Lindridge House

For other uses see Lindridge (disambiguation)
Lindridge, engraving c. 1818. View of west front
"Lindridge", watercolour by Rev. John Swete dated July 1795. View of west front. Devon Record Office DRO 564M/F8/133
View of New Lindridge House, west front, pastiche 1990s housing development on site of former 17th century mansion house "Lindridge House" destroyed by fire in 1960s
View of New Lindridge House, south front, pastiche 1990s housing development on site of former 17th century mansion house "Lindridge House" destroyed by fire in the 1960s. The formal garden built by Lord Cable in the 1920s survives, consisting of terraced rose garden with topiary yew hedges around a circular Greek temple in a basin
East side of the Belvedere, possibly built by Lord Cable in the 1920s, situated on the summit of rising ground immediately to the north of Lindridge House. It currently directly overlooks the tennis court situated behind the wall to the west. It commands extensive panoramic views and may have been constructed as a hunting tower, in the tradition of that for example at Chatsworth House

Lindridge House was a large 17th century mansion (with 20th century alterations), one of the finest in the south-west[1] situated about 1 mile south of Ideford in the parish of Bishopsteignton, Devon, about 4 1/2 miles NE of Newton Abbot. It was destroyed by fire on 25 April 1963 and its ruins were finally demolished in the early 1990s, upon which was built a housing development.

Descent

Bishops of Exeter

In the parish of Bishopsteignton, 1/2 mile NE of the church, are the remains of the ancient palace and country retreat of the Bishops of Exeter which was enlarged by Bishop John de Grandisson (died 1369), bishop 1328–69.[2][3] The palace was held by the bishops from 1044 to 1549[1] The site of Lindridge House is situated elsewhere, 1/2 mile NW of the church.[4]

Dudley

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, in 1549 the estate was acquired by Sir Andrew Dudley, KG (c. 1507–1559), a soldier, courtier (Groom of the Bedchamber) and diplomat, and a younger brother of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. He held it only for a short period.

Duke

In 1550 Dudley sold "Lyndrygge" to Richard Duke (c. 1515–1572) of London and Otterton, Devon, together with the "lordships and Manors of Bishops Teignton, Radway and West "Teyngmouth" and the rectories and church of Bishops Teignton and Radway". A chief rent of £20 was payable to Dudley after the death of "John, Bishop of Exeter",[5] presumably Bishop John Vesey (died 1554). Richard Duke was MP for Weymouth in 1545, for Dartmouth in 1547 and Sheriff of Devon in 1563–64. His position as Clerk of the Court of Augmentations from its inception in 1536 to 1554 gave him the opportunity of buying many lands of dissolved monasteries. In 1540 he purchased the large manors of East Budleigh and Otterton, where his family had lived for many generations.[6] From Duke it reverted to the crown in 1572.[7]

Martin

Arms of Martin: Argent two bars gules. These are the arms of the ancient Norman family of FitzMartin, feudal barons of Barnstaple, Devon

In 1614, the estate was purchased for £2,900 by the lawyer Richard Martin (1570–1618), born in nearby Otterton, a member of the Middle Temple and MP for Barnstaple in 1601 and twice for Christchurch, in 1604 and 1614.[8] He started to rebuild the house in 1617, which was completed by his brother and heir Thomas Martin (died 1620), mayor of Exeter.[7] Thomas married Rhoda (died 1651), of unknown family, who survived him 31 years and remarried George Wescombe, Esq., as is stated on her grave-stone set into the floor of the north aisle of Bishopsteignton Church: "Here lyeth the body of Rhoda the wife of Thomas Martin of Lyndridge Esqr. who after his decease was married to George Wescombe Esqr. and shee departed this life the 21th [sic] day of Aprill Anno Dom(ino) 1651". It was inherited by Thomas's son William Martin (died 1640), who married Agnes Cove of Bishopsteignton.[7] During the Civil War William was a Royalist and with his neighbour Hugh Clifford of Ugbrooke, who commanded a regiment of foot soldiers, he marched north to fight against the Scots. He was wounded and died at Lindridge in March 1640.[7] In the church of St. John the Baptist, Bishopsteignton, is a monument to William Martyn of Lindridge, (died 1640).[2] Hugh Clifford's son Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh (1630–1673) married Elizabeth Martin (died 1709), from which marriage the present Barons Clifford of Chudleigh are descended. It was sold by the Martin family in 1660 to Sir Peter Lear.

