Yeotown was a historic

estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...

situated in the parish of

Goodleigh Goodleigh is a village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon, England. The village lies about north-east of the historic centre of Barnstaple. Apart from one adjunct at the south, it is generally a linear settlement. The parish churc ...

, North

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, about 1 1/2 miles north-east of the historic centre of

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

. The mansion house was remodelled in about 1807 in the neo-gothic style by Robert Newton Incledon (1761-1846), eldest son of Benjamin Incledon (1730-1796) of

Pilton House, Pilton Pilton House in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple, North Devon, Ex31, is an historic grade II listed Georgian mansion house built in 1746 by Robert Incledon (1676-1758), twice Mayor of Barnstaple, who was from nearby Braunton. It is situ ...

, near Barnstaple, an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

and genealogist and

Recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

of the Borough of Barnstaple (1758–1796). It was demolished during his lifetime and today only one of the large gatehouse survives, since converted into a farmhouse known as Ivy Lodge. The surviving drawing of the house in the collection of the North Devon Athaneum in Barnstaple shows a large chapel, or small church, with a tall square three-storied pinnacled tower (presumably as is conventional at the west end) attached to the house.

Location

The mansion house was situated in the sequestered wooded valley of the small River Yeo, about 1 mile south-west of the village of Goodleigh. Near to what Gribble (1830) called "Yeotown Lodge" (now Ivy Lodge) on the road from Goodleigh to Barnstaple is situated the stone marker of the eastern boundary of the parish of Barnstaple.

Ownership

The earliest recorded owners of the estate were the Beavis family. Henry Beavis was Mayor of Barnstaple in 1738 and 1751; he was of a family who owned the manor of Clyst Satchville, Devon. His son, Col Henry Beavis (1736-1813), owner of the large estate of Kentisbury Barton. Col Beavis had no children of his own and adopted a daughter, Elizabeth, who became his sole heiress and the wife of Robert Newton Incledon (1761-1846). Incledon lived at Yeotown House with his wife, redesigning the front. The mansion was however demolished, for unknown reasons, during his lifetime.

Abandonment & demolition

The historian of Barnstaple Joseph Gribble wrote in 1830 concerning the River Yeo: "This stream... forms one of the most prominent objects of attraction from the late splendid but now desolate and forsaken mansion of Yeotown". Today there survives only one of the large imposing castellated gate house lodges, with two square towers either side of the tall gothic arched entrance way, to which was later added a farmhouse with crenellated gable-end to match with bay-window. It is now a

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building known as Ivy Lodge.Pevsner, p.45
Listed building text, Ivy Lodge
/ref>

References

{{coord, 51.0813, -4.0446, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Historic estates in Devon Country houses in Devon Incledon family residences