Events
Thursday 2nd February 2012 @ 7pm
'Escot, the fall and rise of a country estate'
Escot House, in the midst of a twelve hundred acre estate in East Devon has had an extensive but dramatic history stretching back many hundreds of years. Although the earliest reference to Escot is from the mid thirteenth century little is known about the estate until the late seventeenth century when the renowned architect Robert Hooke constructed a new house for Sir Walter Yonge. Uninsured, this house burnt to the ground in 1808 and was not rebuilt until 1838 when the Kennaway Family engaged Henry Roberts to design a new house. War, the intrusion of the Exeter to London Railway and the creation of the A30 took their toll on the estate but in spite of its turbulent past it is now a flourishing centre of rural enterprise.
In this illustrated talk, John-Michael Kennaway explains how, over the last 30 years he and his wife Lucy have resurrected Escot from near metaphorical ashes, through diversification whilst restoring and preserving the
history of the Estate.
Tickets £5, includes refreshments available from 6:30pm.
To book please call 01548 830832 or email abi@dra.uk.net.
HOUSE SURGERY
Tuesday 7th February 2012, 12pm – 2pm.
If you are researching the history of your home then why not drop into one of our FREE house surgeries? You will get the opportunity to browse the DRA library and get expert tips and support from our resident archaeologists.
Ask questions and share discoveries as you unlock the secrets of your home!
HOUSE SURGERY
Tuesday 21st February 2012, 12pm – 2pm.
If you are researching the history of your home then why not drop into one of our FREE house surgeries? You will get the opportunity to browse the DRA library and get expert tips and support from our resident archaeologists.
Ask questions and share discoveries as you unlock the secrets of your home!
Thursday 1st March 2012 @ 7pm
'Shilstone Discovered and Restored'
In 1997 Lucy and Sebastian Fenwick stumbled across a forlorn farmstead, in the heart of the South Hams, then known as Shilston Barton. Intrigued by the remains of a designed landscape and clear signs of an important early house, they purchased the site and embarked on a lengthy project to discover more about the landscape and earlier houses. The landscape soon began to give up its secrets revealing extensive building work over the last many centuries, much of which had been covered but not lost. Buried Iron Age structures, the foundations of the Domesday manor, links with Hampton Court Palace and a rare seventeenth century water theatre all add to the appeal of this nationally important site. Keen to preserve its history the Fenwick’s set about rescuing the site from its shaded existence and now more than ten years on Shilstone has been reborn to serve as a private home.
In this illustrated talk, DRA Trustee Sebastian Fenwick explains how this heritage treasure was discovered and restored.
Tickets £5, includes refreshments available from 6:30pm.
To book please call 01548 830832 or email abi@dra.uk.net.
Evening Lecture Programme
2012
