Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Understanding Historic Parks and Gardens in Devon

The Devon Gardens Trust Research & Recording Project

FOLLATON HOUSE Plymouth Road, Totnes TQ9 5NE March 2020

Registered Charity No: 800540 Company Limited by Guarantee Company Registration No: 2277427 Registered office: Exeter Community Centre, 17 St David’s Hill, Exeter, Devon, EX4 3RG

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Introduction Background to the Project

This site report has been prepared as part of the Devon Gardens Trust (DGT) Research and Recording Project, begun in 2018. In 1998, in addition to the 54 Historic England Registered sites, over 200 designed landscapes were identified as having local importance to the county. This led to the creation of the Devon Gazetteer of Parks and Gardens of Local Historic Interest. Our aim is to review what is currently known for each site, undertake further research as necessary, and produce an evidence-based report following Historic England principles. The list is constantly evolving as new sites come to light, or additional information is discovered.

Content

Each report includes the following:

• A current site boundary using Land Registry details overlaid on to an Ordnance Survey (OS) map • Current aerial photograph • A historic 1st Edition OS map • An overview of the Statement of Significance based on the four Interests as outlined in the National Planning Policy Framework: Archaeological, Architectural, Artistic and Historic. • A written description of the site, derived from documentary research and a site visit. • A map showing principal views and features. • Key images

Acknowledgments

The Trust would like to thank the volunteers and owners who have participated in this project and given freely of their time to complete this challenging and rewarding task.

For further information contact [email protected]

Devon Gardens Trust Registered Charity No: 800540 Company Limited by Guarantee Company Registration No: 2277427 Registered office: Exeter Community Centre, 17 St David’s Hill, Exeter, Devon, EX4 3RG

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

SITE BOUNDARY MAP H M Land Registry Map 2019

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

AERIAL PHOTOGRAPH

Google Maps 30 April 2019

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

25” OS Map Surveyed 1886 printed 1889 Courtesy of Devon and Exeter Institution Library

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

TITHE MAP Follaton, Totnes, 1842, Surveyors: G Braund and H Hearn: Scale 3 chains/inch. Total acreage for house and grounds 28a3r35p: Follaton Farm, total acreage, 104a0r32p, occupied by Edward Holberton

Plot Occupier No Estate Plot Name Cultivation A R P George Stanley Cary 7 Follaton Meadow Pasture 4 3 38 13 Follaton Lawn 15 3 33 16 Follaton Late Orchard Orchard 1 0 23 17 Follaton Orchard [Orchard] 1 0 13 18 Follaton Walled Garden Garden 1 0 0 12 Follaton Plantation Firs 1 0 12 14 Follaton Plantation [Plantation] 2 3 34 15 Follaton Shrubbery Shrubs 0 1 3 20 Follaton Copse Copse 0 1 0 9 Follaton Waste [Waste] 0 0 37

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

COUNTY Devon NAME OF SITE DISTRICT COUNCIL/ PLANNING South Hams District AUTHORITY Council Follaton House, now the South PARISH/HISTORIC PARISH Totnes Hams District Council Offices OS GRID REF SX787604 HER RECORD NUMBER MDV13715 MDV78745-6 Terraced garden and Ha-Ha POSTCODE TQ9 5NE

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Overview This is an important historical site, which has been in existence since the eleventh century, and for 130 years from the eighteenth century in the hands of the Cary family of Devon. George Stanley Repton, architect son of the Landscape Gardener, Humphry Repton, was responsible for altering and enlarging the house in 1826. The property has been through many different guises from being a Voluntary Aid Hospital in the first World War to becoming a holiday venue for almost forty years from the 1920s. Its springs were an important source of an additional water supply for the town of Totnes from the nineteenth century. The whole estate was bought by the Totnes Town Council in 1925 to ensure control and continuance of the supply at a reasonable cost. The house, farm and lodge that were surplus to their requirements were sold to the Co-operative Holidays Association and to Totnes citizens, the Council retaining the water rights. The property was acquired by Totnes Rural District Council in 1965 and they hold it still. Currently the outer parkland, known now as Follaton Arboretum, which has been used by the local community for many years is in the process of becoming a public park for the people of Totnes.1 Archaeological interest The manor of Follaton, originally a grange farm for the Priory of St Mary’s in Totnes, dates back to the eleventh century. It was sold into private ownership following the dissolution of religious buildings. Robert Waterhouse, archaeologist, maintains that there was a much older landscape attached to the property. He states that despite there being no dating evidence the terrace garden to the rear of the property ‘certainly pre- dates the present house’. An archaeological survey may help to date this more accurately. He also mentions an arched culvert which is aligned on the centre of the garden, but which now passes beneath the later house which indicates that there may have been earlier water features. The Ha Ha, still visible in parts, is known to have been dug or re-dug in 1823, although Waterhouse suggests it may be a much earlier feature.2 Earth terracing in the Italianate garden dates back to at least the first quarter of the nineteenth century and may pre- date garden improvements made at this time. Architectural interest George Stanley Repton remodelled and enlarged the 1780s house in 1826 at a time in his working life when he worked on similar important houses in the county such as Kitley House, near Plymouth; Peamore House near Exeter and Widworthy Court, near Honiton. His work at Follaton included a private Catholic chapel which had an exterior entrance so that it could also be used by the local community. The house was listed by English Heritage (now Historic England) as Grade II* and Follaton Lodge as Grade II in 1952. Parts of the

1 South Hams District Council, Follaton Arboretum: Improvement Plan March 2020 – March 2023 (2020). 2 Robert Waterhouse, ‘Garden Archaeology in South Devon’ Robert Wilson-North, The Lie of the Land: Aspects of the archaeology of the designed landscape in the South West of England (Devon, 2003), p. 78: Jerningham Letters 1652 and 1655 (1823). 7

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

older house have been preserved and the newer building for the South Hams Rural District Council has been sympathetically added. Artistic interest Much of the existing landscape was designed by George Stanley Cary, following his inheritance in 1822. He was also responsible for tree planting on the estate including individual specimen trees, both in the pleasure ground and in the outer parkland, and avenues of poplar, oak and elm lining the roads to the estate. It is not clear whether the terracing in the pleasure ground was in existence when he inherited, but part of the layout of the garden is almost two hundred years old. Historic interest Formerly part of the Totnes Priory, Follaton evolved from a farmhouse to an important country house on the outskirts of Totnes. The Cary family who owned the property for several generations were an important Catholic family with social links to many landed families in the area. Although it is not clear whether George Stanley Repton had any input into the garden design, he was influential in the design of the house. Community Interest The property serves the community as the headquarters of South Hams District Council. Local people have also for many years made use of the parkland as a place to walk dogs and generally enjoy a green space. Transition Town Totnes has now instigated a Forest Garden, Edibles Nursery, Orchard and Nut groves and Little Footprints a memorial garden for still-born children. There has been much individual planting, both of commemorative trees and in the edible nursery. Follaton Arboretum is now being managed to be used by larger numbers of the community of Totnes.

Follaton Chronology – See Appendix A

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT The Manor of Follaton dates back to the eleventh century. Given to the Priory of St Mary’s in Totnes in 1306 by William la Zouche, the small estate was originally a grange farm for the Priory.3 Following the dissolution of religious buildings, Follaton was sold into private ownership. There had been a succession of owners and occupiers from the sixteenth century including the Yeo family from at least 1555 until 1616; William Fell from 1616 until 1668. The Rooke family then owned the estate until 1767. It was then purchased by Andrew Hilley, from Ugborough, and later passed to his son, another Andrew.4 In 1788 Hilley sold Follaton to Edward Cary of Torre Abbey for £9,700. The Cary’s were to own Follaton from this point until 1918. They did not always live in the property letting it to tenants when they went on extended holidays abroad or to live elsewhere. In 1800 an advertisement offering a lease of three, five or seven years described Follaton house: A neat, convenient Dwelling House, with sashed front, pleasantly situated at Follaton, about ¾ of a mile from the town of Totnes, in the county of Devon, commanding a most delightful and extensive view of the distant hills; consisting of six good bed-chambers, drawing room, parlour, a spacious kitchen, pantry, cellars, stable and other conveniences.5 In addition to Follaton House a new farmhouse was built in the early years of the eighteenth century and thereafter the farmhouse, with 137 acres of land, was leased separate from the house for varying periods of time from seven years upwards to tenant farmers.6 The Cary family were Catholics and they had a private chapel built in 1826. The chapel acted as the Catholic church for the people of Totnes until public services were discontinued in 1902 as a Catholic Church had been built in the town. The chapel appears to be part of the restoration of the house undertaken by George Stanley Repton (1786-1858) for George Stanley-Cary and his wife Matilda who inherited the estate when Edward Cary died in 1822. The grounds of the house had been remodelled from 1823 by George Stanley- Cary, prior to inviting Repton to upgrade the house. For example, it was in 1823 that the three Cedars of Lebanon, one of which still stands, were planted ‘close to the house’ and a sunken fence ie the Ha-Ha was built ‘with the purpose of banishing two hedges’.7 It is not known whether Repton had any direct input into the design of the pleasure grounds and surrounding plantations and parkland. The enlarged and updated ‘country house’ was described and illustrated in the Ackermann’s Repository (1827) and in Britton’s Devon and Cornwall Illustrated (1832). The Cary family had supported the Royalists during the Civil War and Follaton became the repository of King James II’s picture with that of his mother the Queen enclosed in a silver box.8 In 1834 a tollhouse was built by the Ashburton and Totnes Turnpike Trust. The Cary family collected the tolls and were responsible for maintaining the turnpike road. When the turnpike roads became the responsibility of the local authority the tollhouse became an estate cottage and was sold to a private owner in 1926.9 During the 1840s George Stanley Cary was listed in the tithe maps as owning 132 acres of land in Totnes parish comprising the house, pleasure ground, parkland and the farm. He also had a further 19 acres of land in Dartington parish. This was let to Mary Stanning and Thomas Symons.10

