In the neighbouring County of Devonshire, near Tiverton, is Knightshayes Court.

On a recent misty September morning I decided on a spin into Devonshire to visit Knightshayes Court.  Driving south on the M5, the top of the 175 feet high Wellington Monument was hidden in hazy low cloud.  However, having left the motorway at Junction 27 and continued a further 10 miles to Bolham via the A361 and A396, the sun was shining as I drove past the Lodge into the Knightshayes estate and up through the gently rising parkland towards the house. 

Once the family home of the Heathcoat-Amorys, this Victorian house is now owned by the National Trust.  It was designed in 1873 by the flamboyant William Burges for John Heathcoat-Amory who, in 1861, had inherited the lace manufacturing business of his grandfather John Heathcoat. The business had been moved to Tiverton after the factory in Loughborough was destroyed by Luddites in 1816.

Although Burges' exterior design was retained the interior was redesigned by John Dibblee Crace as Burges' plans proved too exotic for the Heathcoat-Amorys.  Even Crace's designs, completed in 1883, were not to the family's taste and many of them were covered up over time until the National Trust began a process of restoration.

The south front of Knightshayes.

After a visit to the Stable Café for a cup of tea and a tasty locally made sausage roll my wife and I strolled across to the house, enjoying the view of the parkland as we did so.  There seemed to be just as many people walking their dogs in the park as there were visitors to the house and garden.

The highlights, for me, of our meander through the house were the Library and the view from the Main Bedroom: from the window Sir John could see his factory in Tiverton.

Having bought two delicious ice-creams in the Conservatory tea-room we sat outside on the terrace in the sunshine and admired the view down through the parkland toward Tiverton.

The view south from the Terrace.

This was also the scene of a fatal air crash in the Second World War when an American fighter pilot, Second Lieutenant Albin P Zychowski serving with the 61st Squadron, 56th Fighter Group, was killed in his P47 Thunderbolt on May 1st 1945.  Knightshayes was at that time a combat rest home for the US 8th Air Force.  The National Trust souvenir guide book relates the sad tale: "Very near the end of the Second World War a tragedy took place.  It was the custom of departed occupants to return from their airfields in order to "buzz" the house, which meant flying up the park almost at tree height, to applause and cheers from the Terraces.  One pilot dared too much and lost his life performing this stunt, his plane hitting the tops of several trees.  The clearing away of the broken trees after the War was, more happily, the beginning of the Garden in the Wood."

The Terrace at Knightshayes Court.

There is too much on the Estate to experience in one day so our next visit will be to the exhibition in the Tennis Court which relates Knightshayes' role in both World Wars - it is open daily until November 15th.