Stover is a historic estate in the parish of

Teigngrace Teigngrace is a civil parish centred on a hamlet that lies about two miles north of the town of Newton Abbot in Devon, England. According to the 2001 census, its population was 235, compared to 190 a century earlier. The western boundary of the p ...

, about half way between the towns of

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the So ...

and

Bovey Tracey Bovey Tracey () is a small town and civil parish in Devon, England, on the edge of Dartmoor, its proximity to which gives rise to the "slogan" used on the town's boundary signs, "The Gateway to the Moor". It is often known locally as "Bovey". ...

in South

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England. It was bought by James Templer (1722–1782) in 1765 and passed through three generations of that family before being bought by

Edward St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset Edward Adolphus St Maur, 11th Duke of Somerset (24 February 1775 – 15 August 1855), styled Lord Seymour until 1793, of Maiden Bradley in Wiltshire and Stover House, Teigngrace, Devon, was a British landowner and amateur mathematician. Biog ...

in 1829. The Georgian mansion house known as Stover House was built by the first James Templer. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Since 1932 the house and part of the former estate have been occupied by a private school. 114 acres of the former estate situated south of the A38 now forms Stover Country Park, a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

owned and managed by Devon County Council and open to the public.

History

Templer family

James Templer (1722–1782) was born in Exeter, the son of a tradesman. He made a fortune in India and married Mary Parlby, the sister of his business partner Thomas Parlby in 1747.Ewans, p. 13 In 1765 he purchased the estate of Stover which included a ruinous house known as Stoford Lodge. Between 1776 and 1780 he built a new house, probably to his own design,Cherry & Pevsner, pp. 768–9 on an elevated site about half a mile from the ruins. The house, named Stover House or Stover Lodge, was constructed of granite from the quarries at Haytor. A stable block in Italian Baroque style, dated 'J.T. Built 1779', is north of the house. His eldest son and heir, James Templer (1748–1813), built the Stover Canal in 1792. In 1786, together with his two brothers, he rebuilt St Peter and St Paul's Church, the parish church of Teigngrace, as a memorial to his parents, which contains many mural monuments to the Templer family. He married Mary Buller, the third daughter of James Buller.

George Templer George Templer (1781 – 12 December 1843) was a landowner in Devon, England, and the builder of the Haytor Granite Tramway. His father was the second James Templer (canal builder), James Templer (1748–1813) who had built the Stover Canal. He ...

(1781–1843) inherited the Stover estate on his father's death. He built the

Haytor Granite Tramway The Haytor Granite Tramway (also called Heytor) was a tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down, Dartmoor, Devon to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of ho ...

to ease the carriage of granite from his quarries to the canal. However, he was not a successful businessman and in 1829 was forced to sell Stover House, the canal, the tramway and most of the rest of the family's considerable estates to

Seymour family

(1775–1855) purchased Stover in 1829. His ancestor Lord Edward Seymour (died 1593) had acquired the

feudal barony of Berry Pomeroy The Feudal Barony of Berry Pomeroy was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire, England, which existed during the mediaeval era. It had its ''caput'' at the manor of Berry Pomeroy, 20 miles south of the City of Exeter and 2 miles east of the ...

, the ''

caput Latin words and phrases {{Short pages monitor