3 Hugh R Watkin, The History of Totnes Priory and Medieval Town, compiled from original records Vol. 1 (Torquay, 1914); Vol. 2, (1917). 4 Plymouth and West Devon Record Office 884/270 and 74/169/7. 5 Sherborne Mercury, 16.06.1800; Exeter Flying Post (EFP) 03.07.1800 and 10.07.1800. 6 EFP 05.06.1806: Devon Heritage Centre (DHC) R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes UDC Terrier of Property. 7 Jerningham Letters 1652 and 1655 (1823). 8 Westmorland Gazette 13.09.1834. 9 History of Toll House, Totnes Museum. 10 Devon County Council, Tithe maps on-line. 9

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

George Stanley Cary died in January 1858 and his son Stanley Edward Cary became the heir. He married Agnes Jerningham in 1865. It was during his ownership that the family was in contention with the Totnes council regarding the ornamental trees that lined the roads which bounded and crossed the estate. Planted in the 1820s to enhance the estate, they were now growing over the roads or victim to storm damage (see Figure 1).11

Figure 1. Follaton Avenue. Courtesy of Totnes Image Bank

In 1902 Francis Cary inherited Follaton from his father and embarked on a programme of updating the house. He had the house re-roofed and installed electricity and radiator heating.12 The cost of the renovations was possibly more than he could afford and by 1909 the estate was for sale.13 The estate did not sell at this time, nor in 1910. It was let to Charles Cowper-Mee and family until the First World War, and Francis Cary was still the owner during the war when Follaton house was leased to the Devon Red Cross as a Voluntary Aid Hospital for wounded soldiers.14 The house was eventually sold in 1918 to Sir Kenneth Matheson who allowed the house to continue as a hospital until the war ended and the final soldier left. The hospital was decommissioned in 1918, but Sir Kenneth died in January 1920, so Follaton was once more for sale by his executors.15 Frederick James Lund of Yorkshire bought the house in 1921 and later the remainder of the estate. It is unclear whether he ever lived in the house as it was listed as ‘unoccupied’ in Kelly’s directories of 1923 and

11 Western Daily Mercury (WDM) 14.02.1862; 28.10.1862; EFP 10.03.1875. 12 Totnes Weekly Times 16.08.1902 and 06.09.1902. 13 DHC 547B/P/432. 14 DHC 867B/E2/13. 15 WT 12.07.1918; EPG 28.01.1920; DHC 547B/2008. 10

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1925 while Lund was living at Watcombe Park, Torquay.16 The house was for sale again in 1926, and this time the Totnes Borough Council acquired permission from the Ministry of Health to purchase the estate to secure the water supply.17 From the early 1880s Follaton had supplied the town of Totnes with water from the many springs on the land during the summer months when the supply in the town dropped. The town council made many attempts to lease or purchase a continuous supply. However it proved too expensive for a variety of reasons: there were too many landowners involved whose land had to be crossed with pipes; the rent for the supply from Follaton proved prohibitive at £100 per year which increased to £5 a week and 14s 3d a day in 1914 or about £286 per year, and it became difficult to ensure the supply. This was resolved in 1926 when Totnes Council bought the Follaton estate from Frederick Lund. Once purchased the estate was split and sold in several lots with the Council retaining the water rights on the property and one acre of land which enclosed the lake, the spring near the lake and the watercourse between the spring and the lake. Follaton farm was sold to the tenant Mr Thomas Willcocks for £4,500 and Follaton Toll Gate Cottage sold to Mrs C P Goldsmith for £300. The mansion, together with just over 23 acres of land, was purchased by the Co-operative Holidays Association, Manchester, to be used for staff holidays, exclusive of water rights.18 In 1965 the property was purchased by Totnes Rural District Council and underwent major conversion and alteration work. A new Council chamber was built to the north of Follaton House in 1986 and further works were carried out on the original building in 1992. During this period the kitchen garden was built over or converted into a car park.19

SITE DESCRIPTION

In 2020 the property is used by the South Hams Rural District Council. The original house, enlarged by Repton, and attached modern buildings are bounded to the north by car parking, which continues someway down the main driveway. There is a further car park down the hill for visitors to the arboretum. In 1990 the Devon Gardens Trust recorded the site. At this time the woodland belt was already overgrown with laurel, rhododendron and camellia. There were and still are some good trees in the woodland and the arboretum. The terraced Italianate garden to the south side of the house, once used by the family as pleasure grounds, is now used by the staff at lunch and break times. The outer landscape is now called an arboretum, extending to the south and east beyond the formal ‘Italianate’ garden: it is in the process of becoming a public park for the inhabitants of Totnes to enjoy. A lot of clearing of overgrown laurel and the undergrowth in the plantations to the west of the house has led to some easier access, but a new decked walkway has been created which enables people to walk from the carpark by the main building to the arboretum circling the woodland belt. Directly to the east of the main portico entrance to the original house further clearance has taken place, opening up the landscape as originally portrayed in early paintings and photographs of the site (see annotated map page 22).

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Follaton House is situated on the old Plymouth Road, which is accessed from the Western Bypass (A381). About a mile from Totnes town centre, the estate sits in the parishes of Totnes and Dartington. There are two entrances from the Plymouth Road. The lower drive is more convenient to access the arboretum, the upper drive gives access to the District Council offices. There is ample parking on site and buses also run from the railway station and the town centre.

16 DHC 867B/EZ/13. 17 WMN 29.09.1925. 18 Western Morning News 29.09.1925; DHC R9/2/0/153 and 270. 19 Totnes Museum, Architect’s Drawings; SHDC files; Georgian Group case file. 11

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

This was never a large estate. The total acreage including the ‘heavily timbered miniature park’ was 162 acres in 1909.20 However, two acres were sold in 1910 to extend Totnes Cemetery on the Plymouth Road.21 With the sale of the farm and the tollhouse lodge the area of historical interest in terms of designed landscape is the Italian garden on the south side of the house and the parkland and plantations to the south and west of the house. This area comprises approximately 23 acres. The boundaries of the site are marked by trees and hedges. The house, set on red sandstone subsoil, and built on a hill, has a south-easterly aspect. The site is undulating, especially the parkland. Although near the road, the site is still semi-rural. There are houses built on the Plymouth Road and in the quarry area opposite the main site, but the land stretching up the old Plymouth Road above Follaton is still mostly rural. There are views from the high ground on the south across to Dartmoor.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES

There were two carriage drives which led to the house from the Plymouth Road. The lower one, nearer the town, still in use today, originally had avenues of elms, sycamores and oaks. The upper drive enters the site lower down the hill than it used to. There was originally a turning circle in front of the house containing a bed of flowers, but now this is another parking area. The toll house cottage served as a lodge for the original upper carriage drive. There were avenues of elms along the Plymouth Road from Totnes. Along Copland Lane, on the northern boundary of the estate, an avenue of poplars was planted in the 1820s and caused a great deal of dispute as they matured. There are many reports in local newspapers about trees being brought down in storms, or needing attention due to overhanging the road, for example, ‘of the 90 complained of, 24 to be felled, 13 lopped and the rest trimmed.’ The newspaper report notes that this will ‘destroy in a great measure the seclusive and Devonian aspect of the lane’.22

PRINCIPAL BUILDING

The original house on the site was described by Matilda Cary as a ‘white house, …comfortable but not extensive’.23 It is known to have had ‘six bedchambers, drawing room, parlour, spacious kitchen, pantry, cellars, stable and other conveniences’.24 Following the re-design and enlargement by Repton, the house, described as Italianate, had a hipped, Welsh slate roof. The two-storey house with attics has a nine-bay frontage with an imposing portico supported by four plain Ionic columns. Repton added a new wing to the north to accommodate two large reception rooms. When sold in 1926 it had four reception rooms, a billiard room, twenty-one bed and dressing rooms and four bathrooms. Since the 1990s a new administration block has been added to the back of the original house and in the process the kitchen garden, which was contiguous with the house, was built over. The grounds are maintained by three to four permanent staff with additional part-time help in the summer. The grounds are open to the public, but the formal garden is restricted to SHDC staff, although there is nothing at present to prevent anyone from walking through from the arboretum to the car park behind the main buildings.

