Larkbeare House, 1889, Exeter

A watercolour painting of Great Larkbeare House, Exeter, by Edward Ashworth, 1889.

Great Larkbeare House, or 38 Holloway Street, Exeter, was originally built for woollen merchants. In the 15th century the Hull family lived there, followed by Sir Nicholas Smith, a Sheriff of the City. In 1737 the house was sold to John Baring, who built a manufactory on land next to the house, which he had purchased with the property. His son Charles remained at Larkbeare after John Baring's death in 1748, whilst the manufactory remained in place until the early nineteenth century. By this time, the prosperity of the woollen trade was in decline, and in 1819 the Barings left the house and leased it to tenants. In 1832 they sold the house to a Mrs Hodge. From this point, the house itself went into decline and in 1889 it was partly demolished when Holloway street was widened. In 1975 the remaining building was judged to be in a dangerous condition and was listed in 1977. Around this time Exeter City Council and the Devon Historic Buildings Trust purchased the house from its then owners, the BP Oil Company, and in 1979 major restoration work was undertaken, most crucially to prevent the collapse of the building, which had begun to shake disconcertingly from the rise in passing traffic.

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