Monument to William Martin

Mural monument to William Martin (died 1640), Esquire, of Lindridge. North aisle, Bishopsteignton Church

A mural monument exists in Bishopsteignton parish church to William Martin (died 1640), inscribed as follows:

Aeternae memoriae Gulielmi Martyn de Lindridge, Armig(eris), Thomae Martyn et Rhodae (infra sitae) filii qui stirpe vere splendida oriundus religionis primaevae hyperaspistes prolisq(ue) haud ingloriae parens (cuius Maria, Thomas, Jana et Anna propter patrem cubant, Elizabetha Thomae d(omi)no Clifford summo Angliae thesaurio defuncto; Rhoda Gualtero Langdon Armig(eri); Maria d(omi)no Thomae Berry, equiti aurato, matrimonio junctae supersunt) Christiana panoplia cataphractus mundo Indies conculcato de morte ipse triumphavit Mar(tii) 2 1640. Pari item memoriae Richardi Martyn Armig(eris) fratris eius posterioris familia postremi juxta sepulti Aug(usti) 13 1659

Translated as follows:

To the eternal memory of William Martyn, Esquire, of Lindridge, son of Thomas Martin and of Rhoda (buried below) who having arisen from a truly splendid stock, a great defender of the ancient religion, and the father of not inglorious offspring (of whom Mary, Thomas, Jane and Anne lie near their father; yet surviving are Elizabeth, joined in matrimony to Thomas Lord Clifford, deceased, the High Treasurer of England; Rhoda to Walter Langdon, Esquire; Mary to lord Thomas Berry, knight) mail-clad in Christian full armour, with the world of the Indies having been trodden underfoot, he triumphed over death itself on March 2, 1640. Also to the equal memory of Richard Martyn, Esquire, his youngest brother from the next family, buried beside him on August 13, 1659

His grave-stone is set into the floor below with the following text inscribed above an escutcheon of the Martin arms sculpted in relief: "Depositum Gulielmi Martyn de Lendridg Armigeri qui vitam hanc meliore mutavit secundo die Martii Anno Salutis 1640. Philip 3:20, 'Nostrum politeuma est in colis'[9]". The grave stones of two of his children who died as infants, Thomas (died 1643) and Jane (died 1644), are set into the floor nearby:
"Here lyeth the body of Thomas Martyn the onely sonn of William Martyn of Lendridge Esq. deceased. He dyed the XXIIth [sic] day of August Anno 1643.
Nature and grace contending for a prize,
Have here prepar'd for Heaven a sacrifice:
Nature to win him made him ripe i'th' budd,
Grace though a childe taught him ye love of God.
Death ends ye strife ere he knew tyme or vice,
Conveys him quickly to his paradice"

The grave stone of Jane is inscribed thus:
"Here lyeth ye body of Jane ye youngest daughter of William Martyn of Lendridg Esq., and Agnes his wief who died the 5 day of February being 5 yeeres old in the yeere of Our Lord 1644. 'on filei Theos apothneok ei neos',[10] Thus thou o Christ by dying didst improve death but a passage to thy Father's love...(rest missing)"

Lear

Arms of Lear: Azure, a fess raguly between three unicorn's heads erased or, as visible on the mural monument to Sir Peter Lear in Bishopsteignton Church