20 DHC 547B/P/432. 21 DHC R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes UDC Terrier of Property. 22 Western Daily Mercury 14.02.1862 and 28.10.1862; Western Times (WT), 19.01.1866; Exeter and Plymouth Gazette 09.02.1866; Exeter Flying Post (EFP) 10.03.1875; Totnes Weekly Times 17.02.1900. 23 Jerningham Letters 1334, 1338. 24 EFP 3 and 10 July 1800. 12

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS

The most striking area of remaining garden is the formal Italianate terraced garden which is bounded on the south by an historic (age not determined) eight foot high wall, now degraded in part. A doorway leads through to what was a greenhouse and frame-yard in 1990 and now is a community edible orchard. The yard surrounds a brick-built building with a circular window in the north end, which is boarded up. This was possibly a bothy or a store. It is not shown on the 1906 OS map. Three cedar trees (Cedrus libani) planted in 1823, of which only one remains, are shown on early maps, as is a small building which might have been the summer house mentioned in the 1909 sale catalogue. The 1934 OS map shows only two trees and no building in the yard, so this must have been a more recent feature. Originally steps led from the south-western corner of the main garden through the yard but are now fenced off. There are other unidentified features, for example, a metal door into the hillside to the western side of the yard. The yard is currently used as a storage and working area by the gardeners. The west side of the Italianate garden is bounded by a low wall behind which rises one of the plantations containing several historic trees and large shrubs including large Himalayan rhododendrons. Originally the plantation was planted with specimen trees such as a large beech tree and Sequoiadendron giganteum, well-spaced to appreciate their beauty, but over the years they have formed a mass of tall vegetation. Figure 2 shows this as a much more open landscape in 1909 but in 2019 was largely overgrown and very difficult to access. A circular walk once led through and around the plantation from the north-western corner of the formal garden, starting with a flight of steps leading west, uphill into the plantation and continuing round the trees, returning through where the storage yard is today. These steps, partially covered in plant material, were originally flanked either side by a pair of atlas cedar trees (Cedrus atlantica). One still remains on the south side, the one on the north side of the steps has now fallen. However, the District Council commenced clearance work in 2018 and have constructed a wooden walkway which skirts the western fringes of the old plantation. The east side of the site, also rising land, is currently undergoing much clearing of woodland and undergrowth. The north side of the garden is bounded by the offices of the SHDC. The formal garden is terraced with earthwork terraces, running east-west across the site once cleanly cut, (see Figure 2) with a flatter area in the centre. This was used as a tennis and croquet lawn.25 There are also smaller terraces running along both the eastern and western boundaries of the formal garden, with evidence in earlier photographs of formal planted beds along the western terraces. The terraces were still clearly defined in 2019 (see Figure 3).

25 DHC 547B/P/1266, sale catalogue. 13

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Figure 2. The pleasure garden looking to the east c 1909, Sale Catalogue of c. 1909.

Figure 3. 2019, the pleasure garden looking to the west. Photo Clare Greener.

Photograph Clare Greener A yew walk, of six Irish yews, planted approximately 7m apart, to the south is much overgrown, but it is still possible to walk behind the trees in front of the wall getting glimpses of the house between the trees. There is still a formal lily pond in the garden. Once gravelled paths and terraces are now grassed over, but stone steps

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

remain leading from one terrace to the other and on the west side up into the plantation. When the house was sold in 1926 there were rose gardens, herbaceous borders and shrubs planted in the garden.26 None of the beds and decorative borders remain, all being grassed over, but there are seats and tables for the use of the staff. Many features such as the pots and vases, statues, rose beds, noted in the Devon Gardens Trust 1990 survey, have now disappeared. It is possible to see where beds had been on the west terraces as the ground is slightly sunken. A stand of pampas grass was present in March 2019, but had been removed by May 2019, leaving the pleasure ground simply grassed over. The garden in 1990 was overgrown and the steps which are visible and used today were not noted.27 When visited in 2019 the formal terraces were well- maintained. Wilderness walks through the plantations are now largely impassable due to overgrown laurel. There are plans to redress this situation.

Figure 4. Garden showing clipped yews, now overgrown. Courtesy of Totnes Image Bank.

26 DHC 389C/P/1. 27 Devon Gardens Trust survey (July,1990). 15

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Figure 5. The ‘Italianate Garden’. Courtesy of Totnes Image Bank.

To the rear of the main house and offices there is a parterre planted in box which was put into place in 1994. The hedges of the parterre are quite high. There is also a row of small cottages which were built in the 1920s (see Figure 6).

Figure 6. Small cottages and parterre to the rear of Follaton House.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

In the car park there are the remains of a sunken water garden which had been cut back severely in the spring of 2019 (see Figure 7). There may be plans to restore or recreate this garden.

Figure 7. Sunken water garden in car park, newly cleared in 2019.

PARK The parkland lies to the north of the house and is approximately twelve acres of undulating ground. Known originally as ‘The Lawn’, or ‘The Park’ it was described as ‘immediately surrounding the house excluding the pleasure grounds’. During the First World War it was let to John Willcocks, the tenant of Follaton farm to be used ‘only as pasture or meadowland’.28 Part of this area has always been heavily timbered around the boundaries. It is bounded on two sides by a ha-ha, but evidence on the eastern boundary is difficult to find, the area being very overgrown and appears similar to a large ditch or double boundary. There is a serpentine path that meanders down the hill roughly from east to west. The original park area is now known as Follaton Arboretum. It has been used for many years by the local community, both as a place simply to walk and as a site for community gardens such as a Forest Garden, Edibles Nursery, Orchard and Nut Groves, and Little Footprints a memorial garden for still-born children.29 The Park still contains many specimen and mature trees including some commemorative trees. There is an araucaria, eucalyptus, silver birch and other large trees. A variegated Tulip Tree (Liriodendron) of a good shape is close to the edible nursery. There is also an adjacent Corsican pine (Pinus nigra corsicana) and a small Redwood (Sequoiadendron). The nursery contains red, white and black currants, and small apple trees. The stone wall which bounds the south of the pleasure garden, faces almost due south. Old maps (1928) show possible glasshouses which were also mentioned in sale particulars.

28 DHC 867B/EZ/13 Tenancy agreement 29 June 1918. 29 Transition Town Totnes. 17

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

KITCHEN GARDEN There is no kitchen garden remaining, but it is known that there was one on the site. Matilda Cary in one of her letters describes a greenhouse on the site in 1823.30 Most of the information on the kitchen garden has been obtained from sale catalogues. In 1909, this was described as being contiguous with the Italian garden and being ‘exceedingly productive’, and highly cultivated with one south facing wall, the remaining sides of the garden were enclosed by high hedges (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. House showing glasshouse of kitchen garden contiguous with property.

