Coombe Trenchard
Lewtrenchard, Devon, EX20 4PW

Coombe Trenchard was designed and built for the Sperlings, wealthy Edwardian friends of Sabine Baring-Gould of nearby Lewtrenchard Manor. The family had lived on site in the old rectory for several years before deciding on a replacement house, to be designed by Walter Sarel of London and built by Dart & Francis of Crediton, in 1906. The gardens were redesigned at the same time. Both house and gardens are redolent of the high Arts & Crafts style of the belle époque.

The estate comprises mainly pasture and woodland, with the house centrally located and approached via a 1km driveway. The gardens are laid out around the house and incorporate a stream (the parish boundary) with bridges, a woodland garden, terraces and walks and many Arts & Crafts features. From employing 6 full time outdoors staff for the 50 or so years the
Sperlings lived at Coombe Trenchard, the property went through a long period of much less intensive maintenance so on our first visit to the house and gardens in 2007 we were greeted by the challenging prospect of a kitchen garden that had been lost to brambles, and which the then owner had not seen for 35 years, and a woodland garden that was an impenetrable jungle with 15m high laurel trees blotting out all sunlight. However it was clear to us from many of the features that were intact and from the clues left behind of missing paths and bridges that this was a very special place.

We have been most fortunate to have been leant a photo album of the house from its earliest years. We have reproduced all of the photographs for display, and as an aid to our research into the features that have been lost to time. Our hope is that we will be able in time to bring the estate, and particularly the gardens, back to their Edwardian splendour.

Philip & Sarah Marsh, May 2009.

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Garden Visits ; 2009-2010

In 2009 we opened the gardens to the public for the first time and chose to do this in conjunction with the RNLI Open Gardens scheme in early June. This was a great success, with over 300 visitors during the 3 hours we were open and, despite heavy showers, we were able to raise over £1000 for the RNLI and local charities in entrance fees and the sale of tea and cakes!

We plan to open the gardens on a few occasions in 2010 to the public and details of these events will be outlined here. We have experimented with organised garden visits from Gardening Clubs this year and are pleased to say that these occasions have proved enjoyable for us and fruitful for the clubs concerned. We intend to offer the opportunity for future group visits by arrangement. These will normally start with a talk about the history of the house and gardens and then a free roam around the gardens, with the owners on hand to answer questions. See below for details.

The gardens are presented as a working project, not as a finished product, so you will find many tasks started but not finished and many more not yet started.

Coombe Trenchard is an Arts & Crafts house with an Arts & Crafts garden which was laid out in 1906 by architect, Walter Sarel. Sarel, a collaborator of Gertrude Jekyll, provided the terraces, garden buildings, paths and bridges, ensuring that each had vistas of Dartmoor, Brentor or other parts of the garden. In its early years the garden benefited from love, care and attention, however, this was followed by many years of minimal maintenance. A year into the restoration project, forgotten paths, a woodland garden, water gardens and the pattern of long forgotten Edwardian planting schemes have been discovered. We hope in time to recapture the spirit of the gardens in their heyday but see this as a lifetime project.

Some features to look out for:

• The pond behind the horse chestnut was once clear and deep and probably stocked with fish. The stream flowing through comes from springs up hill in the woods and the field near the top gate. This was artfully modified with waterfalls and stone banks and originally a bridge a few yards up from the pond. We are hopeful that the Gunnera will thrive now that the canopy of laurel has been removed.
• The bare looking woodland behind the pond is the remains of a woodland garden. We have been removing laurels, many of which were over 50’ high, which had entirely smothered the garden and prevented any ground cover plants from surviving. Old paths have been discovered and we hope to piece together the general pattern of the place before considering a planting scheme.
• To the north of the woodland garden is a 10 acre wood which is in the process of replanting, following the recent harvest of the commercial softwood. We have chosen a replanting scheme comprising predominantly indigenous hardwoods to create a semi-natural woodland. Walks and rides will join the woodland garden and two further ponds which we hope to restore by 2011.
• There is a well located to the south of the woodland garden, adjacent to a granite arch. There is a geometric pattern of beds just visible around the well and we think it is likely these would have been planted between dwarf box edging. A sunken walk runs to the well from the south east and appears quite sodden; presumably a recent fault rather than an original feature.
• The games lawn has a number of interesting features including the pavilion, and a strange, now roof-less, structure which must have been a view point. The un-trimmed line of yews would have been far less widespread in its heyday.
• The path from the pavilion to the bridge is firm under foot and although now overgrown with grass may, as with the path around the perimeter of the main garden, have been gravelled. At various points, particularly on the steps, the surface is made out of tightly wedged slate pebbles and white stones are laid in patterns and with initials. These latter relate to the Sperlings who were the first owners of Coombe Trenchard.
• The bridge is very picturesque from all angles and a great example of Sarel’s Arts & Crafts design prowess.
• The terraced lawns and the use of locally acquired artefacts, such as the mill stones and troughs and the huge apple presses, are typical features of gardens of this period. Gertrude Jekyll’s books and Country Life from the time are full of photographs and drawings of almost identical scenes. Mrs Sperling was a keen gardener herself – although the house employed a staff of 6 gardeners before the First World War – and she must have been an avid follower of Jekyll’s designs. Her friendship with the Baring-Goulds of Lewtrenchard Manor would certainly have influenced their choice of Jekyll and Sarel to design their gardens.
• The yew walk to the south of the main garden links the stream-side walk to another path which leads back to the house past a number of similarly trimmed Irish yews. We were told by a visitor that one of these was at the time of his visit cut into the shape of a giant tea pot.
• The lawn we leave long and the lawn to its north had planting schemes which have largely disappeared, although the old box and some other shrubs indicate a rough pattern, and a 1940s aerial photograph we have seen suggest a formal, geometric layout where the green house now stands.
• The small stone building with the steeply pitched roof to the east of the long-grass garden we are told was originally a Gas House where a process of creating gas took place. We have not yet been able to fathom the method! This gas was provided to the house by pipes for the gas lights. The attention given by the architect to fire-fighting equipment in the house is testament to the inherent dangers of the system. Thankfully we now have electricity.
• On the main terrace by the house is a Grade II listed 14th C Italian well head. From here there is a good view of the clock tower which was originally built to house water tanks to supply the fountains in the driveway and main lawn. The tank itself was gravity fed from a reservoir a third of a mile away in the woods.

Be careful on steps; not all are stable and some will be slippery when damp.
Some areas of the garden are unsuitable for wheelchairs.
Children must be supervised at all times.
Refreshments may be available by arrangement.

View of the main lawns.	View of the house from the games lawn.	View of the house with rhododendrons in the foreground.
Haymaking - beautiful Devon countryside view from our Parkland.	View of the house with wisteria in the foreground.	View of the house nestling into the trees with Dartmoor in the background.
View of the garden taken in early summer.	Garden paths and steps.	View of the garden taken on a frosty spring morning.

Group visits during 2009/2010 are welcome. To arrange a visit and for details of admission prices please get in touch by telephone or email.

Normal admission prices are £4 per head for admission and tea/coffee, subject to a group minimum of £80
Refreshments (light lunches, tea/coffee, cream teas etc.) are available by arrangement.

Directions: For a fully scaleable Google map showing our location please CLICK HERE although do please note that our postcode actually highlights some houses farther up our (un-named) lane, so look out for our drive on the right after a hundred yards or so.

• From Exeter on the A30 after the Okehampton junction take the A386 exit (signposted Tavistock, Bideford). At end of the slip road turn right, then immediately left (signposted Lewdown). In Lewdown turn left for Lewtrenchard and follow the road to the bottom of the hill. Turn right into lane opposite the sign for Lewtrenchard Manor Hotel. Coombe Trenchard can be found 100 yards on the right.
• From the Launceston direction on the A30 take the Lifton turning, following the road through the town to Lewdown. In Lewdown turn right (approx. 50m past Post Office) for Lewtrenchard and follow the road to the bottom of the hill. Turn right into lane opposite the sign for Lewtrenchard Manor Hotel. Coombe Trenchard can be found 100 yards on the right.

For further information please contact Sarah & Philip Marsh on 01566 783179 or coombetrenchard@btinternet.com