Sir Peter Lear, 1st Baronet (died c. 1684), purchased the house in 1660. He was born the son of a yeoman in Ipplepen in Devon and after 1645 acquired large plantations in Barbados[11] He married Susannah Lant (died 1713) by whom he had 9 children, all of whom died as infants between the years 1664 and 1680.[12] He started a major remodelling of the house, completed in 1673 as evidenced by a datestone on the chimney, which resulted in the demolition of the two wings of the former building leaving the central section 9-bays wide by 6 deep. He created a particularly ornate interior with exceptionally fine wainscotting, doors and fireplaces.[13] The ornamental ceilings in the Ballroom, measuring 50 ft × 30 ft ,and Morning Room were particularly noted [1] and the Devon historian Polwhele, who visited in 1793, described the ballroom thus: "It has six windows and its rich, carved work, copper ceiling,[14] and the panels of burnished gold, are highly ornamental". The Lear baronetcy, "of London", was created for him by King Charles II on 2 July 1660, shortly after the Restoration, but as he left no progeny, it became extinct upon his death. However, clearly as a special favour from the crown, shortly before his death a second baronetcy, "of Lindridge", was created for him on 2 August 1683 with special remainder to his nephews. His eldest nephew, then aged 11, was Sir Thomas Lear, 2nd Baronet (1672–1705), of Lindridge, MP for Ashburton 1701–1705. Thomas married Isabella Courtenay, daughter of Sir William Courtenay, 1st Baronet of Powderham, but both died in their early thirties, in the same year, without children.[12] The baronetcy became extinct upon the death of his brother Sir John Lear, 3rd Baronet (died c. 1736), who had married the daughter of Christopher Wolston, gent., of Devon, and who left a sole heiress Mary. In the church of St. John the Baptist, Bishopsteignton, are monuments to Sir Peter Lear, baronet and Sir Thomas Lear, baronet (died 1705).

Comyns

Mary Lear, the sole daughter and after 1736 the heiress of the 2nd baronet, married firstly in about 1724 Sir Thomas Tipping, 2nd Baronet (1700–1725), who died the next year aged 25, without progeny. She married secondly in about 1726 Thomas Comyns.[15] Mary seems to have died before 1732, four years before the death of her father, as Thomas Comyns, who was described as "of Lindridge", was a party in the settlement made upon his marriage to Dame Mary Wolston of Staverton, dated 20 October 1732.[16] Comyns thus appears to have inherited Lindridge from his father-in-law who died in 1736. Comyns still held Lindridge in 1738[17] but had sold part of the estate, under an Act of Parliament,[18] to "Dr Finney" [12][19] apparently Protodorus Finney Esq., (died 1734), of Blagdon, a lawyer of Lyon's Inn, Middlesex, whose mural monument exists in Paignton Church.

Baring

The Baring brothers, John II (centre) & Francis (left), with Charles Wall (right), by Sir Thomas Lawrence

In 1747 Lindridge was purchased for £8,000 by John Baring I (1697–1748), of Larkbeare House (38 Holloway Road), Exeter. Baring was one of the wealthiest cloth merchants of Exeter, a Lutheran born in Bremen, Germany. His heir was his son John Baring II (1730–1816), who founded with his younger brother Francis Baring (1740–1810), created the 1st Baring baronet "of Larkbeer" in 1793, the company which became Barings Bank. In 1755 he purchased Mount Radford House,[20] Exeter, which became his home and where he died, and served as MP for Exeter in 1776, and was Sheriff of Devon in 1776.[21] In 1765 he sold Lindridge to John Line (died 1777).

Line

John Line (died 1777) was a wealthy self made building contractor who with his partners Thomas Parlby (1727–1802) and James Templer (1722–1782), constructed new Royal Navy dockyards at Chatham, Portsmouth and Plymouth. All three appear to have originated in Kent, near Rotherhithe, but moved to Devon following their acquisition of the government contract to reconstruct and expand Plymouth dockyard, to meet the increased space needed by the Royal Navy which had been expanded due to the French invasion threat. Templer had purchased in the same year of 1765 the manor of Teigngrace where in 1780 he built the grand late-Palladian Stover House. John Line served as Sheriff of Devon in 1774.[22] He died of smallpox, as is stated in his will dated 10 April 1777 "being sick and weak in body but of sound and disposing mind...The said John Line being blind by the small pox and thereby rendered incapable of writing his name as usual made his mark". He left a daughter Eliza Ann, living with him at his death at Lindridge, to whom he bequeathed the sum of £2,000. Probate was granted on 10 May 1777 to his widow Jane Shubrick (1747–1813), the daughter of Thomas Shubrick who in 1777 had gone to America,[23] and became a member of the first legislative council of South Carolina[24]- his sole executrix named in the will. He left all his property to his widow Jane for her life and thereafter in trust to his godson Henry Line Templer, for his life, with remainder to his lawful male issue in tail male. The trustees were his partner James Templer "of Stover Lodge", and his son Rev John Templer and George Cross (1740–1779)[25] of Duryarde in Exeter.[26]

