Ottery St Mary
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 Ottery St Mary, the Cottage Guest House c1960 (ref: O28036) |
Year: 1960
Our House!
How funny! We now own and live in this house. It has barely changed since this photograph, although it is no longer a guest house and its name is different. There are some barns and a coach house in the background which have been partly demolished; a small conservatory has been added to the left of the porch. We believe the people who ran it as a guest house were called Haywood, his first name being Cecil. He had been a manager at the factory in Ottery (since closed). Mrs Haywood was famous for her cooking. They rented it from Lord Coleridge (known as "Lordy"). It was called "The Cottage" because it had been Lady Devon's Cottage, a dower house for the Courtenay family. It was originally built in the 17th Century as a Huguenot weaver's dwelling. This part of Ottery is known as Dunkirk, because of that French connection. The house then comprised only the left hand section and there are four other cottages nearby that share the same origin and design. The larger central section of this house was added in the 18th Century and the grand drawing room with Gothic windows on the right is Victorian. A number of people have lived here since, including a well-known still-working High Court Judge. For many years it was lived in by a Miss St Quintin, known as Quinnie, who used to have a pet monkey which lived on her shoulder. She used to play croquet on the lawn in the foreground. At some point it must have been bought from the Coleridge Estate because it is no longer rented. It has also belonged to a sculptress, a dentist, another descendant of the Dukes of Devon, a writer and a retired navy captain. We believe at least one owner - possibly Cecil Haywood - died in the house. One of the bedroom windows has an ancient etching on the outside, possibly from the ring of a builder or decorator, called "Govier", which is a well-known local name. We have some images of the house taken from the other side, which is the lane leading to Cadhay House; as well as an aerial photo taken in 1967. If anyone else has any memories of this house we would love to hear them. Posted: 07/03/2008 00:12 by Robert Baker |
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