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Summary

Kitley estate including a farm, parkland and formal gardens

Location

Protected Status

• SHINE: Historic parkland and features, surrounding Kitley House (Listed Building), Yealmpton

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX55SE/18/5
• SHINE Candidate (Yes)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• PARK (XVIII to XXI - 1701 AD to 2009 AD)

Full description

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV144327.

Des=pugsley, s. ,/devon gardens - an historical survey/(1994)15,70-71.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV144328.

Des=polwhele, r. /the history of devonshire/111(1793-1806)456.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV144329.

Des=os 6"(1920)124se.

Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV144323.

Doe=hhr:plympton st. Mary rd/(1956)32.

Department of Environment, Untitled Source (Migrated Record). SDV335544.

The landscaped park is c18 with some c19 planting (doe).

Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N., 1989, The Buildings of England: Devon, 525-6 (Monograph). SDV325629.

The house is set in beautifully landscaped grounds (cherry + pevsner).

Gray, T., 1995, The Garden History of Devon: An Illustrated Guide to Sources, 133-134 (Monograph). SDV671.

Polwhele writing in 1806 states that 'the park has been destroyed and one made at Flete in lieu of it' .

Devon Gardens Trust, 1999, Devon Local Register, 83 (Un-published). SDV170167.

Clark, J. + Richardson, D., 1999, Kitley (Un-published). SDV144325.

Devon Gardens Trust, 2013, Devon Gazetteer of Parks and Gardens of Local Interest (Reg/Local list of Historic Parks and Gdns). SDV354335.

Greener, C., 2013, Garden Women in Devon, 9 (Article in Serial). SDV358469.

The estate at Kitley employed up to eight women during the first decade of the 18th cenury. They helped with the harvest, picked hops and apples, cleared the fields of stones, weeded wheat and 'assisted in the garden', but mostly worked from April to October, rarely during the winter months.

Clark, J. + Richardson, D., 2013, Kitley (Un-published). SDV357687.

The house is set in beautifully landscaped grounds include parkland, close to the creek, overlooking a large ornamental lake (Swete painted a watercolour of it in1794) divided off from the sea by a dam. There is a thatched garden lodge. In 1793 Rev John Swete wrote that Kitley ‘stands in a most beautiful spot, enclosed as it were, by two arms of the Sea, the major part of the track which forms the little headland being covered with woods through which walks are cut that command when the tide comes in, most charming scenery.’ White (1850) wrote ‘the large and elegant mansion stands in the picturesque valley about a mile from the village, upon a finely wooded lawn, embellished with terraces and a sheet of water.’ The 1913 and 1920 OS show a designed, extensive parkland surrounding the house with a long informal approach from the lodge to the west, several plantations, a rookery and a very large lake (fish pond) with a boat house.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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