Within the kitchen garden there were wall, standard, espalier and pyramid fruit trees. There were four glasshouses which were described as being in good condition and well supplied with water. These were a lean-to glasshouse 31’ x 12’; a vinery, 27’ x 15’ containing Gros Colman, Lady Downs and Black Hambro grapes. There was also a span roof Fernery 24’ x 14’ and a span roof two-division forcing house 25’ x 10’. Other buildings included a tool house, forcing pits, stabling for seven horses, a coach house, motor garage and gardener’s house.31 In a later sale catalogue of about 1920, the Fernery was not listed, but it was stated that the kitchen and fruit gardens have recently been restocked with bushes and young trees on the northern [south-facing] wall. The stoke hole had a new ‘Mona’ boiler and there was a six-light frame.32 During the First World War, when Follaton was used for a Voluntary Aid Hospital, the kitchen garden was retained by Francis Cary for his own use. A separate plot of land was allocated to be used as a tennis lawn or to be used ‘for the cultivation and growth of vegetables’.33

30 Jerningham Letters 1514. 31 DHC 547B/P/432. 32 DHC 547B/P 2089 33 DHC 867B/EZ/13 Tenancy agreement 21 Feb 1917. 18

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

OTHER LAND Follaton Farm was part of the original estate. Totalling 136 acres, much of the land surrounded the current property and included land on the other side of the Plymouth Road. This land was sold in 1926.

REFERENCES Bibliography Rudolph Ackermann, Repository of Arts, 1 August 1827 (London, 1827). John Britton and Edward Wedlake Brayley, Devonshire and Cornwall Illustrated from original drawings (1832), p. 70.

Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England, Devon, 2nd revised edn. (London, 1999) p. 451. Devon Gardens Trust Survey (July 1990)

Devon Heritage Centre (DHC) DHC 389C/P/1 Sale catalogue and plans of the Follaton Estate 1926. DHC 867B/S/75 Sale catalogue c1930. DHC R9/2/0/C/270 Follaton Estate No 76 1925-1928. DHC R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes UDC Terrier of property 1925-1927. DHC E547B/P/432 Sale Particulars 1909. DHC E547B/P/1266 Sale Particulars c1915. DHC E547B/P/2008 & 2089 Sale Particulars 1920. DHC E547B/P 2462 Sale Particulars 1926. DHC 1670M/TY/1 Will of Arthur Brooke of Follaton in Totnes 1682. DHC 1670M/2/4 Abstract of Title to Rooke’s Estate to be purchased by Butland. DHC 1352A/PFB/20 Order of Petty Sessions apportioning responsibility for repair of roads Peak Cross to Follaton Cross 1824. DHC QS/113A/203/1 Responsibility of George Stanley Cary 1824 – Order Plan and Note. DHC 1578Z/Prints/Totnes, Totnes Prints 1899-1961 Exterior and Park 1912. Todd Gray, The Garden History of Devon, (Devon, 1995) pp. 104-105. Historic England, Listed Buildings List Entry Number 1235624 (1952). Hugh Meller, The Country Houses of Devon Vol 1 (Devon, 2015) pp. 408-409. J B R, ‘Cary of Follaton’, Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries, I, (1900-1901), p. 117. Percy Russell, The Good Town of Totnes (Exeter, 1973) pp. 48, and 58. Stockdale’s MSS History of Devon, pp. 793-4. Robert Waterhouse, ‘Garden Archaeology in South Devon’ Robert Wilson-North, The Lie of the Land: Aspects of the archaeology of the designed landscape in the South West of England (Devon, 2003), p. 78. Hugh R Watkin, The History of Totnes Priory and Medieval Town, compiled from original records Vol. 1 (Torquay, 1914); Vol. 2, (1917). William Westall and John Gendall, Views of Country Seats of the Royal Family, Nobility and Gentry of England Vol 1 (1830) p. 63.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Follaton Estate 2020 showing features of the Follaton Arboretum.

CP – Car Park

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Appendix A Follaton Chronology

Date Event Reference 1083 ‘Juhel has a manor called Foletona’ Given by him to the Church Hugh R Watkin, The History of St Mary, Totnes for the soul of Queen Matilda (who died 2 of Totnes Priory and Medieval November 1083). Town, compiled from original records Vol. 1 (Torquay, 1914), p. 3 1306 Follaton inherited by William la Zouche on the death of his Watkin, History, Vol 1, p. parents. He gave Follaton and other property, ‘with all their 200 appurtenances such as gardens, weeds, waters, roads, paths, grazing and pasture’ to the monks of St Mary’s Priory. 1427 John and Agnes Falewell rented property near the way leading Watkin, History to ‘Volaton’. 1537 Volaton belonged to the Priory until 1537 as a grange farm. Watkin, History 1542 The Barton or Grange of previous ecclesiastical property now Watkin, History, p. 599 sold by Champernown to Walter Smith. 1555-1558 In ownership of Leonard Yeo MP for Totnes 1555, 1557 1558 and Mayor of Totnes 1558-1570. 1561 George Yeo and Elizabeth Smyth: marriage bond. DHC 312M/0/TY/301 1616 Leonard Yeo of Huish sells to William Fell of Totnes ‘half of DHC 312M/0/TY/396 Volaton also [ ] also Follaton’. 1668 Will of William Fell of Follaton ‘all my capital messuage Barton PROB 11/329/342 and farm of Follaton’. 1682 Will of Arthur Rooke ‘of Follaton’. DHC 1670M/TY/1 1716 Arthur Rooke dies at Follaton. PROB11/553/321 c.1733 Elizabeth Rooke marries Nicholas Trist of Bowden. DHC 2779M/26/17 1755 Edward Cary (1755-1822). 1767 Follaton Barn and Barton for sale. History 1771 John Randall apprenticed in husbandry to Andrew Hilley of PWDRO 884/270 Ugborough, butcher [?Andrew Hilley the elder?]. 1773 Andrew Hilley married Sarah Soper: she died 1784 and is buried at Totnes. December 4 1773 Follaton House for Sale. 1776 Abstract of title to Follaton, Totnes: Rooke’s estate, ‘to be DHC 1670M/Z/4 purchased by Butland’. 1776 8 February: Edward Cary marries at Bath Camilla Annabella Fleming of Coniston, daughter of Gilbert Fane Fleming, whose father was Governor of the Leeward Islands, and of Lady Camilla Bennett, daughter of the fifth Earl of Tankerville. 1777 George Stanley Cary born. 1778 Priscilla Hellier apprenticed in housewifery to Andrew Hilley ‘of PWDRO 884/270 Totnes, gent.’ 1778 3 August: Edward Cary the younger born, Clifton, Bristol. 1779 12 August: Camilla Cary born, Bath. 1780 27 January: Camilla Cary, wife of Edward senior, died at Exeter, buried in nave of Exeter Cathedral.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1781 Andrew Hilley the elder to Andrew Hilley the younger: Lease PWDRO 74/169/7 and release of Barton of Follaton, ‘lately purchased by AH the elder of George Rooke Esq of Barnstaple’ [Barton only?]. 1782 Thomas Gill apprenticed in husbandry to Andrew Hilley of PWDRO 884/271/24 Totnes Gent. 1785 11 August: Elizabeth Trist, daughter of Browse Trist and grand- daughter of Nicholas Trist and Elizabeth Rooke, married (as his second wife) Andrew Hilley of Totnes. 1785 Andrew Hilley elder releases to Andrew Hilley the younger, PWDRO 74/169/7 both ‘of Follaton, Totnes, Gentlemen’ the Capital Barton or [in Bastard of Kitley Farm of Follaton, in the possession of Arthur Turtley, tenant. papers] 1787 Edward Cary senior marries in London Bridget O’Ferrall, sister of Roger O’Ferrall, St. Croix, WI (There are no children of this marriage). She is said to be heiress to a considerable fortune. 1788 ‘Cary buys Follaton from Mr. Andrew Hilley’. Lyson (but no date); 1902 Follaton bought by Edward Cary (1736-1822) of Torre Abbey for obit. of S.E. Cary (below); £9,700. EFP 14.05.1857 [Hilley moves to Plymouth (see below)]. 1790 or Edward and Mrs Cary ‘of Follaton’ subscribe to Hallaran’s Odes, 1791 published in Exeter. 1798 12 July: Letter from a Catholic priest (Father D’Ancel) ‘at Westminster Catholic Follaton’ to Bishop Douglass, London (about an unrelated Archive matter). 1800 To be Let: for a term of 3, 5, or 7 years, from Midsummer or Sherborne Mercury, Lammas next. A neat, convenient Dwelling House, with sashed 16.06.1800 front, pleasantly situated at Follaton, about ¾ of a mile from the 30.06.1800 town of Totnes, in the county of Devon, commanding a most EFP 03.07.1800 delightful and extensive view of the distant hills; consisting of 10.07.1800 six good bed-chambers, drawing room, parlour, a spacious kitchen, pantry, cellars, stable and other conveniences. For viewing the same apply to Mr James Murch, in Totness aforesaid. NB The taker may be accommodated with a few acres of ground, if required. 1801 29 November: Father Charles Timmings (sometimes spelt Obit of S.E. Cary, 1902 Timings) accepts post of resident chaplain at Follaton. (see below) 1803 A house at Follaton is shown on drawing for first edition OS BL: OSD 22 map. 1806 To be Let: for a term of seven years, from next Lady-day, all EFP 05.06.1806 and that barton or farm, of or called Follaton, situate in the parish of 12.06.1806 Totnes, in the county of Devon; consisting of a newly-built and excellent farm-house with all convenient out-houses and appurtenances, particularly calculated for an extensive dairy; about two acres and three quarters of prime orchard, and about 137 acres of the richest meadow and pasture. For which purpose a survey will be held at the king’s arms inn, in Totnes, on Monday the 30th of June next, by five o’clock in the afternoon. In the meantime the estate may be viewed by applying to Edward Cary, esq, at Follaton aforesaid; and any further

