Located 8 miles W of Exeter, the roughcast stone rubble Tudor home of the Fulford family stands on rising ground in secluded countryside on the NW edge of Dartmoor near the main road from Okehampton into Cornwall.
Built on a courtyard plan with a single-storey service courtyard beyond. The 2-storey hall range on the W side of the courtyard is probably of medieval origin. An 18th c. pen and ink sketch by Francis Towne shows that the E range of the house was originally gabled (Wilcox, Francis Towne 41).
A possible performance venue. The sheriff's minstrel who appeared in Barnstaple in 1535 may have been patronized by Sir John Fulford, appointed sheriff of Devon in 1534.
Still privately owned by the Fulford family. Available for tours on arrangement through the Historic Houses Association.
1085 Fulford family resident in Dunsford parish.
1461 Sir Baldwin Fulford, a Lancastrian supporter, beheaded and his estates forfeited.
147x Sir Thomas Fulford succeeded in petitioning the Crown for return of the family estates.
153x Medieval house rebuilt and extended by Sir John Fulford.
154x Manor acquired after the Dissolution.
1642 House sacked by parliamentary forces. Subsequently garrisoned for the king and then retaken by parliamentarians.
late 17th c. Interior remodelling by Col. Francis Fulford, including the addition of a handsome staircase and the coved ceiling and black and white marble floor in the hall. Tudor and Jacobean panelling from various rooms installed in the hall.
1760 Landscaping commissioned by John Fulford, including the creation of the lake by damming a local stream.
ca. 1800 Further remodelling in neo-Gothic style by Baldwin Fulford. Square bays added at the corners, gables removed and a crenellated battlement added.
19th c. N wing fell into decay.
early 20th c. Restoration and repairs by Francis Fulford. Kitchen block converted as cottages.
REED Devon 38
| Name | Dates | Titles |
|---|---|---|
| Fulford, John | 1503-1544 | Knight |
