Home > Devon > St Annes Chapel > Old Chapel Inn Old Chapel Inn

Picture courtesy: Tony Atkin

The Old Chapel Inn was situated on the Bigbury Road.  Previously known as The Hare & Hounds.

This grade-II listed pub has now reopened after being purchased by Greg Dyke, former Director General of the BBC. It is now known as The Pickwick Inn.

Clive Schneidau (December 2013)

Closed again In January 2022.

Admin (March 2023)

Listed building details:

An inn of the early-C19, incorporating remains of a C15 chapel and a house of C17 or C18 date. MATERIALS: Lime washed rubble walling, possibly including some cob, with a hipped roof of asbestos tiles and some plain clay tiles. PLAN: The southern road front is of early-C19 date and rectangular. Attached to this are two northern wings, being the chapel and outbuildings, which are clustered around a small courtyard. The building has two and three storeys and a cellar. EXTERIOR: The early-C19 southern road front has three, symmetrical bays with a hipped roof. At the centre is the doorway with a flat porch, supported on iron brackets. The plank door is C20. Above this is a blind panel. At either side on both floors are sash windows of 16 panes. The east flank of the C19 block has a 16-pane sash to the ground floor with two casements above this. There is a large eaves chimney stack with chamfered corners and offsets. To the north of this the wing has a deep-set casement in a former through-way and a door set between two casements. Above this the first floor has a two-light casement and a single-light casement with a blocked window, and the second floor has blocked lights. The western flank of the main block has a large plank door and two, low, deep buttresses to the flank of the chapel. The chapel is lit by a large, C20 dormer. The service rooms of the inn form an L-shaped wing which surrounds a small courtyard to the west of the inn which is separated from the road by a low wall. INTERIOR: The chapel has a five-bay, arch-braced barrel roof with one moulded purlin with hollows and bowtell and a brattished plate. There is a fireplace beneath the former altar. An C18 cupboard surround has fluted pilasters and a key frieze. There are C18 fielded doors. The former chapel is now a bedroom, but retains its historical importance and enough of the fabric to be still recognisable. HISTORY: The inn was at one time known as the Hare and Hounds, and then as the Pickwick Inn. The Ordnance Survey map of 1886 indicates that part of the service range was formerly a smithy. REASON FOR DESIGNATION The Old Chapel Inn, St Ann's Chapel, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Architectural: the front range of the inn retains its attractive, symmetrical front range. * Historical interest: the building also contains the remains of a C15 chapel and a C17 or C18 houses, as well as the C19 front range. * Intactness: The chapel retains sufficient of its fabric for its original function to still be legible.

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Other Photos

Picture courtesy: Hania Franek

Picture courtesy: Hania Franek

Picture courtesy: Hania Franek