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

particulars may be known by applying to Mr Cornish, attorney, Totnes. Totnes, 28th May 1806. 1807 To be sold by auction: by Mr Trist at Follaton Farm, near EFP 15.01.1807 Totnes, Household furniture and effects of a Gentleman leaving the premises…. NB The above is well worth the attention of the public, having all been new within eight months. [Furniture, stock, implements listed.] 1808 To be let, from Lady-day next, for a term of 14 years, Follaton EFP 27.10.1808 Farm within 120 acres of richest of meadow and pasture land. 03.11.1808 10.11.1808 1808 To be let Follaton Farm. Morning Post 21.12.1808 1815 To be let Follaton Farm. EFP 26.10.1815 1816 Died: Edward Cary, second son of Edward Cary of Follaton, EFP 29.08.1816 brother to George Stanley, returning in a gig to Tor-Abbey, Morning Post 4.9.1816 thrown on the lawn near the house in consequence of the horse running away. He died as a result of injuries and shock. 1820 Married: On Thursday last, the 30th ult. At the Cathedral Morning Post 06.12.1820 [Catholic] Church at Ghent, [Netherlands] Stanley Cary, Esq EFP 14.12.1820 son of Edward Cary Esq of Follaton, in Devonshire, to Matilda Mary, second daughter of Sir Richard Bedingfield, Bart. Of Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk and sister to Lady Petre. Niece to Sir George Jerningham of Norfolk. 1820 26 December: Matilda Cary to Charlotte, relating her arrival at Jerningham letters 1332 Follaton for the first time: description of setting and interiors. 1821 2 January: Matilda Cary to her father: description of Follaton. Jerningham letters 1334

1821 10 January: Matilda Cary to Agnes: description of Follaton. Jerningham letters 1338

1821 Stanley and Matilda move to a rented house in Torquay. [letter] 1822 17 January: Death of Edward, George Stanley Cary’s father. Matilda and Stanley move into Follaton; Mrs. Edward Cary moves to Torquay. 1822 20 March: Matilda Cary to Charlotte describing life at Follaton; Jerningham letters ‘we have a very neat [next word illegible] house’. 1488 1823 5 May: Matilda describes greenhouse and gardens. Jerningham letters 1514

1823 12 September: Matilda Cary to Charlotte: they are to build some extra rooms at Follaton and have a picture gallery, ‘but our new rooms are not begun, having put off our building concerns until next Spring’ [on account of her imminent confinement]. 1823 28 October: Matilda Cary to Charlotte: the coachman has set the Jerningham letters 1644 Follaton stables on fire. 10 November: Matilda and Stanley ‘have done a great deal of 1652 planting, including 3 Cedars of Lebanon in a clump on a 1655 conspicuous rise surrounded by an iron railing, close to the house. 19 November: Matilda to Charlotte: they have ‘had a bridge built over a stream not far from the house’ and ‘are now starting to build a sunk fence [ha-ha?] with the purpose of banishing two hedges – a great improvement’.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1823 Birth: On the 16th inst. At Follaton, near Totnes, the Lady of EFP 25.09.1823 Stanley Cary, Esq. of a daughter. 1824 3 January: Matilda Cary to Charlotte: there have been dreadful Jerningham letters 1671 storms but they have not lost many trees. 1824 October: Matilda to [ ]: ‘Mr Cary is out inspecting some putting Jerningham letters 1760 in of trees’. 1825 6 June: Stanley Edward Cary born to Matilda and George Stanley Cary at Follaton, their third child and only son. 1826 The year of completion of the chapel, according to Obituary of S E Cary obit., 1902 (see Stanley Edward Cary, 1902. below) 1826 George Stanley Repton (1786-1858) remodelled Follaton House for George Stanley-Cary. 1826 Birth: On the 1st instant, the Lady of Stanley Cary, Esq of EFP 09.11.1826 Follaton, near Totnes, of a daughter. 1827 1 August: Follaton House depicted and described in Ackermann’s Repository: alterations complete. 1829 Birth: On Thursday last, at Follaton House, near Totnes, the WT 30.05.1829 lady of Stanley Cary, Esq., of a daughter. 1829 Died. Edward Cary, (son of Edward Cary of Tor Abbey) died WT 19.09.1829 17 January, 1822, aged 87. First Cary to purchase Follaton. George Stanley-Cary (1777-1858) inherited the house. Widow Bridget moved to Torquay 10.03.1822, died at Versailles in 1847. 1829 Follaton depicted and described in Britton, Devon and Cornwall Devonshire : illustrated in a Illustrated. ‘Follaton given by Joel de Totness to Priory of Totnes. series of views ... from original Purchased from Mr Andrew Hilley by Edward Cary. Follaton drawings by Thos. Allom & House stands embosomed in a woody and picturesque vale W.H. Bartlett &c ... : with about a mile from Totnes, on the road to Plymouth. It has lately historical & descriptive accounts received considerable additions under the architectural direction by J. Britton & E.W. of J.[sic] S. Repton Esq. The exterior is remarkable for its pure Brayley. 1829 simplicity of style; the widely extended front being enriched solely by a double line of bold projecting cornice, and a lofty portico of the Ionic order. [Image opposite p.71]. 1830 Birth: A daughter. WT 04.09.1830 1831 Follaton Farm to be let for a term of 7 years. WT 17.12.1831 1832 Birth: Another daughter to add to the Cary family. EPG 14.04.1832 1832 George Stanley Cary, Chair of Totnes Reform Gala. EPG 28.07.1832 1832 8 December, Rev. Charles Timmings, respected Chaplain of WT 15.12.1832 Cary family at Follaton for 31 years, died aged 72 at the house of Mrs. Edward Cary (née Bridget O’Ferrall), Torquay. 1833 1 November: Father James Corcoran appointed Priest at Follaton. 1834 3 August: Corcoran leaves Follaton for missionary journey with Bishop Polding. 1834 Publication of History of the Gentry of the United Kingdom, by John London Courier & Evening Burke, Part 5, price 7s 6d. includes Cary of Follaton. Gazette 10.01.1834 1834 King James II’s picture with that of his mother the queen, is Westmorland Gazette enclosed in a silver box and kept at Follaton House, ‘given as 13.09.1834 assurances, or more properly speaking, as royal bonds for moneys lent and estates alienated in the service of the royal

