Knightshayes

Situated in the heart of Mid-Devon close to the town of Tiverton is Knightshayes. Owned by the National Trust, Knightshayes is a wonderful place filled with acres of beautiful parkland and gardens, as well as a Kitchen Garden and the impressive Gothic Revival house. 

The site at Knightshayes is thought have originally been parkland that belonged to the Courtenay Earls of Devon, linked to Tiverton Castle. When the Courtenay dynasty died out in the 16th Century and the property was bound over to the Crown. By 1679 Knghtshayes had been changed from Parkland to agricultural land, becoming a farm of around 100 acres. George Thorne, a Tiverton cloth merchant, built a house on the north west area of Knightshayes. The site then passed to a banker and clothier from Tiverton called Benjamin Dickinson who, in 1787, built a new house south of the mansion. During his ownership Benjamin Dickinson changed some of the grounds landscape, mainly focussing hedges, lawns and shrubs. 

In 1867 John Heathcoat Amory a Tiverton Lace manufacturer purchased Knightshayes. Grandson of the mechanised lace bobbin machine and owner of Tiverton’s lace making factory, John Heathcoat. In 1869, John Heathcoat Amory decided to build the current existing house and it was completed around four years later. The designer William Burgess was hired to work on the house interiors but was sacked from his position part way through the process due to falling out with the family. Edward Kemp designed many of the terraced gardens, as well the Burges Kitchen garden and American garden. He also advised on many other garden features that include the Church Path through plantations, the ha-ha, and he even removed a lot of the previously planted hedges to open up parkland views. Over time many additions were added to Knightshayes and the house was handed down through the family. Upon the death of the final owners, John and Joyce Heathcoat-Amory the house was given over to the National Trust who now look after it and open it to visitors. 

The House and Gardens

Best described as Victorian Gothic revival, the house at Knightshayes has three levels, two are open to the public and visitors get a great view of the extensive rooms. There is a lovely minstrels gallery, plentiful bedrooms and a huge library is filled to the brim with a whole range of old books. The dining room has two large fireplaces and set with a great long table, the kitchens can also be viewed and there is an office and billiard room that make up the “gentleman’s rooms”. Many of the rooms have period furniture and lots of original paintings, ornaments and other personal items that belonged to the family. 

The formal gardens are lovely, there is a terrace overlooking freshly cut lawns leading to the ha-ha as well as a pond complete with fountain. Topiary hedges, benches to sit and an ornamental pond also provide quiet spaces for visitors to sit and enjoy their beautiful surroundings. A formally planted garden filled with flowers and trees leads into a lovely woodland walk.

The Parkland 

Sweeping, undulating green hills and tall trees make up some of the vast, beautiful parkland that surrounds the main house on the estate. There are woodland walks, flowers grow in abundance bringing bright patches of colour to the area, and there is also farmland where Exmoor sheep graze. For children there is a the Four Oaks wild play area where they can burn off excess energy and have fun.

The Kitchen Garden

Close to the house is the Kitchen Garden, it is built on a slope and surrounded buy stone walls. At the corners closest to the house are round stone turrets, that have pointed roofs. The garden is full of fruit and veg and much of it is grown, and used, in the Knightshayes cafe. It’s a lovely example of a Kitchen Garden and if you’re feeling very adventurous there us a Douglas Fir walk the other side of it, which has a play area and some interesting trees. 

This lovely National Trust property doesn’t disappoint. Many locals often pay repeat visits to it and anyone who loves old houses, exploring the outdoors or a bit of local Devon history will just love visiting Knightshayes. To learn more visit their website.

• Have you ever visited Knightshayes? If so what did you like the most about it?

 

Article by Chrissie Parker, We Love Mid-Devon

Photos by Chrissie Parker.

All articles on this blog are the property of the authors and We Love Mid-Devon. Whilst we are happy for you to share, No articles are to be reproduced, copied or screenshot without the permission of the author. Please contact us if you wish to re-produce in a publication.

Tiverton Museum

Situated in the town of Tiverton in Mid Devon, is the Tiverton Museum. The Museum is a place to learn all about the life and local history of Tiverton and the surrounding area. It’s much bigger than I expected and I spent a good few hours wandering through the halls that are filled with lots of interesting exhibits.

Devon Agricultural life

There’s a large number of displays dedicated to agriculture and farming life in Devon, from cider presses, to farming implements. The displays give the visitor an incredible overview of life in the industry before mechanisation. Visitors can learn about sowing crops, ploughing and even milling. Some of the farming artefacts date back to the 1800’s and some of the cider press items are even older.

Doomsday Book and Archaeology

My favourite part of the museum was the Britton Gallery, which houses some archaeological displays (and you know how much I love archaeology!). It includes information about archaeological ages, some hand axes reputed to be around 400,000 years old, and there is also information about the Bolham Roman Fort, The bit I liked the most was reading about the Doomsday Book. A number of villages surrounding Tiverton are mentioned in the Doomsday Book, and it was fascinating to read more, especially as the village I live in, is one of the places mentioned! It seems that the area of Tiverton is very steeped in history if you look hard enough.

Heathcoat Gallery

Anyone who knows Tiverton well will know all about the Heathcoat family and their factory. Part of the museum is set aside to inform visitors about the Heathcoats and it highlight’s the history of the family, and the work undertaken at the factory, including some of the machinery that would have been used in the past. There’s also a board telling visitors about the use of lace made at the factory; including lace that went on to make Princess Diana’s wedding veil.

Through the Ages

There are a number of galleries that show Tiverton and surrounding areas through the ages. These include Kitchen and Laundry, Cottage Parlour, and the Upper and Lower Amory Galleries. There are so many great things to see in these galleries, including a prison door, local trade artefacts and Civic Life. My favourite was the WW1 and WW2 section. It included a number of war items including rations books, warden/fire guard and home guard insignias, and even an Anderson shelter (complete with an operational air-raid siren!).

The Courtyard

Outside in the Courtyard there are more pieces of agricultural equipment. In a side gallery there’s a fantastic Silverton Fire Engine thought to date from around 1837. A second gallery contains an extensive display of farm wagons that belonged to a local farming family from Netherexe Barton. It’s wonderful that this local heritage has been preserved for people to see and learn from.

The Tivvy Bumper

The final gallery is home to the Tivvy Bumper, a sparkling green and black locomotive that used to operate on local railway lines. The Tivvy Bumper is surrounded by and extensive collection of railway items, such as signals, and railway signs. There is also a board that tells the history of the railways and various railway stations in the Tiverton area. Information on various road transport and of course the Grand Western Canal is also present in the gallery.

As well as all of the exhibits mentioned above the museum also has a Tourist Information Service and a great shop full of books, postcards, keyrings, magnets and some lovely Tiverton themed gifts. The staff were so friendly and welcoming and I really enjoyed my visit to Tiverton Museum. It’s an interesting and inspiring place that provides so much information about the history of Tiverton and surrounding areas, and I shall definitely go back to visit it again soon.

For more Information about Tiverton Museum, including opening times and where to find them, go to their website.

• Have you been to Tiverton Museum? If so what was your favourite bit?

 

Article by Chrissie Parker, We Love Mid-Devon

Photos by Chrissie Parker.

All articles on this blog are the property of the authors and We Love Mid-Devon. Whilst we are happy for you to share, No articles are to be reproduced, copied or screenshot without the permission of the author. Please contact us if you wish to re-produce in a publication.