Knightshayes

The weather forecast looked dire for today, so ..... another nearby National Trust property.

Knightshayes is just to the north of Tiverton, and proved to be another fascinating place. The NT acquired it in 1972, largely for its world class garden.

We started off in the 4 acre walled kitchen garden, which is fabulous even in the pouring rain. The gardeners were collecting squashes. Lots of butternut squash in this trailer. The gardener here said that his favourite was crown prince, which we had never heard of.

The house was built in the 1870’s for Sir John Heathcoat Amory, and is a magnificent example of the gothic revival style (extra). His wealth came from the factory he owned in Tiverton.

Sir John’s grandfather John Heathcote had founded the factory. Born in Derbyshire he had invented and patented a bobbin net machine, which transformed the lace making industry. He built a factory in Loughborough, but it was destroyed in the Luddite rebellion of 1816. He moved to Tiverton and bought an old wool mill, many of his workers in Leicestershire walked to Devon to join him. At one time it was the world’s largest lace making factory.

The factory can be seen down the hill from the house. It is no longer owned by the family. But Heathcoat Fabrics employs 400 people and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of engineered fabrics, of all kinds. Think parachutes, body armour, tutus, Princess Diana’s wedding veil and much more

The name Heathcoat Amory sounded familiar, so I have done some holiday research. Derick HA was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Macmillan’s government in the 1950’s. And David Heathcoat Amory was the MP for Wells up to 2010. Up till then the Chair of the “European Research Group”, so Jacob Rees Mogg’s predecessor. No comment on that.

Afternoon - up the Exe valley to Dulverton. The river there was flowing fast (extra)