Cullompton post office awarded Grade II listing

Historic England has given a Devon post office protection as a Grade II listed building.

The Cullompton sorting office, which opened in December 1939, is described it as "an example from the golden age of post office architecture".

A local newspaper at the time it opened described it as "palatial and, one would think, appropriate to the last degree".

Architect Henry Seccombe designed a number of South West post offices.

These include Radway post office in Sidmouth, Devon (Grade II) which is regarded as one of the most sophisticated interpretations of the neo-Georgian style in post office architecture.

The listing means there will be extra control over the changes that can be made to the building's interior and exterior.

Rachel Williams from Historic England told BBC Radio Devon: "It's quite a restrained building in terms of its detailing, quite a departure from what was going on in the Victorian and Edwardian period where you often had these elaborate buildings.

"This one is quite understated and well composed and fitting with the Post Office, traditional, serious and orderly."

Councillor Richard Chesterton, cabinet member for planning and economic regeneration at Mid Devon District Council, said it was "great" to see the building given a status which allows it "to be preserved and protected for generations to come".

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