website".
  5. Authority, Exmoor National Park (27 April 2015). "Marie Corelli". Exmoor.
  6. Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: North Devon, Penguin Books (1952) p. 76.