Little Fulford

Little Fulford House, Shobrooke, near Crediton, Devon, seat of Henry Tuckfield, Esq. 1797 Watercolour by Rev. John Swete (1752–1821). Later renamed Shobrooke House, demolished pre-1844 and rebuilt nearby in Italianate style. The stream in the foreground, over which a woman is crossing on a plank bridge to left,[1] was dammed-up in the 19th century landscaping to form a series of ornamental lakes, which survive
Little Fulford House in 1797, viewed from south-west, detail from watercolour by John Swete. The west front (left) is Elizabethan, as built by Sir William Peryam (1534–1604); the south front (right, with bow window) is a Georgian alteration. Swete found the juxtaposition of the two styles "widely incongruous"[2]
Shobrooke House, built by Richard Hippisley Tuckfield (1774–1844) on or near the site of Little Fulford House which he demolished. Destroyed by fire 23 January 1945 and later demolished
Site of the former mansion Shobrooke House, viewed from north-east, with suburbs of Crediton beyond. The mansion stood on the spot now occupied by the single storey modern bungalow at left. In centre is the long ornamental wall of the "Sundial Terrace".[3] On the far horizon are the hills of Dartmoor 20 miles to the south-west

Little Fulford was a historic estate in the parishes of Shobrooke and Crediton,[4] Devon. It briefly share ownership before 1700 with Great Fulford, in Dunsford, about 9 miles (14 km) to the south-west. The Elizabethan mansion house originally called Fulford House was first built by Sir William Peryam (1534–1604), a judge and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. It acquired the diminutive epithet "Little" in about 1700 to distinguish it from Fulford House, Dunsford and was at some time after 1797[1] renamed Shobrooke House, to remove all remaining confusion between the two places. Peryam's mansion was demolished in 1815 and a new house erected on a different site away from the River Creedy. This new building was subsequently remodelled in 1850 in an Italianate style. It was destroyed by fire in 1945 and demolished, with only the stable block remaining today. The landscaped park survives, open on the south side to the public by permissive access, and crossed in parts by public rights of way, with ancient large trees and two sets of ornate entrance gates with a long decorative stone multiple-arched bridge over a large ornamental lake. The large pleasure garden survives, usually closed to the public, with walled kitchen garden and stone walls and balustrades of terraces.[5] The park and gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[6] The estate was the home successively of the families of Peryam, Tuckfield, Hippisley and lastly the Shelley baronets, in whose possession it remains today.

  1. ^ a b Swete, p. 123
  2. ^ Gray, Todd & Rowe, Margery (Eds.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of The Reverend John Swete, 1789–1800, 4 vols., Tiverton, 1999 , Vol 3, p. 124
  3. ^ http://www.shobrookepark.com/Gardens/Garden%20Map%20June.htm
  4. ^ Little Fulford House stood on the parish boundary of Crediton and Shobrooke, according to Swete, p. 123
  5. ^ www.shobrookepark.com, official website
  6. ^ Historic England. "Shobrooke Park (1000702)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 February 2016.