PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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RADFORD HOUSE
In August 1935 it was announced that Radford House, in the ancient parish of Plymstock was to be demolished. [1] The house was said to be haunted: children were frightened by stories of its ghosts while adults were afraid to go near in in the dark. There was said to be the body of a giant buried beneath a long slab of stone in the grounds and the mysterious "White Lady" used to haunted the pond in the garden. [1] And then there was the secret tunnel. Apparently the servants used to claim it started in a sliding panel hidden behind a painting of Raleigh but where did it end - in the boathouse on Hooe Lake or did it go further and finish in the Old Castle? [1] Radford was an ancient house, probably dating from the Middle Ages. The house was said to have been a hive of activity when Sir Christopher Harris lived there in the sixteenth century. Amongst its visitors had been Drake, Hawkins and Howard, and Sir Walter Raleigh is said to have hidden in a little attic room up a narrow staircase after his return from Manoa. Drake's treasure from the South Seas was reputed to be buried in Radford Park or in the house itself while the Cavaliers and Roundheads fought a pitch battle nearby. [1] Mr John Harris of Radford married Miss Amy Sawle of Penrice, in Cornwall, in 1690. It was his Grandson, another Mr John Harris, who upon inheriting the estates of his father, was one of the founders of the Naval Bank. Presumably, as it was discovered much later on, the Radford and other properties were his capital in the Bank. [2] When Mr John Harris died his land and property passed to his nephew, yet another Mr John Harris, the son of Mr Lampen Harris, the younger brother of Mr Harris senior. It was that John Harris who married Miss Catherine Bulteel, of Flete House, in 1783. Their eldest son, one more Mr John Harris, born in 1785, was largely responsible for extending and improving the Radford Estate. He exchanged some land with the Duke of Bedford and as a result owned the land on both sides of Radford Creek , which enabled him to create a dam across it to create the freshwater Hooe Lake. Following that work he had a pseudo castle built on the embankment as a home for some of the estate workmen. A carriage-drive was laid out and at the head of the Lake ornamental ponds, the duck ponds, and a waterfall were created. Radford Lodge was also built at that time. [2] The House itself was renovated at that time and it is thought that the boathouse, named Saint Keverne for some reason, was also erected then. [2] Mr John Harris died in Germany in 1841 [2] and the Estate passed to his younger brother, Colonel Harry Bulteel Harris, who was the lord of the manor of Goosewell in 1850 [3]. When the parish tithes were commuted in 1842 for £781 3s 6d, they were leased to Colonel Harris [3]. In 1881 Mr Thomas Bulteel, banker, was resident at Radford House. A story has been told of how Mr Bulteel, properly attired in top hat and tails, would feed the birds in the duck ponds on his way to catch the train from Oreston Station into Plymouth, although it has been suggested that he was probably picked up at a point where the pathway crossed the railway track to save him walking all the way. [2] It was only when he died on November 24th 1908 that it became known that the Naval Bank, in Plymouth, of which Mr Bulteel was then senior partner, was in serious financial trouble and had probably been so since 1858. The Bank closed in August 1914 and the two remaining partners, Mr Mackworth Praed Parker and Mr Frederick Thomas Bulteel, youngest son of Mr Thomas Bulteel, filed for bankruptcy. [2] As a result of the bankruptcy, the Radford estate was put up for auction at the Royal Hotel, Plymouth, on Thursday June 28th 1917. The auctioneers were Messrs Andrew & Son. Radford House, with its dairy farm totalling some 263 acres, along with Barn Farm, comprising 64 acres of pasture and arable land, was sold to Mr William A Mitchell, of "Rockville", Plymstock, for £11,000. It was estimated that Radford Wood contained 3,000 trees valued at no less than £1 10s each [4] Mr Mitchell declined to live in the property, however, and continued to occupy the more modern house of "Rockville". Through this lack of interest and maintenance coupled with the consequent theft and vandalism, Radford fell into ruin. The House was tenanted by Colonel Parker and a Mrs Jerratt Bell during this period [5]. Following the sudden and unexpected death of Mr Mitchell on Wednesday February 5th 1930 [6], the House was held in trust for his 15-years-old son, Mr W A Gordon Mitchell. An attempt was made by Mr Mitchell's trustees and his mother to investigate the possibility of renovating the House but it was considered to be irreparable. Consequently it was decided to demolish it, a feat accomplished sometime during 1937 by seven men in six working days, apparently. [7] The remainder of the Radford Estate was transferred to Plympton Rural District Council in 1956 and during the 1960s part of the land was sold for housing. [7] Radford House consisted of a central block with two wings. It is thought that the central block was probably the original House and that the two wings were later additions. The north-easterly wing was considered to date from the late seventeenth century, or was possibly altered at that time, whereas the south-westerly wing dated from the mid eighteenth century. Two semi-circular bay windows and shuttered sash-windows were added at that time to the south-westerly block. Both wings extended beyond the northerly limits of the central block and were joined by another block of buildings to form a courtyard area. The stables and a barn were situated to the north-east of the House. [8] Although Mr Copeland referred to the original entrance to the House as being under a porch in the south-east block, he made no reference to the main driveway approaching the western side of the property, which presumably formed the later main entrance. [8] Inside, the banqueting hall was richly panelled in oak or chestnut with massive tables built into the wall at one end. In the centre of the north wall was the marble fireplace surmounted by a carved wooden overmantel that had once contained a large mirror and flanked by panelled pallisters. The craving on the mantle was considered to be 'of late sixteenth century character'. The dining room had an anteroom. In the north-east wing were the kitchen and servants' quarters. [8] The staircase rose in two flights to the landing. There was 'a strong room or safe in the wall' at the foot of the staircase. [8] Mr Copeland found that there was no evidence of secret passages behind the panelling o the walls and neither was there any evidence that one of the numerous small bedrooms entered by a flight of steps from the courtyard was the actual room in which Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned in 1618 after his disastrous search for gold in Guiana. [8] It might be mentioned that over two hundred years after the event, in 1827, a farmer unearthed a large amount of silver plate in a field some distance from the House. It was eventually sold for £1,255 16s [5]. It is believed it was sold again in 1992 and bought by the British Museum for £900,000 [7]. Sources:
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