The Sandford Orleigh overmantle: a 19th-century Tudor puzzle

In the 1830s a colourful Devon landowner and industrialist, George Templer, had a new house built for himself at Sandford Orleigh, on the outskirts of Newton Abbot, Devon. One of the principal rooms within was furnished with an imposing overmantle that was created from his collection of antique oak carvings. The overmantle, much neglected, was donated to the local museum in 2008, whereupon a conservation and research project exploring it was launched. This resulted in the discovery that at the heart of this piece lay a Tudor-period reredos, created in the then-fashionable Renaissance style: all’antica. The style of work seen in this overmantle compares closely to a screen in nearby Bradley manor and the south door of Totnes church.