Post by Dave on Oct 17, 2018 16:52:18 GMT
Lupton House The Importance Of Trusts 17th October 2018
I have spent a lot of time on line over the years looking at pictures and reading stories of many of the great mansions and houses that have been lost forever. Since 1800 as many as 2,000 notable English country houses no longer exist and I find that rather frightening.
A good number of them suffered large fires and were never rebuilt and ended up just falling down or being demolished. Others due to crippling debts were just abandoned and as a result fell into disrepair. Once lost such buildings are gone forever along with all their history and so often not enough has been done to try and save these once grand buildings.
Thank heavens for the National Trust and English Heritage for the very large part they play in preserving and protecting so many of our national treasures that might otherwise be lost.
Other wonderful old buildings are still only with us due to trusts and friends of such buildings doing all they can to keep them in one piece and still here for everyone to enjoy. Five years ago I visited Poltimore House close to Exeter that was once a very grand house. Sadly it ended up being abandoned and as a result suffered a fire and was also trashed.
Thankfully for Poltimore House there are now a group called the Friends Of Poltimore House who are doing all they can to restore the house, but it is going to take such a long time. My report from five years ago can be read here and you will soon see just how big a task they face.
davesworld.proboards.com/thread/226/poltimore-house-near-exeter
We all know and love Oldway Mansion and hopefully the Friends Of Oldway will get this building back to its former glory and open again for us all to enjoy. Once again this is not something that is going to happen overnight, but this wonderful building has to be saved at all costs and not join the list of wonderful lost buildings.
We have another fine building that has been brought back to life in Torbay thanks to the tireless efforts of a group of local people and that house is Lupton House. I am sure so many of us have driven past the entrance to this house as we have driven between Brixham and Paignton.
Most of us will just remember seeing signs outside of what ever school was using it at the time, so we were unlikely to have had any reason to drive up to the house. The history of the house is too long to go into here, but this great house could have been lost way back in 1926 when it suffered a huge fire.
Thankfully it was rebuilt but the top floor was omitted.During World War II the house and grounds were used by American forces. Following the war it became a hotel and then housed successively three schools, Fenton School, Lupton House School, and, between 1990 and 2004, Gramercy Hall School.
In 2004 the building became empty and was left to rot until 2008 when the Lupton Trust was formed to not only save the house but bring it back to life. It was in 2008 that the house received a visit from someone who posts on one of the websites dedicated to derelict places. The person in question soon came acoss some of the trust members, but they did let him take some photos of the inside of the house as it was then.
Click the link below to take a look
www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/residential-sites/7411-lupton-house-nr-brixham-devon-october-08-a.html#.W8dXHGhKi70
Taken from the Lupton House website
The Lupton Trust was formed by a group of local people to breathe life back into Lupton House - an old empty school, gardens and woods in Brixham. By pooling the communities’ enthusiasm, skills, expertise and knowledge to deliver an environmentally sustainable space for the whole community; enabling local people, groups, charities, arts and environmental projects to grow, develop and learn within a magical setting in the heart of Torbay.
The house itself is not open for public viewing, but I understand the house is open on the last Wednesday of every month, but you need to phone them to book in. The café that is in the old stable building is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 9am – 3pm with free parking, sadly as I was meeting someone for lunch in Paignton, I did not have time to pop into the café.
I was surprised how long the drive was from the main road up to the house, it is rather bumpy, but as I drove up it I could easily imagine a coach and horses using it in days gone past.
I have viewed a number of pictures of the inside of Lupton House and the rooms that have been restored look wonderful. I would imagine looking at the size of the house there must be rooms that are still in need of some love and attention.
Looking at pictures of the house in 2008 I was saddened to see the outside of the house looking in rather poor condition. The front looks fine but there is a great deal of paint loss on the side next to the Italian Garden and fountain. There was also evidence of areas that look in need of urgent repairs.
The fountain was also not working today , I was told it was working the day before and a gentleman showed me some photos of it working and lit up at night. He also showed me some photos of some of the events that have taken place at Lupton House and I enjoyed looking at them.
Like Poltimore House and Oldway in the not to distant future, Lupton House is very much a work in progress, but thanks to a group of wonderful people it still does have a future. I hope one day to be able to view the inside of this great house, but I was at least happy today to set my eyes on the outside for the very first time.
I came across some photos on line of Carclew House that is in Cornwall; it too suffered a large fire in 1934 and was not rebuilt. The first two pictures below are how it once looked and as it is today. The remaining part reminds me of Oldway and you will see why. But Oldway must never end up in the sad and sorry state Carclew House has.
