IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Hesketh Crescent, TORQUAY, TQ1 2LJ

Now a mix of apartments and a hotel.

The crescent was built about 1849, and included a hotel and large houses for rent to Victorian visitors. Seen from the South West Coast Path

"Osborne Hotel is one of the most luxurious hotels in Torbay. Situated at the centre of an elegant Regency crescent, it overlooks six acres of beautifully landscaped gardens stretching down to Meadfoot Beach". www.osborne-torquay.co.uk

Built in 1846, it was originally called Meadfoot Crescent owing to the fact it overlooks Meadfoot beach. The crescent is upheld by the Torbay Civic Society as the most outstanding example of Regency architecture in Torquay. Most of the houses have been divided up into apartments with the Osborne Hotel occupying the middle section of the terrace.

Hesketh Crescent was commissioned by Sir Lawrence Palk, the Fourth Baronet who was elevated to a peerage in 1880 and became “Lord Haldon, of Haldon, Devon” and after whom Haldon Pier Road were named. The Crescent was designed by the brothers William and John Harvey and was completed in 1848, taking two years to construct. It has been reported as being “The Finest crescent of houses in the west of England” and John Wilson wrote “The Regency ideals of London and Brighton reached their highest standard in the building of Hesketh Crescent.” The Crescent originally called “Meadfoot Crescent” was renamed “Hesketh Crescent” in 1849 after the first fruit of Sir Lawrence’s marriage to Maria Hesketh in 1945, their first son was called Lawrence Hesketh Palk. The Palk family had been notable landowners in and around Torquay for generations and produced the first town plan for Torquay. (Information from Osborne Hotel website - http://www.osborne-torquay.co.uk/ ).

The central five bays of Image are crowned with urns, and framed here between pines beside Meadfoot Sea Road. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=390703&mode=adv