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

house of Stuart. Cary family supported the Royalists during the Civil War. 1834 Tollhouse built by Ashburton and Totnes Turnpike Trust. Toll House History, Totnes Cary’s had tolls and were responsible for maintaining the road. Museum 1835 April: John Larkon (sometimes Larkan or Larkin), priest at 1835 Torre Abbey, moves to Follaton until 18 November 1836, but April also listed in Catholic Almanac and Directory as being there in 1838. 1835 22.12.1835 Letter in Western Times to householders in Totnes WT 26.12.1835 from ‘Liberal’ Chairman of reformers of the Town Council. 1837 11 February: Father Patrick Hogan appointed to Follaton: stays 18 months. 1837 November: Lady Bedingfeld comes to stay at Follaton. WT 4.11.1837 c. 1830s? Drawing of Follaton exterior by Bertha Cary. Totnes Guildhall 1840s George Stanley Cary owns a total of 132 acres at Follaton of Totnes and Dartington which 104 acres are identified as Follaton Farm, in the Tithe Maps and occupation of Edward Holberton. Cary occupies 28 acres of Apportionments gardens and grounds including 15 acres of lawn, 4 of pasture, (DCC/online access) two orchards each of 1 acre and a walled garden of 1 acre; the balance made up of plantations and a small shrubbery. He also owned a further 19 acres in Dartington parish let to Mary Stanning and Thomas Symons. c. 1840 Lithograph view of house by Noble. 1841-1851 George Stanley Cary (b. London) Magistrate. Census 1842 The Citronelle Monstre (The French mammoth gourd) WT 22.10.1842 exhibited in shop of Mr Godfrey, nursery & Seedsman of EFP 27.10.1842 Totnes; its circumference 6’7”, weight 142 lbs. G Stanley Cary Esq of Follaton House, from whose garden the Citronelle was taken, has some of larger dimensions and heavier weight, one of them measures 8’4” in circumference and weighs above 200 lbs. 1844 Died: November 9 at Follaton House, after a long and EPG 16.11.1844 protracted illness, Isabella, third daughter of Stanley Cary Esq. 1845 1 January: Robert Platt appointed priest at Follaton. Born at Census 1851 Oxford 1806. 1847 Died: June 3, Mrs Edward Cary, widow of Edward Cary of WT 19.06.1847 Follaton. She survived her husband by a quarter of a century. 1848 Stanley Edward George Carey Esq, eldest son of George Stanley WT 26.02.1848 Cary Esq., of Follaton has been appointed to the Commission of the Peace for this borough. 1851 Robert Platt, Roman Catholic Priest officiating at Follaton Census Chapel, living at 13 Seymour Terrace, Bridgetown, Totnes, George Stanley, Matilda and five children living at Follaton, with 8 servants. Stanley, son of above, aged 25, already a magistrate. 1852 To Let: Follaton Farm. [includes description of farm and WT 17.01.1852 farmhouse]. 1853 Mr Cary, of Follaton, eldest son of Stanley Cary, Esq., has been EPG 11.06.1853 on a tour to America and the West Indies and is shortly expected home with his bride, the fair daughter of the governor of St Kitts. 1854 Died: March 25, Mr Simon Thornton, for a great number of WT 08.04.1854 years Butler to G.S. Cary, aged 71.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1858 Died: George Stanley Cary, Esq., of Follaton, on 19 January, WT 23.01.1858 aged 82. [Obit in same paper]. [Heir Stanley Edward Cary, b. 1826, Totnes]. 1858 Died: on 14 April, Adelaide, fifth surviving daughter of late WT 17.04.1858 George Stanley Cary, Esq. 1860 Stanley Edward Cary, secretary of Dart Archery Club. WMN 31.08.1860 1861 Stanley Cary, single, aged 35, Landed Proprietor, Plymouth Census Road. 1861 Wanted: by a family in the country, a Footman, Unexceptional EPG 01.11.1861 reference required as to character and ability. Address to A.B. Follaton, Totnes, stating height and situations lived in. 1862 Parish of Dartington v Cary re ‘ornamental trees’ allowed to Western Daily Mercury overhang Copland Lane. ‘The trees in question grow on the top (WDM) 14.02.1862 of the hill opposite Mr Cary’s house, and form the northern boundary of Follaton estate’. Out of 90 trees, Cary was ordered to cut down about two dozen [24], lop 13, and trim the rest. ‘One effect of this will be to destroy, in a great measure, the seclusive and Devonian aspect of the lane’. 1862 Gig Accident: Mr E G Cary and man servant injured. Report WDM 23.09.1862 of accident, both men injured, Cary knocked out, but not seriously hurt. 1862 October storm: Two large trees in avenue of elms approaching WDM 28.10.1862 Follaton from Totnes were blown down carrying away in a compact and solid mass, about 15’ of hedge on the lower side of the road. 1865 Marriage: October 3 1865 at Roman Catholic Church, WT 13.10.1865 Leamington, marriage of Stanley E Cary Esq., of Follaton to Leamington Spa Courier Agnes Mary, 2nd daughter of Capt. A W Jerningham, RN of Villa 7.10.1865 Lanté, Holly Walk, Leamington. 1866 Storm: Fine trees at Follaton brought down in January gales. WT 19.01.1866 1866 Complaint made re state of Jackman’s Lane. Highway Board EPG 09.02.1866 stated most of the road had been repaired ‘from time immemorial’ by Mr E S Cary and his predecessors. Clerk to write to Cary requesting him to repair the lane without delay. 1866-1897 Stanley Edward George Cary, b. Totnes; Magistrate, Census and Kelly’s Landowner, Farmer Directories 1871, Married to Agnes, b. 1838, Yarmouth, Norfolk. Cook in house Agnes Smith, 27, Cook (Bristol, East Harptree) still serving in 1891.1881 Living with Butler, Housemaid and Agnes Smith. All born out of county. 1869 Wanted, in the country, a good Cook. A kitchen-maid kept. WMN 17.09.1869 Unexceptionable references required. Apply AB Follaton. 1869 Wanted, a housemaid, in the country. Wages £10; all found WMN 13.10.1869 except tea and sugar. Required to help in the laundry. Apply AB Follaton. 1870 Birth: May 15, at the residence of her father, Rear-Admiral WMN 19.05;1870 Jerningham, Teignmouth, Mrs Stanley Cary, of Follaton, of a [WT states a ‘son’] daughter. 1871 Stanley aged 45, Agnes, his wife, with George aged 3 and Cecilia Census aged 10 months. Matilda living at ‘Clovelly’, Belgrave Crescent, Torquay.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1875 Further complaints re blockage of highway by trees. WT 09.03.1875 1875 The Magistrates made an order to remove twelve trees standing EFP 10.03.1875 in the hedge in Copeland Lane. The trees have been standing 50 years [originally planted in 1823/4] and were originally planted as ornamental trees to the dwelling house. 1875 Thunderstorm: at 8 am lasting ½ hour, broke 30 panes of glass WT 11.06.1875 in Follaton windows. One of the trees on the lawn struck by lightning. 1878 Coach Accident: in Torquay, involving Mrs Stanley Cary and WMN 26.04.1878 three children and governess. Children unhurt as landed on mother and governess. Two ladies much injured about the head – Mrs Cary detained in Torquay suffering effects of the accident. 1878 Birth: 1 July, at Teignmouth, wife of Stanley E Cary of Follaton EPG 05.07.1878 of a son. 1881 Died: Matilda Cary, widow of Mr George Stanley Cary of Pall Mall Gazette 01.02.1881 Follaton on 23 January. Register Office records 1881 Stanley aged 55 and servants at Follaton [NB when searching Census databases, Cary has been mis-transcribed as ‘Gary’]. 1881 Mr Stanley E Cary offering to supply water to Totnes from WDM 06.05.1881 Follaton to create additional supply for summer. Too many WDM 09.11.1881 problems with other landowners to go ahead. WT 01/04/1882 1883 A recommendation that a sub-committee of the town council be WMN 04.08.1883 set up with Mr Cary and other owners re coming to terms for addition of water supply. 1884 Trees at Follaton and many other places unsafe. [A constant Torquay Times & South worry for local authorities about trees near to, overhanging, Devon Advertiser 01.02.1884 road]. 1884 Wanted in the country, respectable Catholic Young Man, as WMN 18.06.1884 single-handed Indoor Servant. Good references necessary. Apply C. Follaton. 1886 October Storms: trees blown down in Copland-Lane, Follaton Totnes Weekly Times Avenue and other places. 23.10.1886 1887 Letter: from ‘A Disgusted Cyclist’ re disgraceful state of the Totnes Weekly Times road from Follaton for about three miles on Plymouth Rd. A 09.07.1987 further letter from highways stated problems were due to the Totnes Times & Devon News dry weather. 16.07.1887 1887 Wanted: in gentleman’s house in the country. Under Housemaid WMN 09.07.1887 and assistant in the kitchen, work easy and good wages. Apply Mrs Cary, Follaton. 1891 Stanley E Cary aged 65 at Follaton; no other family member Census there, Follaton Lodge unoccupied. Servants included a cook, housemaid and manservant. 1892 To Let: Follaton Farm, from Lady Day [March 25]. WT 01.09.1892 1892 10 November: Follaton Chapel registered for solemnizing Totnes Weekly Times marriages under the 1836 Marriage Act by District Registrar. 12.11.1892 1893 Wedding of Miss Cecilia Mary Cary daughter of E Stanley Cary WT 25.04.1893 at Follaton Chapel on 24 April 1893. Totnes Weekly Times Details of guests and wedding presents. 29.04.1893 1894 ‘Follaton water supply proposal too costly’.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1895 Highways Committee to give notice to Mr S E Cary of Follaton Totnes Weekly Times (TWT) House notice to put the public highway known as Jackman’s 01.06.1895 Lane in a proper state of repair within 14 days. 1900 More problems with trees on Copland Lane – See printout. TWT 17.02.1900 Dangerous trees to be removed. Cary resistant. Mr S E Cary sent letter commenting that the poplar trees have stood and withstood storms for between 80 and 90 years. Despite this letter five of six trees had been taken down. 1901 Stanley Cary aged 75 (NB Follaton not mentioned: address just Census ‘Plymouth Road’) with cook, housemaid and butler. Following entry: John Elliott, aged 27, Gardener domestic, born Stoke Gabriel, Mary Ellen, wife, aged 27, Daisy May daughter aged 2. 1901 Funeral of Miss Camilla Stanley Cary, died, 14 May, at The Torquay Times and Devon Rowans, Abbey Road, aged 79, eldest daughter of George Advertiser 17.05.1901 Stanley Cary. 1901 Shortage of water in Totnes. Mr Cary would not open TWT 21.12.1901 renegotiations re supply from stream of water at Follaton. 1902 Obit. of S E Cary states that grandfather (Edward) ‘purchased EPG 12.07.1902 and TWT the estate from Andrew Hilley in 1788’, and his father (GSC) 12.07.1902 ‘built the private chapel at Follaton in 1826’ . See printout. 1902 July: Public services at Follaton chapel to be discontinued WT 21.07.1902 following the building of a Catholic Church in the town. 1902 Tenders requested for new roof and other works at Follaton for TWT 09.08.1902 F. Stanley Cary. Apply W M Tollitt, Architect, Totnes. The tender of Messrs Reeves and Full at £771 has been TWT 06.09.1902 accepted for placing a new roof on Follaton House. 1902 Mr F Cary of Follaton, Totnes, is having a complete installation TWT 16.08.1902 of the electric light fitted by Lord and Shand of Plymouth. 1905 Totnes Town Council Water Committee reported a letter from TWT 01.04.1905 Mr Cary who had declined to accept less than £100 p.a. for Follaton water, but offered to lease or sell on terms. Water negotiations dropped. TWT 04.03.1905 1906 Sub-committee to negotiate with solicitors of Cary re water WT 25.07.1906 supply from Follaton. Negotiations for water going ahead. Cary still wants £100 p.a. WT 01.11.1906 for water. 1907 Follaton water scheme adopted. 20,000 gallons per day in driest TWT 26.01.1907 season. £100 p.a. for 99 years. 1908 Totnes Town Council requesting Tenders for Construction of TWT 08.02.1908 water tank at Follaton, plus providing and laying 4,500 feet of 4- inch cast iron water pipe. 1909 Francis Joseph Stanley Cary borrows £300 from Walter Woollcombe of Plymouth (?his solicitor), secured against the estate. 1909 Follaton estate, farmhouse and 162 acres offered for sale by DHC particulars: Osborn and Mercer, London, by auction on 3 June 1909. 547B/P/432 A ‘Handsome Italian residence’, extensive stabling and outbuildings, farmhouse and farm buildings and ‘pretty stone- built lodge’. Pleasure gardens include an Italian garden with gravelled terraced walks, level and sloping lawns, pond, rustic

