- Parkland
- C19
Remotely sited on the edge of Dartmoor, south of Princetown this modest house was begun by Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt in 1785 and completed in 1798. It consists of a simple, solid east facing main range, three bays wide with a North service wing. About 1815-20 Tyrwhitt added a large one storey South wing with a new entrance, with a Doric porch approached through the large walled yard. To the West is a sturdy water-clock tower. A one storeyed lodge with Gothic windows. Sir Thomas Trywhitt was a leading figure in exploiting Dartmoor for minerals, granite and agriculture. He established a railway to take granite and produce to Plymouth, and in 1806, in order to provide manpower for these enterprises set up the Princetown Prisoner of War Barracks. There appears to be simple landscape extending along the valley with a hanging plantation on one side and the Devenport Leat on the other. It reads like an early C19 gentleman’s park. Tor Royal Farm is owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.
Tor Royal is listed Grade II.
Cherry & Pevsner: The Buildings of England – Devon, 1989: 696
