Pretty much wholly of 1603 when it was rebuilt by Thomas Trock with just the lower (i.e. ground-floor) stage of the north wall facing onto Tiverton Road, surviving from the building that was there before a fire in 1602. When the north wall was stripped and partially rebuilt in 2015 it was found that the ground-floor stage survived from an earlier building on the site, and even retains some sooting on its inside face, presumably surviving from the fire in 1602. This survival accounts for the chimney breast starting at first-floor level; the masonry below was retained from the earlier building and the northern room of the house, presumably a service room, was originally unheated (Blaylock 2016, 910, 16).
An early 18th century refurbishment is dated 1718 by an inscribed rainwater head on the rear elevation, which also has the initials WTS standing for William Sellicke and his wife Theophila. It appears in an early rate book as ‘part of sellicks.
In 1828 it was owned by William Upcott, a local cloth manufacturer, and then his son John Samuel Upcott, who continued the cloth business in Cullompton until 1868. He renamed it the Manor House in 1842 and he and his wife Mary lived there for the rest of their lives.
During WW2 it was requisitioned by the army and officers were billeted here. The iron railings outside were removed as part of the war effort.
After the war the owners opened part of the house as a tea room. Mr Neville Jones and his wife ran it as a hotel in the 1950s and carried out a great deal of work to the property before moving to take over the Cullompton Hotel (now Heyridge Meadow).
Timeline
| Date | Occupants | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1844 | Upcott Mr John | Pigot |
| 1851 Census | John Samuel Upcott, married, 36, woollen and serge manufacturer, wool stapler, born Cullompton Mary Ann, 31, born Southwark Charles J, 5, born Cullompton Frederick R, 3, born Cullompton Fanny E, 1, born Cullompton unnamed son, one month, born Cullompton Eliza Peers, wife’s sister, 29, born Southwark Eliza Baker, servant, 26, house, servant, born Uffculme Sarah Manley, 19, house, servant, born Bradninch Elizabeth Waddleton, 44, nurse, born Topsham Caroline Shooter, 19, house, servant, born Exeter | |
| 1861 Census | Mary Ann Upcott, is, wife, 42, woollen Draper and merchant, born Lambeth Surrey Robert Sears, wife’s father, widower, 80, house proprietor, born London Charles, John, 15, scholar, born Cullompton Frederick, Robert, 13, scholar, born Cullompton Lewis, Edward, 10, scholar, born Cullompton Mary Alice, 7, scholar, born Cullompton Arthur William, 4, scholar, born Cullompton Ernest Alfred, 3, scholar, born Cullompton Maria Wheaton, 21, Cook, born Halberton; Anna Woolcombe, 22, housemaid, born Uffculme Ann Bakewell Moor?, 20, nurse maid, born Shebbear; Thirza A Moor?, under nurse, born Shebbear | |
| 1871 Census | John S Upcott, 56, retired woollen manufacturer, born Cullompton Mary Ann, 52, born Lambeth in Surrey Charles, 25, wool merchant, born Cullompton Fanny, 21, born Cullompton Lewis, 20, undergraduate of Oxford, born Cullompton Mary, 17, born Cullompton Sarah, ?, servant, 23, general servant, born somewhere in Devon | |
| 1881 Census | John S Upcott, married, 67, retired woollen merchant, born Cullompton Fanny, daughter, 31, born Cullompton Emiline Dannett, 22, general domestic servant, born Gravesend | |
| 1889 | Upcott John Samuel, Private Resident. | Kellys |
| 1891 Census | John Samuel Upcott, 76, living on own means, born Cullompton Mary Anne, wife, 72, born Lambeth Fanny Elizabeth, daughter, 41, born Cullompton Sarah Ann Luxton, servant, 24, domestic housemaid, born Devon | |
| 1901 Census | John S Upcott, 86, retired woollen manufacture and merchant, born Cullompton Mary Anne, 82, born Westminster Fanny Elizabeth, daughter, 51, born Cullompton Mary Jane Whitton, servant, housemaid, 41, born Halberton | |
| 1911 Census | Mary Anne Upcott, 92, widow, living on private means, born Lambeth Fanny Elizabeth, daughter, 61, single, born Cullompton Mary Alice Farrant, daughter, 57, married, born Cullompton Sarah Neck, boarder, 59, single, sick nurse, born Kinkerswell in Devon Alice Lemon, 30, domestic cook, born Exeter Eliza Maud Hooper, 28, housemaid, domestic, born Winsford in Somerset | |
| 1939 | Manor House Private Hotel (Leslie Whittome, proprietor) | Kellys |