Templer

Arms of Templer, as depicted 1794 stained glass image in Shute Church of arms of George Templer of Shapwick, which differ in several details from the official grant of 1765 registered in the College of Arms: "On a mount in base vert the perspective of an antique temple argent of three stories, each embattled; from the second battlement two steeples, [sic] and from the top, one, each ending in a cross sable [sic] on the pinnacle; in the first quarter an eagle displayed; in the second a stag trippant regardant or". In no image of the Templer arms in Shute Church, Stover House or Teigngrace Church are two steeples shown from the second story. Often only one cross argent is shown from the top steeple. The depiction above shows three crosses or. The temple is seemingly a canting reference to the mediaeval round Temple Church of the Knights Templar in London (itself modelled on the Byzantine version of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem) which was reconstructed after WWII bomb damage with two embattled stories but without a spire

John Line's heir was his godson Lt-Col. Henry Line Templer (1765–1818),[19] 10th Lt Dragoons and one of the Prince Regent's household,[27] whose monument exists in Teigngrace Church, the youngest son of his partner James Templer. Henry married Mary Rogers, daughter of Sir Frederick Leman Rogers, 7th Baronet (1782–1851).[28] He had four sons and 5 daughters.[27] In 1778, the year after her husband's death, John Line's young widow Jane (died 1813)[29] remarried to Rev. John Templer (1751–1832), the second son of her first husband's partner James Templer and the elder brother of her first husband's heir, Henry Line Templer, after whose early death in 1818 Lindridge was purchased from his heirs by his brother Rev. John Templer.[19] Jane died in 1813, having predeceased her second husband, who continued to live on at Lindridge, keeping a pack of harriers there, until his death in 1832, nursed in his old age by his widowed sister Lady Anne de la Pole (died 1832), the widow of Sir John de la Pole, 6th Baronet (1757–1799) of Shute, Devon, as is recorded on her mural monument in Shute Church. Lady Anne died also at Lindridge two months after her brother, and the estate descended to her and her brother's three-year-old great nephew James George John Templar (1829–1883), son of Rev James Ackland Templer (1797–1866) by his wife Anne Mason, daughter of Bryant Mason.[30] Whilst credible accounts, including that quoted above of Lysons, state that John Line bequeathed Lindridge to his godson Henry Line Templer, (born 1765) the youngest son of his partner James Templer (died 1782), but its descent was certainly described by Rev. John Swete who passed by it in July 1795, and painted it in watercolour, as "by the decease of the last proprietor Mr Line it was by his widow convey'd by marriage to the Rev'd John Templar".[31] Swete described Lindridge in July 1795 as follows:[32]

There is wanting only water at Lindridge to render it one of the finest spots in the county, but it lies too near Haldown to have a stream of any size, and perhaps amid scenery which is indebted to nature for all its charms it were better to be as it is without a sheet of water altogether, than to have it introduced by art which could not be wholly concealed. The house is a handsome pile and of considerable size though in no wise so large as the antient one which (it is said) covered over no less than an acre of ground. This magnificent building was a possession of the Martyns, whose seats at successive periods ( among others) I have already noticed at Cockington, Dartington and Oxton. [Swete's own home, inherited from his ancestors the Martins] A daughter of the last Martyn of Lindridge, a co-heiress, was married to the Lord Treasurer Clifford, the first of the family that was ennobled, about the middle of the last century, which connection between the two families seems to have been kept up to the time of my relative and predecessor at Oxton, whose name was Wm. Clifford Martyn. From the Martyns it past to the Lears and others, till by the decease of the last proprietor Mr Line it was by his widow convey'd by marriage to the Rev'd John Templar. Of the old house there is one room yet retained and which has undergone but little alteration, its dimensions are 50 × 30 and by its size and costly decorations we may collect no inadequate idea of the opulence of the family. Of the ornamental part tho' the room was fitted up in 1673 there are yet in being some rich carved work and highly burnished gilding, the expence of which latter article (according to the disbursements in the steward's book) amounted to no less a sum than 500 pounds. I past from this charming spot, through an avenue at the back of the house, into the public road...

