A stroll around Paignton

Oldway is a wonderful building and one the people of Torbay are very proud of, but we do fear what might happen to it.I wonder if it is in such poor repair as we are led to believe and if it is the question has to be why has our local councils failed to maintain such an important building.

If Nick Bye gets his way it will be taken over by a company who will turn it into a hotel and houses will be built in some parts of the grounds, my view is there has to be a better way to get Oldway back to its full glory and that the public should aways be able to access it.

For those who do not know about Oldway below is an article on its history.



Around 1871 the Fernham estate in Paignton was purchased by Isaac Merritt Singer, the founder of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. The old buildings on the site were demolished and he commissioned a local architect, George Soudon Bridgman to build a new mansion as his home. Isaac Merritt Singer died on 23 July 1875, shortly before work on the original mansion was completed.


The grand staircase at Oldway Mansion with The Crowning of Josephine by Napoleon by David.Paris Eugene Singer, Isaac Singer's third son, supervised the alterations at Oldway Mansion between 1904 and 1907. The rebuilding work was modelled on the Palace of Versailles, and the eastern elevation of the building was inspired by the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The interior of the building is noted for its grand staircase made from marble and balusters of bronze. The ceiling of the staircase is decorated with an ornate painting based on an original design for the Palace of Versailles by the French painter and architect Joseph Lebrun. The ceiling is a replica painted by Carl Rossner, who studied the original by Lebrun before creating the reproduction.

Above the staircase there is a large painting entitled The Crowning of Josephine by Napoleon by Jacques-Louis David. The original was sold to the French government in 1946 and now hangs in the Palace of Versailles. Today there is a replica of the painting hanging in its place. The reproduction is a colour print which was unveiled in 1995.

The gallery on the first floor is a reproduction of the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, and is floored in parquet. The gallery leads into the ballroom, which contains walls of gilt panelling and mirrors. Above the fireplace there is an oil painting of Louis of Bourbon dating from 1717.

Oldway Mansion is set in 17 acres (69,000 m2) of gardens, which are laid out on an Italian theme by the French landscape gardener Achille Duchesne. Beneath the eastern elevation of the building is the maze, which consists of dwarf box hedging and flower beds. To the south of the mansion there is the grotto garden where a waterfall passes over a rocky cave into a pool below. The grounds of the mansion contain many sub-tropical plants and shrubs.


The eastern and northern elevations of Oldway MansionOpposite the main entrance to the mansion is a large round building known as The Rotunda. This was built in 1873, and was used originally as a horse riding pavilion and exercise area. Isaac Merritt Singer gave this building the nickname of "The Wigwam".


History
Paris Singer is noted for his love affair with the dancer Isadora Duncan, who died in a road accident in 1927. Following the end of their relationship in 1917, Paris became an American citizen and went to live in the United States. This was done partly for tax reasons, and after 1918 Oldway Mansion was no longer the permanent home of the Singer family.

During the period of the First World War from 1914 to 1918, Oldway Mansion was transformed into the American Women’s War Relief Hospital. The Rotunda was converted to house rows of beds for the wounded soldiers being brought back to England from the trenches of France and Belgium. Queen Mary visited the hospital in November 1914.

Oldway Mansion became the Torbay Country Club in 1929. During this period tennis courts and a bowling green were added to the grounds that can still be seen today.

During the Second World War from 1939 to 1945, Oldway was used in the war effort by housing RAF cadets training to be aircrew. In 1943 Oldway was damaged in an air raid, along with many other buildings in Paignton. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the mansion in 1943 .

Bet you looked like a right grockle!