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

garden, summer house, part-walled fruit and vegetable garden, forcing pits; lean-to glass-house 31x12 feet, vinery 27x15 feet containing Gros Colman, Lady Downs and Black Hambro; span roof fernery 24x14 feet; span-roof two-division forcing house 25x10 feet; orchard, pasture. Park total 16 acres; mansion stabling and pleasure grounds 2 acres, spinney and orchard 3 acres. Farm 136 acres. Apparently unsold. 1910 Advertisements: Follaton House and Estate offered for sale. EPG 29.04.1910 Situated in ‘Grandly Wooded Miniature Park’, commands EPG 06.05.1910 exquisite views, and is approached by two carriage drives… Grounds of great natural beauty, Italian garden, broad-terraced walks, spacious lawns, wilderness, enclosed kitchen and fruit garden.’ Total 162 acres. 1910 June: Follaton for sale by auction; entire estate or house with 25 WMN 30.04.1910 acres. Hamptons. 1910 House and estate not sold, reserve of £17,000 not reached. EPG 14.06.1910 1910 29 December. Conveyance F J Stanley to Totnes Borough R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes Council, two acres adjoining old cemetery [to enlarge cemetery]. UDC Terrier of property Freehold £1,100. 1925-1927 1910-1911 Further borrowings by FJS Cary secured against the estate. 1911- Charles John Cowper-Mee, b. 1862 at North Wheatley, Notts. Census 1914/15 Living with his wife, and son at Follaton House, with 5 servants. Electoral registers Father and son in same regiment as Francis? 1912 Follaton Farm to be let on a yearly tenancy. Western Daily Mercury 22.06.1912 1912 24 June Wife of Charles John Cowper-Mee had twins. Globe, 27.06.1912 1912 Marriage arranged between Francis Stanley Cary of Follaton, WT 18.07.1912 Totnes and Mary, eldest daughter of John Farrell of Maynalty, Kells, Co. Meath, Ireland and Mrs Farrell, will take place on 25 September at Maynalty. 1912 Wedding took place. Dublin Daily Express 26.09.1912 1913 Old-world gardens, finely timbered, Italian terraced gardens. Sale Catalogue Gardener’s Cottage. Asking price £7,200 with 29 acres. Large chapel on first floor with separate entrance. Description. 1914 A letter from Mr F S Cary to UDC stating that the charge for WT 28.10.1914 continuing Follaton supply would be £5 a week and 14s 3d a day was referred to the Mayor and Borough Surveyor. 1915 Sale advertised of furniture and contents of Follaton including WMN 24.11.1915 paintings. 1917 Follaton House placed at disposal of Devon Red Cross. EPG 19.01.1917 Agreement between [Capt.] Francis Joseph Stanley Cary [of 6 DHC 867B/EZ/13 The Terrace, The Hoe, Plymouth] and William Brownfield Craig Tenancy agreements and of Ivybridge, Assistant County Director for Devonshire papers 1917-1923 Voluntary Aid under auspices of British Red Cross to lease This agreement dated 4 Follaton dwelling house with the pleasure gardens also a plot of April 1917 land intended to be laid out as a Tennis lawn, as a Voluntary Aid Hospital for sick and wounded soldiers and sailors and the staff of such hospital. Owner to retain use of Kitchen Garden, but

