Newton Abbot architecture: a town with a surprising selection of architectural styles

Newton Abbot in 2009 part 1 of 3: architecture

The story behind the photos…

Back in 2009 I was a commuter. On the train to Plymouth every morning; it was crowded, but nowhere near as crowded as my old daily commute on the Northern Line. On one particular day I was overhearing a conversation between academics, some from Exeter University and some from Plymouth University. They were discussing housing architecture and how Newton Abbot had some of the best examples and an extensive variety of housing architecture to be found anywhere in Devon.

Some of the academics I recognised as regular fellow travellers – presumably those lecturing at Plymouth. Their thoughts rang true with me, especially the phrase ‘Italian stucco villa’, a relatively common style of house in Newton Abbot, and one I had loved for as long as I could remember. The best examples are to be found around Courtenay Park and Devon Square, but there are many others around the town.

I was very lucky to live in one at the time, a double-fronted Victorian house built in 1860. It is shown in the picture below but I am not telling which one! I could only dream of living in such a house now; that will never happen unless a lottery win comes my way.

The conversation on the train made me think that it would be a good idea to get out with my camera and take some snaps of housing architecture, which I did one spring morning in April. I got a bit carried away, taking photos of pubs and shops, but they are architecture too!