The young James' father was George Templer (1755–1819), of Shapwick, Somerset, which manor he had purchased from Dennis Rolle of Stevenstone. George Templer, the brother of Rev. John Templer and of Lady Anne de la Pole, was an officer of the Honourable East India Company and had married in 1781 Jane Paul, the eldest daughter of Henry Paul, of West Monkton, Somerset, a wealthy officer also in the service of the HEIC.[33] James George John Templer (died 1883) married Frances Mortimer and had four sons and four daughters. His eldest son and heir was John George Edmund Templer (1855–1924), JP, Captain in the Highland Light Infantry and Captain and honorary Major in the Royal 1st Devon Imperial Yeomanry.

Cable

Sometime before 1910 John Templer (died 1924) let Lindridge to Sir Ernest Cable (1859–1927), later created 1st Baron Cable of Ideford in 1921, at an annual rent of £380. Cable was an Indian-born British merchant and financier. He served as Sheriff of Calcutta in 1905 and was knighted when George, Prince of Wales and his wife Mary of Teck visited the city in the following year.[34] He returned to England by 1913 and in 1916 was appointed High Sheriff of Devon.[35] The lease was increased to 40 years in 1915 at a rent of £643 per annum, whereupon Cable started making major alterations. In 1920 John Templar sold the freehold of Lindridge to Cable for £75,000, and died four years later leaving his next younger brother James Mortimer Templer (1858–1934), of Brampford House, Brampford Speke, Exeter, the senior representative of the Templer family.[33] The Templar family had made few changes to the house.[1] Cable's alterations between 1915 and 1916, to the design of James Ransome, gave Lindridge the external appearance of a Queen Anne house, with the plain stucco exterior having been replaced with a facing of red brick. Glazing bars were added to the sash windows and wooden shutters were added. An arched top was given to the uppermost central window of the south and east fronts and the parapets were removed. Stone urns were placed on the corners of the roof and formal gardens were added. The grounds were landscaped between 1913–14 by James Ransome with Robert Veitch of Exeter and Edward White.[4] Cable and his wife had two daughters and one son, George, who was killed in action in the First World War in 1915.[36] His wife died in 1924 and Cable survived her for three years, dying in London in 1927; he was buried in Ideford on 31 March.[37] On his death the baronetcy became extinct.[37]

Benthall

On the death of Lord Cable in 1927 the estate was inherited by his daughter Ruth, the husband of Sir Edward Benthall (died 1961), of Benthall Hall, Shropshire. In Kellys Directory of 1939 Lindridge was described as "the property and residence of Sir Edward Charles Benthall, the house is of stone, standing in a park of 145 acres, approached from Chudleigh by a double avenue of elms, and from Newton by a drive through a wood a mile in extent".[2] The Benthall's wealth had been located in India and was lost following nationalisation after Indian Independence in 1947. Sir Edward Benthall remained at Lindridge, but unable to afford the large staff needed to maintain the house, several rooms were closed-up. His wife spent most of her time in the South of France. On sir Edward's death in 1961 his son Michael Benthall inherited. In June 1962, Lady Benthall sold at auction most of the contents and fittings, including the 5 ft 6in × 3 ft 9in ballroom chandelier, which sold for £4,200.

Brady

Michael Benthall was based in London as director of the Old Vic theatre, and had little use for his Devon property which he sold to timber merchants, with two farms, for £60,000. The ancient trees in the park were cut down and sold. The house with 60 acres of land was then re-sold to Mr Brady of Brixham for £15,750. Brady at first stated his intention to be the restoration of the house and its use as his family home, but later announced plans for a development of 100 holiday chalets in the grounds, which scheme was rejected by the parish council.[1] Parts of the house were restored and with the garden it was opened to the public in 1962.[38] The house was destroyed by a fire in the early morning of 25 April 1962.

