MEM22082 - Lynmouth Pavilion (Monument)

The Lynmouth Pavillion was built in the 1930s by Linton Urban District Council to serve as a seaside theatre and public shelter. It was designed by A. J. Gibbs in 1931. The pavillions were one of the buildings to survive the Lymouth Flood Diaster in 1952. The pavillions are designed in a 19th century chalet style and has a relatively plain interior. The building was declined listed building status in 1992 and again in 2008 [2] as it was considered a late and unsophisticated example of its genre. It is old-fashioned in design and lacks a strong decorative scheme, such as contemporary moderne or art-deco motifs, seen on other seaside pavillions of the period. [1] The heritage asset was assessed by English Heritage in September 2008. It was noted that the building had a group value with the adjacent limekilns, cliff railway and railway pavilions. The building had also been considered for spot listing in 1992. It was constructed in 1931 for the town council to a design by AJ Gibbs and was of steel framed construction, with timber cladding and an asbestos tile roof, and was two stories with a hipped roof. A theatre or assembly hall with a small stage was on the first floor, with an entrance lobby and small ticket booth. By the time the report was compiled, a kitchen area to the south (rear) had been removed following structural failure. It was decided not to add the asset to the National Heritage List for England. [2] This pavilion was built in the early 1930s by Linton Urban District Council to serve as a seaside theatre and public shelter. It was designed in 1931 by A J Gibbs on behalf of Sanders and Forster Ltd. The Pavilion served as a community facility with a small stage on the first floor and open seaside shelters on the ground floor. Later the ground floor housed the Lynmouth life boats and provided storage. Most recently it has been the location for the visitor and information centre for Exmoor National Park. The building has been empty for the last five years, and the kitchens were removed from the rear following structural failure. It has a steel framed construction with timber cladding and an asbestos tile roof. It is of two stories with a hipped roof. There is a gabled central bay flanked by an open veranda to the first floor and two (formerly open) bays to the ground floor. It is set into rising ground at the base of the cliffs and is rectangular on plan, oriented east to west. The theatre or assembly hall is on the first floor, with the entrance lobby and small ticket booth towards the south west angle and a small stage across the east end of the hall. The Pavilion is a relatively modest structure in a late-19th century chalet style. The central gable has decorative bargeboards and a half timbered demi lune motif in the gable end. The veranda retains its decorative cast iron railings and columns with pierced spandrels and is extended towards the west, over the cliff path stairs, to provide access to a small terrace created over the adjacent limekilns. The interior is relatively plain. [3] The building is two storeyed, with the ground floor accessed from the esplanade and the first floor accessed from a yard at the rear of the building. The esplanade frontage was originally open with a central column creating two wide entrances. The ground floor reflects the reuse of the building; it originally consisted of a large open space but has subsequently been subdivided into smaller rooms. The first floor consists of a large “multi-use/theatre space”. The ground floor was probably originally used as a waiting room for steam ferries from the nearby harbour. The first floor had a stage (since demolished) at the rear and a lighting box in the roof space, the auditorium had no fixed seating. There is a single, numbered, possibly original seat in storage in the former lighting box. [4] The Pavilion fronting the Esplanade is probably early 20th Century with seaside character, including much glazing a first floor balcony with iron balustrade and columns with modillion cornice, and to the ground floor flat Tuscan columns with inset panels. At the time of survey (early 2003) it appeared to be in some need of being given a more inviting appearance that nevertheless respects its historic integrity. [5] The Pavilion was demolished in 2012 and has been replaced by a similarly styled building on the same footprint. [6] This record was enhanced as part of the National Record of the Historic Environment to Exmoor National Park Historic Environment Record data transfer project. [7] The Conservation Area Appraisal for Lynmouth dated 2018 includes a photograph of the new Pavilion being constructed. [8] Desk-based research was undertaken in 2011. [9]