page_title: Luscombe Castle
section_title: Location
hierarchical_section_title: Luscombe Castle / Location
caption_attribution_description: English: Entrance drive, Luscombe Park
context_page_description: Luscombe Castle is a country house situated near the resort town of Dawlish, in the county of Devon in England. Upon purchasing the land at Luscombe in 1797, Charles Hoare demolished the existing house and commissioned architects John Nash and Humphrey Repton to design a new house and gardens at the site. Nash and Repton came up with an asymmetrical designed building made from Portland stone, with castellated parapets, turrets and pinnacles to create the feel of a picturesque castle.
  Nash's designs for the house included a three-storey octagonal tower, with two wings coming off it and a second square tower above a porte-cochère. Inside the drawing room occupied the ground floor of the tower, with a sitting room above. The dining room was designed to hold views across the valley, and the asymmetric rooms allowed for a panorama of views. To allow easy access to the gardens, the servant's quarters were moved to a separate wing, but made to be less prominent. A chapel was added in approximately 1862, and the house's loggia was converted into a conservatory.
  The grounds were designed by Repton, and laid out by John Veitch.
context_section_description: Luscombe Castle is set close to the town of Dawlish in Devon. The castle's grounds total 140 hectares (350 acres), of which 10 hectares (25 acres) are formal gardens and pleasure grounds, while the remaining 130 hectares (320 acres) are parkland and ornamental woodland. Situated in the Luscombe and Summercombe valleys, its boundaries are formed by a ridge of high ground at Little Haldon, and by Luscombe Hill. The majority of boundaries are formed by hedging and banks. The boundaries of the estate cover approximately 7 miles (11 km). The house's chosen location meant that the building was not as large as it might have been, had it been moved a short distance and built on terraces.
  The building is approached from a point on Luscombe Hill, through a gate bordered by rubble-stone walls. There is a 19th-century single story lodge at the entrance, built in gothic carved stone. From there, a 400 m (1,300 ft) drive leads to the north side of the Luscome Castle, where there is a carriage court bordered by yew hedges. Further along the nearby service road is a second 19th century gothic stone lodge. The park can be approached from the south-east, passing two further 19th century lodges on the grounds.
caption: Entrance drive to Luscombe
exif: {}