Unique & Utterly Wonderful....lodge apartments to let
Stags let a variety of properties from modern family homes to sprawling country estates...
This week our Exeter lettings team were instructed to let apartments within South Lodge, the service wing of Bishops Court, one of Devon's oldest and finest Grade 1 Listed houses.
No 2. - 1 bedroom - £795 pcm - DETAILS
No 3. - 2 bedrooms - £895pcm - DETAILS
Bishops Court, as the name suggests, was a former palace of the Bishops of Exeter. It lies between the villages of Clyst St Mary and Sowton to the east of Exeter and has been formally known by many names including Clist/Clyst House and Bishops Clist/Clyst House. The estate is now much reduced but would at one time have comprised of over 1000 acres. The proposed Clyst Valley Trail will pass through these former estate lands, comprising of woodland, parkland, gardens and farmland, providing an excellent opportunity to explore this historic landscape in more depth. The ‘Manor of Clist’ dates back to at least 1086, it being mentioned in Domesday Book, and was later acquired by Bishop Bronescombe who built the palace between approximately 1265-1280. The palace was in use for approximately 300 years until it went into private ownership. It was subsequently remodelled several times by owners that included the Earl of Bedford and Admiral Lord Graves. Now a private residence, the present Victorian gothic style mansion was remodelled in the 1860’s by architect William White for then occupants the Garratt family. Some elements of the original buildings and chapel remain. Sitting on the River Clyst, the area below the house consisted of marsh and water meadows prior to drainage attempts, which provided seasonal grazing for sheep and cattle. The river was channelled to feed grist millsin Sowton and Clyst St Mary and the medieval fish ponds which lay below Bishops Court house. On higher ground, a large warren, up to 170 acres by the early 17th century, would have ensured a consistent supply of rabbits.
This was also a very wooded estate; the whole area being known as ‘Clist Wood’ at one time. Alder wood was acquired for cathedral building works from ‘Clist’ on a number of occasions during the 13th and 14th centuries, and several significant woodland areas are mentioned in deeds - the ‘Great Wood’ and ‘Cornish’s Wood’ for example. By the 1800’s the woodlands were much reduced, with most trees being hedgerow or roadside trees, and land utilised mainly for pasture or orchard. Names such as Aller Croft and Marks Wood Meadow hint at previous woodland, some of which have been subsequently re-established.