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

said tennis Lawn to be used for growth and cultivation of vegetables. The Tenant to look after the gardens. 1917 50 beds provided at Follaton VA Hospital. WT 24.02.1917 Opened by Mrs Mildmay of Flete on Thursday April 19th at WMN 16.04.1917 2.30pm WT 17.04.1917 Totnes workhouse children’s entertainment raised £6. 3/- towards equipment for above. 1917 Follaton VA Hospital now occupied by wounded soldiers. WT 05.05.1917 1917 Accommodation for wounded soldiers at Follaton increased to WT 11.08.1917 65 – the largest in Totnes division. Matron of 50 beds Miss Tregaskis. WMN 27.10.1917 1917 A collection taken to provide pigs for Follaton VA Hospital WT 04.12.1917 raised £3 at a Whist Drive. 1917 75 wounded soldiers now at the hospital. Matron now Miss WT 26.12.1917 Clara Louisa Travis. 1918-1925 Agreements between owners of Follaton and Mr Thomas DHC 867B EZ/13 Willcocks of Follaton Farm regarding ‘The Lawn’ [the park] and 29.06.1918 grass. Owners 1918, Cary; 1919 Matheson; 1921-25 Lund. March 1919 Annually March 1921 to 1925 1918 A 30 year old patient, Private John H Murray, of WT 20.03.1918 Northamptonshire died unexpectedly of heart failure at Northampton Mercury Follaton. 22.03.1918 1918 500 volumes of valuable books for sale, the library of Capt. J WT 21.06.1918 Stanley Cary. 1918 Follaton House sold by FJS Cary to Sir Kenneth Matheson; Abstract of title; Sale house subsequently renovated. parties 1918 Capt. Stanley Cary had disposed of the mansion and estate to Sir Kelly’s Kenneth Matheson, who had promised that they should WT 12.07.1918 continue to use the hospital for the duration of the war unless he came there to live. Sir Kenneth J Matheson purchased Follaton 11 July, 1918. Died 25 January 1920. 1918 Vegetable show at Sharpham, Ashprington. Mr C Aplin gave WT 09.09.1918 talk on benefits of Devon Fruit and Vegetable Society, all produce to VA Hospital at Follaton. 1918 Only 16 soldiers left at Follaton Hospital. WT 27.12.1918 1919 Follaton decommissioned as VA hospital. WMN 27.12.1918 Voluntary Aid Hospital Closed. 1920 Death of Sir Kenneth James Matheson. EPG 28.01.1920 1920 Knight, Frank & Rutley – Advert for sale of Follaton by WMN 08.05.1920 auction. EPG 18.06.1920 1921 9 May, Executors of Sir Kenneth Matheson sold to Frederick DHC 867B/EZ/13 James Lund then of Becca Hall, Aberford in Yorkshire. 1922 26 June, John Nicholls, gardener at Follaton died at the Cottage Probate records. Hospital, Totnes aged 60. 1922 4 July, Agreement for employing Charles Lock, as under- DHC 867B/EZ/13 gardener at Follaton at 32/- per week and a cottage rent free. To be paid 35/- per week until Mrs Nicholls, widow of previous gardener, moves.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1924 5 December 1924. Agreement for water supply for Follaton House, surplus for Totnes. From pond on North side, crossed out and South inserted. 1925 The Ministry of health have intimated an enquiry to be held at WT 12.06.1925 an early date into the application by Totnes Town Council to Borrow £11,700 for the purchase of the Follaton Estate. Mr Lund selling for £11,225. Council needs to borrow £11,700 to cover purchase plus incidental costs. 1925 Loan agreed to purchase Follaton and control of water supply. EPG 15.08.1925 WT 21.08.1925 1925 Town Council paying 15/- per day for water from Follaton. EPG 09.09.1925 1925 31October: Indenture between Frederick James Lund of DHC R9/2/0/C/270 Watcombe Park, Torquay and the Mayor Aldermen and Follaton Indenture dated Burgesses of borough of Totnes, plus plan. Lund bought the 31.10.1925 house first, then the rest of the estate. Estate No 76 1925-1928 Unoccupied 1923 to 1925 according to Directories. Kelly’s 1925 Sanction from Ministry of Health for loan on condition that WMN 29.09.1925 land needed for the purpose of the water supply to the town not be sold but permanently retained. This including at least one acre enclosing the lake, the spring near the lake and the watercourse between the spring and the lake. 1925 31 October, F J Lund to Totnes Urban District [or Borough] R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes Council. Follaton Mansion, Estate Farm and water rights UDC Terrier of property 159.377 acres. Freehold £11,225. 1925-1927 1926 Sale Poster for Sale on 25 June 1926 of 23a 1r 25p to include 2 DHC R9/2/0/C/270 newly constructed cottages. To be sold by Rendell & Sawdye at Follaton Estate No 76 Public Auction. Whole estate of 136a 0r 4p or in 4 lots. 1924 1925-1928 acreage 159.377 acres. Lot 1. House cottages and grounds Lot 2. Farm Lot 3. Pastureland and linhay Lot 4. Cottage (Toll House) OS 1906 map used as basis for maps for sale particulars. 1926 14 August, Follaton Farmhouse and Land comprising 112 acres DHC R9/2/0/T/153 2 roods 9 poles was sold to Mr Thomas Willcocks for £4,500. Totnes UDC Terrier of property 1925-1927 1926 24 August, Follaton Toll Gate Cottage part of the Estate was R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes sold to Mrs C P Goldsmith for £300. Follaton House offered UDC TUDC Terrier of for sale but remained unsold. property 1925-1927 WT 2.07.1926 1926 Totnes Council had hoped to sell Follaton to Plymouth Council DHC R9/2/0/C/270 for water rights. See note re retention by Council dated 28 Follaton Estate No 76 November 1927. 1925-1928 1928 28 March, Follaton Mansion and land comprising 23 acres 1 R9/2/0/T/153 Totnes rood 35 poles was sold to the Co-operative Holidays UDC Terrier of property Association, Manchester for £3,750, to be used for staff 1925-1927 holidays. The Council retained the water rights on 23.15 acres of land. 1952 Follaton listed Grade II*; Follaton Lodge listed Grade II. HE List 1965 Property purchased by Totnes Rural District Council for £25,000.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

1966 Major conversion and alteration work at Follaton: plans provide Totnes Museum: evidence of location of first floor chapel and external staircase Architect’s Drawings corresponding to GSR drawing. 1986 New Council chamber built to north of Follaton House. 1992 Further works to original building. SHDC files; Georgian Group case file 1994 A formal herb garden planted near the administration building. 2012 Transition Town Totnes have used part of Follaton Arboretum Transition Town Totnes onwards for a Forest Garden, Edibles Nursery, Orchard and Nut Groves and Little Footprints, a memorial garden for still-born children. 2019-2023 Outer landscape known as Follaton Arboretum to become a SHDC public park for Totnes. Follaton Arboretum Improvement Plan March 2020-March 2023.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Appendix B Head Gardeners It has been difficult to ascertain who the head gardeners were for the Follaton Estate. Looking at the census returns it appears that many gardeners lived in the town, quite a few of them in Leechwell Street within easy walking distance of Follaton. There is information about a few of the gardeners however: c1898-1911 John Elliott (1874-1954) – served Stanley E Cary and Francis Joseph Stanley Cary (b Stoke Gabriel, 1874). Father, William, a farmer at Higher Luscombe, Harberton. John began working for his father as a farm labourer. 1901, listed as gardener domestic, next door to Cary family [probably Follaton Lodge]. At Follaton Lodge in 1911 as gardener domestic to private family. Wife, Mary Ellen (b. Blackawton, 1872), married in 1895. Daughter, Daisy May, b. 1899 at Totnes. In 1939 was a publican and market gardener at Church House Inn, Totnes. [Western Times 09.04.1898; Totnes census returns; England and Wales Register 1939]

1920, 29 December, Norwich Union Fire Insurance Society Ltd No. 687954 Premium 10/- paid for two gardeners, (not named, but one probably John Nicholls). Policy to Frederick James Lund of Follaton House, Totnes to run from 30 December 1920 to 29 December 1921. Signed 8 January 1921. Policy to cover Accident and Injury non-fatal. [DHC 867B/EZ/13] c1920-1922 John Nicholls (1862-1922). 1922 John Nicholls of Follaton Lodge, Totnes, Gardener, died 26 June, 1922 [aged 60] at the Cottage Hospital, Totnes. Administration 15 July to Elizabeth Nicholls, widow. Effects £15 1s 10d. In 1911 he lived at 44, Exeter Road, Sandford Orleigh, Newton Abbot and worked as a gardener domestic. [Census 1911; Probate records] 1922 Charles Locke (born at Exeter 31 December 1888). [See transcription of letter below] Father William H Locke was a garden labourer and brother Frederick R Locke a gardener. Married Annie Rowe in October 1918. In 1939 Charles was living at True Street, Totnes, with his wife Annie, listed as a gardener. [DHC 867B EZ 13; England and Wales Register 1939]

To Charles Lock, July 4th 1922

On behalf of Mr Lund owner of Follaton, we will engage you as from 10th inst [July] as Under Gardener at Follaton at 32/- per week and a cottage rent free which would have to be given up on the termination of your employment which would be subject to two weeks on either side.

As the late Gardener’s wife, Mrs Nicholls, may be in the Cottage for a short time longer, so will give you 5/- per week until you are able to occupy it.

It will be necessary for you to take over the garden produce at the cottage at a valuation. Yours Truly. [DHC 867B EZ 13]

Tree information There are some notable trees remaining on the site dating from the 1820s. There were originally three Cedar of Lebanon trees planted on the lawn near to the house in 1823 of which one remains. It is hoped to go and measure that tree in 2020. As with many properties in Devon, the trees were subject to storm damage. Trees mentioned in the 1990 report include Sequoiadendron giganteum and a large beech and fine Cercis silquestrum.

Devon Gardens Trust, Site Report: Follaton House, March 2020

Key people associated with the site included several Totnes worthies such as the Cary family. George Stanley Repton, son of Humphry was responsible for altering and enlarging the house in 1826.

Social History Follaton was mostly used as a family home until the First World War. In 1917 to 1919 it was a Voluntary Aid Hospital for wounded soldiers. It was sold a couple of times after this to private owners but was not lived in for long. On the death of Sir Kenneth Matheson (1920), the house was bought by Frederick James Lund, but he only had the property for a few years and lived in Watcombe Park, Torquay. In 1926 the property was sold and split into smaller units, the farm and toll house cottage being sold separately and the Totnes Urban District Council retaining the water rights and some of the land. The parkland was let to the farmer until the property was purchased by the South Hams District Council. For many years it has been customary for local people to use the parkland for dog-walking and general recreation. Kitchen Garden Report – see above, there is no extant kitchen garden.