North Devon’s Grandest Country Houses
Mon 29 Jul 2024 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM BST
Hall, Bishop’s Tawton, EX32 0DF
Description
Enjoy an exclusive two-day tour of four of north Devon’s most magnificent country houses.
Day 1: 29th July
Hall was for several centuries the seat of a younger branch of the prominent and ancient north Devon family of Chichester of Raleigh. The mansion house sits on a south facing slope of the valley of the River Taw, overlooking the river. The house continues today to be owned and occupied by descendants, via a female line, of the Chichester family. The present Grade II* neo-Jacobean house was built for Robert Chichester between 1844 and 1847 by Philip C. Hardwick and replaced an earlier building. Our tour will include the Hardwick designed grand state rooms and staircase hall, the historic yard, ancillary buildings and the beautiful walled garden.
Hall, Bishops Tawton
Later we will visit Tapeley Park, a Grade II* house, built or enlarged from an existing structure around 1704 and re-modelled in the 19th and early 20th centuries when pilasters, portico, pediment and parapet were added to create a Queen Anne style building. In the mid 19th century the estate was inherited from the Clevland family by William Langham Christie of Glyndebourne in Sussex. His grandson was John Christie (born 1882), the founder of Glyndebourne Opera Festival, who bequeathed Tapeley to his daughter Rosamund Christie, who passed it onto her nephew Hector Christie, who briefly turned it into a hippie commune. The magnificent gardens are Grade II* listed and feature Italianate terraces, a working kitchen garden and a permaculture garden.
Day 2: 30th July
Discover Hartland Abbey, built in 1157 and consecrated by Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter in 1160 as a monastery. It remained so until 1539 when it became the last monastery to be dissolved by Henry VIII. The King made a gift of the Abbey to the Sergeant of his wine cellar at Hampton Court, whose descendants still reside at the Abbey. Our extensive tour will include the principal rooms including the drawing room where there is linenfold panelling dating from 1845 with a set of twelve murals that depict historical family events. The same theme was continued in the dining room above the original Elizabethan oak panelling. The little dining room is typical of the Queen Anne period whereas the library is Regency in the Strawberry Hill gothic style. One of the main features of the house is the Alhambra Passage. There will be ample time to explore the gardens and grounds, heavily influenced by Gertrude Jekyll’s visits.
Hartland Abbey
Later explore Castle Hill House, a beautiful neo-Palladian Grade II* house, the home of the Fortescue family since 1684. A circular library was added in the early 19th century and in 1841 the architect Edward Blore refashioned the entrance hall and stairs and added a top storey with mansard roof. In 1861 Blore added service wings and stables, thus considerably elongating the southern appearance of the building beyond the east wing. Adjoining it on its east end and extending backwards to give the ensemble an L-shape, is Blore's stable block. The house is surrounded by stunning Grade I listed
Please note that this tour does not include lunches. Please bring a packed lunch or alternatively there will be time put aside on both days for attendees to consume a choice of snacks and drinks at the excellent tearooms at Tapeley Park and Hartland Abbey.
Tickets £80 (no refreshments)
Location
Hall, Bishop’s Tawton, EX32 0DF