Oldway Mansion

Oldway Mansion is a large house and gardens in Paignton, Devon, England. It was built as a private residence for Isaac Singer (1811–1875), and rebuilt by his son Paris Singer, in the style of the Palace of Versailles.

History

19th century

Around 1871, the Fernham estate in Paignton was purchased by Isaac Singer, the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. The old buildings on the site were demolished and he commissioned a local architect, George Soudon Bridgman, to build a new mansion as his home. As part of the designs, Singer instructed Bridgman to build a theatre within the house. Bridgman was at that time being apprenticed by a young Frank Matcham, who had just returned from London where he had been studying architecture in a surveyors office. In an edition of The Builder, dated 1873, Matcham was named in the request for tender section as being the accepted party to work alongside Bridgman on the Oldway Mansion project. The architectural historian Gorel Garlick considers it entirely possible that Matcham was given sole responsibility by Bridgman for the theatre's design because of his educational experiences in London. Singer died on 23 July 1875, and work on the mansion continued after his death.

300px|thumb|right|The grand staircase at Oldway Mansion with The Crowning of Josephine by Napoleon after David

Paris Singer, a son of Isaac Singer, supervised the alterations at Oldway Mansion between 1904 and 1907. The rebuilding work was modelled on the Palace of Versailles, The interior of the building is noted for its grand staircase made from marble, and balusters of bronze.

The gallery on the first floor is a reproduction of the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, and it is floored in parquet.

Following the end of an affair with the dancer Isadora Duncan in 1917, Paris Singer became an American citizen and went to live in the United States. This was done partly for tax reasons, and after 1918, Oldway Mansion was no longer the permanent home of the Singer family.

During the period of the First World War from 1914 to 1918, Oldway Mansion was transformed into the American Women's War Relief Hospital. The Rotunda was converted to house rows of beds for the wounded soldiers being brought back to England from the trenches of France and Belgium. King George V visited the mansion in 1915.

Oldway Mansion became the Torbay Country Club in 1929. During this period, tennis courts and a bowling green were added to the grounds.

Torbay Golf & Country Club opened in 1933. Oldway Mansion was used as the club house, with the course in the hills above the Mansion. The course closed in the mid-1950s.

During the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, Oldway was used in the war effort by housing RAF cadets training to be aircrew. In 1943, Oldway was damaged in an air raid, along with many other buildings in Paignton.

Modern history and disuse of the building

Paignton Urban District Council purchased Oldway Mansion from the Singer family in 1946 for £46,000. It is estimated that around £200,000 was spent on building the mansion. Until 2013, the building was used as council offices and for civil marriage ceremonies. Oldway Mansion has been a Grade II* listed building since 1993. On 30 April 2012, plans for Oldway Mansion to be converted into a luxury hotel and sheltered retirement flats were approved by Torbay Council. The deal was finalised in September 2012.

Oldway Mansion has been closed since Torbay Council stopped using the buildings in 2013, although the grounds have remained open to the public. The bowling green is still in use, but the tennis courts are closed.

In January 2016, it was reported that the property developer Akkeron had filed a claim for more than £8 million in damages against Torbay Council, due to a dispute over the leases which it said had caused a delay in starting work on the redevelopment. Torbay Council rejected the claim and said that it would defend itself against the allegations "robustly". On 15 August 2016, it was reported that the agreement between Torbay Council and Akkeron to develop the mansion had been terminated. The legal dispute brought an end to the redevelopment plans, and the work on the site was never started. A bid was submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for approximately £10 million to support a restoration scheme.

The building was added to Historic England's 'Heritage at Risk' Register in 2023.

Other uses

Oldway Mansion has been used as a film location on several occasions. During the spring of 2004, it doubled as Buckingham Palace for the filming of Churchill: The Hollywood Years, starring Christian Slater and Neve Campbell. Pink gravel, guard houses and period vehicles were used to recreate the royal courtyard. The 1968 film Isadora starring Vanessa Redgrave and telling the life story of the dancer Isadora Duncan also used Oldway Mansion as one of its locations.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

External links

Oldway Mansion in Paignton to become hotel BBC News, 1 May 2012.
Victorian Society reveals top 10 buildings 'crying out' to be saved BBC News, 12 September 2018.