South Devon Railway: 1844 NIMBY list

A while back I found this interesting list of the petitions objecting to the South Devon Railway Act, 1844, which set up the infrastructure for the building of Brunel's railway link from Exeter to Plymouth, following the now-classic coastal route via Dawlish and Teignmouth. The petitions relate to a number of people and places of historical interest.

Building the Devonport Column

Wikimedia Commons

I've not yet visited the Devonport Column, which has now been open to the public for nearly a year. But last year I had a look at John Foulston's The public buildings erected in the West of England as designed by John Foulston F.R.I.B.A. (1838), which has some background: "The manner of raising and setting the stones, in the erection of the Devonport Column is, he [the author] believes, perfectly novel, and will not fail to interest the young practitioner".

Foulston's "Hindoo" chapel, Devonport

 

Ker Street, from Devonshire & Cornwall illustrated (1832)

Further to Seeking details: Devonport "Hindoo" Calvinist Chapel, I took myself to the Devon and Exeter Institution today to look at a primary source, John Foulston's self-published The public buildings erected in the West of England as designed by John Foulston F.R.I.B.A. (pub. J Williams, 1838).

I noticed previously that Foulston's chapel, demolished in 1902 and formerly part of his Ker Street development for the town centre of the newly-incorporated Devonport, always seems to get fragmentary glimpses as part of larger panoramas of the site. Foulston's own book gives rather more information about what it actually looked like.

Firstly, here's a detail from Plate 80:

Town Hall, commemorative column, Mount Zion Chapel,
Civil and Military Library, Ker St, Devonport
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Foulston commented in the preface on the general design concept:

Notwithstanding the grandeur and exquisite proportions of the Grecian orders, the author has never been insensible to the distinguishing beauties of the other original styles; and it occurred to him that if a series of edifices, exhibiting the various features of the architectural world, were erected in conjunction, and skilfully grouped, a happy result might be obtained.

Under this impression, he was induced to try an experiment, (not before attempted) for producing a picturesque effect, by combining, in one view, the Grecian, Egyptian, and a variety of the Oriental, as will be seen in Plate No. 81 [sic], the view of Ker-Street, Devonport.

The main section on the chapel, pages 63ff, describes it in detail. In contrast to the florid exterior, the interior sounds horribly cramped and uncomfortable (perhaps a deliberate exercise in Calvinist austerity):

This Chapel was erected by subscription for Calvinistic Worship. The exterior, exhibiting a variety of Oriental Architecture, is seen in juxta-position with others of Greek and Egyptian character; the Author's intention being to experimentalize on the effect which might be produced by such an assemblage. If the critic be opposed to the strangeness of the  attempt, he may still be willing to acknowledge, that the general effect of the combination is picturesque.

DESCRIPTION OF PLATES

Plate 95—Fig. 1, Plans of the Area, and Fig. 2, Plan of the Galleries, by which it may be seen that the object of the designer was to meet the wishes of his employers, in sacrificing, as much as possible, the individual comforts of the sitters to the numerical extent of the sittings. The Pews in the Chapel were not allowed to be more than 2ft. 4in. wide, nor more than 18in. for each person. The Aisles were limited to a width of 4ft. 6in., and probably in no Chapel has less space been occupied by the Staircases to the Galleries.

The Recess in which the Pulpit and Reading Desk are situated, was formed with a view to its answering the purpose of a sounding board; and it is further serviceable in allowing the preacher to avoid too close an approach to the front seats, at the end of the Galleries.

Plate 95, Fig.1, ground plan
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Plate 95, Fig. 2, gallery
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Plate 96—Front and return Elevations of Buildings.

Plate 96 (detail) - front elevation
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Plate 96 (detail) - elevation of frontage
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Plate 97—Head of Central Window

Plate 97 - head of central window
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Plate 98—Head of Side Windows

Plate 98 - head of side windows
Courtesy of The Devon and Exeter Institution - not for re-use

Pardon the distortion and variable colour; I had to take the photos under not-so-bright conditions, and the large pages couldn't be flattened.