Destruction by fire

A fire started in the early morning of 25 April 1962. Fire engines from five stations attended, but as the swimming pool, contrary to the stipulations of the insurance policy, had been drained for cleaning and not refilled, lack of water made the fire uncontrollable. Only the blackened walls remained standing. The ruins stood for the next twenty years and were then demolished for the site of a housing development including a red-brick apartment block which now occupies the site of the former mansion.[1]

Sources

Further reading

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Beckett
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Kelly's Directory, 1939
  3. ↑ Pevsner, N, Buildings of England: Devon, 2004, p.185
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Pevsner, p.185
  5. ↑ Devon Record Office, archives of Comyns family of Wood, Bishopsteignton: Bargain and Sale 1039 M/T 1 1550, 1.Sir Andrew Dudley; 2. Richard Duke, London
  6. ↑ History of Parliament biography
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Chard, Judy
  8. ↑ History of Parliament biography
  9. ↑ Phillipians, 3:20, rendered in Latin mixed with Greek. The standard Latin text is: Noster enim municipatus in caelis est or Nostra autem conversatio in caelis est (For our community/state is in Heaven), with politeuma (state/community) substituted from the Greek text
  10. ↑ Greek: "the young die in the love of God"
  11. ↑ Beckett; Chard, Judy
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Chard
  13. ↑ Christopher Hussey, writing in Country Life in 1938, thought the quality so high that he assumed that craftsmen from London had been brought down to excute the work
  14. ↑ Plaster decorative flora and foliage attached to the roof timbers by means of copper wire; another example at Dunsland, in north Devon was also lost to fire.(Beckett)
  15. ↑ Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol.6, Extinct Baronets
  16. ↑ Devon Record Office, archives of Comyns family of Wood, Bishopsteignton: Marriage Settlement 1039 M/F 1 20 Oct. 1732
  17. ↑ DRO, Assignment 1039 M/T 52 1738
  18. ↑ The Beauties of England and Wales, or, Delineations, topographical ..., Volume 4, by John Britton, 1803
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Lysons, Samuel & Daniel, Magna Britannia, vol.6, 1822, Devon.
  20. ↑ Charles Worthy. The history of the suburbs of Exeter
  21. ↑ Biography in History of Parliament
  22. ↑ Parliamentary return to John Line, Esq., high sheriff of Devon 1774 October 11
  23. ↑ As stated in his will; see also The Papers of Henry Laurens: Jan. 5, 1776 – Nov. 1, 1777, page 313, Henry Laurens, David R. Chesnutt, South Carolina Historical Society, 1988
  24. ↑ The History of South-Carolina: From Its First Settlement in 1670, Volume 1 By David Ramsay
  25. ↑ Buried in Church of St Mary Arches, Exeter
  26. ↑ Will of John Line, Esq., proved 10/5/1777, prob 11/1031, National Archives, Kew
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Henry Line Templer 1765-1818". Templerfamily.co.uk. 2010-09-12. Retrieved 2012-11-08.
  28. ↑ Lysons
  29. ↑ Monument to Jane, wife of Rev. John Templer, in Teigngrace Church, states her date of death as 1813
  30. ↑ Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, "Templer late of Lindridge", p. 2217
  31. ↑ Gray, Todd (Ed.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of the Reverend John Swete, 1789-1800, 4 Vols., Vol.2, 1998, p.167
  32. ↑ Gray, Todd (Ed.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of the Reverend John Swete, 1789-1800, 4 Vols., Vol.2, 1998, p.167-8
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Burke's LG
  34. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 27913. p. 3326. 15 May 1906. Retrieved 15 January 2010.
  35. ↑ Whitaker (1923), p. 178
  36. ↑ The Rifle Brigade (1916), p. 127
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Cokayne (1940), p. 343
  38. ↑ The brochure shows people wandering in the gardens and relaxing by the pool. The brochure also proclaimed that "The Ballroom, Morning Room, Dining Room and Main Hall have all been recently restored to suit the requirements of the House now that it is open to the Public" (quoted by Beckett)

Coordinates: 50°34′16″N 3°33′32″W / 50.5711°N 3.5588°W