I'll write more about Foulston's The public buildings erected in the West of England in a later post or two; it makes for rather quirky reading. While it's a record of Foulston's undoubted flair - one highlight is his description of how the Devonport Column was erected without the use of scaffolding - it does turn egotistical on occasion, and even whiny, as in the last section on his unexecuted plan for Bristol Gaol. Here Foulston tells how he resolved not to go in for any more design competitions after failing to win with his gaol design, and the account has a distinct edge of schadenfreude where he tells of the "fearful circumstances" that befell the winning entry (the New Gaol, attacked by rioters in 1831 and set on fire) as, he argues, a consequence of not following his own design principles.

Thanks to the Devon and Exeter Institution for guest access to its library; as stated, all images are reproduced courtesy of the Institution.

- Ray

Seeking details: Devonport "Hindoo" Calvinist Chapel

Following the recent post Devonport Column open to public, I was interested in a historical loose end: are there any detailed records of the Mount Zion Calvinist Chapel that formed part of John Foulston's development of a new Devonport town centre?

As you can see, three of these structures still exist: the Parthenon-inspired town hall (now Devonport Guildhall); the Egyptian-style library (now the Oddfellows Hall); and the 124-foot column commemorating Devonport's rebadging from its previous incarnation as "Plymouth Dock". But the chapel, built over 1823-1824, was demolished in 1902 due to its poor condition (see Plymouthdata.info).

A number of contemporary accounts describe it, and it sounds rather cool:

This strange-looking edifice was designed by Mr. Foulston, in what he called the Hindoo style.
- page 65, History of the town and borough of Devonport, Richard Nicholls Worth, 1870.

Mount Zion Chapel, a Calvinist meeting-house, built in the fantastic Hindoo style. The front, ornamented with pinnacles and fancifully embellished, possesses a very pleasing appearance.
- page 5, The Plymouth and Devonport guide, Henry Edmund Carrington, 1828.

Mount Zion Chapel exhibits an ingenious adaptation of Mahomedan architecture to christian purposes. It was erected in 1823-4, at a cost of about £2000. The spectator will, no doubt, remark upon the singular commixture of styles, as shewn in the proximity of the several buildings just described, and which seem as if they had here met in parliament, to prefer the respective claims of their Greek, Egyptian, and Oriental constituents. The assemblage, though strange, is certainly picturesque ; and, if we hesitate to recommend the repetition of such experiments, we are far from regretting, that in this instance they have been made.
- Nettleton's guide to Plymouth, Stonehouse, Devonport, and to the neighbouring country, 1836 (Internet Archive ID nettletonsguidet00wigh).

Mr. Rowe * gives the following description of the exterior of this building :—" It is designed by Mr. Foulston, after the Hindoo style, with the ornaments and accompaniments appropriate to that fantastic manner, but of massive and bold proportions. These are so judiciously arranged, that the whole front presents a highly-effective and pleasing appearance; and the building, though placed in juxta-position with the fine portico of the Town-Hall, maintains its rank, and seems to suffer nothing from a contrast, which would be destructive to many buildings, in which bold and picturesque effects had been less the objects of the architect's attention." This Chapel was commenced in November, 1823, and finished in July, 1824, at a cost of about £2000.
- page 32, Devonshire & Cornwall illustrated, from original drawings by T. Allom, W.H. Bartlett, &c., with historical and topographical descriptions by J. Britton & E.W. Brayley. John Britton, Edward Wedlake Brayley, 1832.

* This refers to the Rev. Samuel Rowe's 1821 Panorama of Plymouth; or, Tourist's Guide to the Principal objects of Interest in the Towns and Vicinity of Plymouth, Dock, and Stonehouse, which is not online.

All these accounts, however, are lacking in decent pictures; the chapel only gets a supporting role in general pictures of the assemblage of Foulston buildings in Ker Street, Devonport. I've found these online:

from Devonshire & Cornwall illustrated (1832)

from John Foulston, The Public Buildings of the West of England (1838)
cited at architecture.com

from Nettleton's Guide (ibid)

Did anyone ever get a complete picture, external or internal, of what sounds like a remarkable building?

Addendum: For more investigation, see Foulston's "Hindoo" chapel, Devonport; I visited the Devon and Exeter Institution, and had a look at Foulston's own 1838 account, The public buildings erected in the West of England as designed by John Foulston F.R.I.B.A.

- Ray