The drawing room had a very special listing as the Treaty of Exeter marking the end of the English Civil war in Devon was signed there in 1646.

Readers of the “Watch” with really local connections might even have been born there when it was used as a hospital 1945-1975. Brief history can be found here.

Eleanor writes:

So, yet another landmark historic building catches fire and burns to a cinder- most people now barely seem to bat an eyelid when these conflagrations hit the press. With the ashes of the house still smouldering, the cause of the fire as yet it is unknown. So far so routine, you might think.

Except Poltimore House is and was very different. It has been widely described in the last couple of days by national reporters who’ve never visited as “derelict”. It is anything but derelict- it is in the process of being painstakingly restored.

When I moved to the area in 2003, The Friends of Poltimore had an open day. My family and I went to visit the mansion, at the time open to skies in places, with magnificent yet mouldering plasterwork, floorboards and walls. The drawing room had a very special listing as the Treaty of Exeter marking the end of the English Civil war in Devon was signed there in 1646.

At the time of my visit, the task of restoring the house seemed so huge, that I came away feeling that it was too Herculean to be even possible. But the Friends of Poltimore doggedly, persistently, proactively proved me wrong. They begged, borrowed, applied for grants, protected, restored, found new sources of funding, publicised. Every time a Friends of Poltimore Chair stepped back for a breather, another stepped forward to drive it forwards. I’ve never been more happy to be wrong about something. Poltimore House is the very embodiment of community spirit and the power of working together- and it continues to be despite still smouldering from the huge fire that engulfed it on the 9^th of April.

This house has a past that touched many people’s souls. Everyone here knows someone who had been born or been nursed there during its time as a hospital. It had been part of local people’s landscape for their entire lives. The Friends of Poltimore wanted to preserve it for the people. Over the years it has hosted a huge range of events of all kinds- artistic, musical, camps. 

Just last week, I picked up my Easter lamb from the farm shop at the back of the hugely successful Branches café there. The place was becoming a true community hub, an oasis of calm on the edge of a city now reaching out to scratch the house’s parkland, and all run, restored and managed by volunteers -most of them living close to the house.

That’s why this house is so different. It is loved, not abandoned or derelict. Past and present are painstakingly being brought together to give it a good future and a central place within our communities. It is a vast, ambitious community project, one that has brought hundreds of people together for a quarter of a century.

The House has been here before. It has burned before. The volunteers have dusted themselves off after every setback, and kept on going.  I hope the spirit of the Friends of Poltimore can endure in the face of this latest event- more than ever, they and the house need us. This house is a testament to human endurance, ingenuity and resilience. For that reason alone the project must persist.

The Drawing Room and details of the plasterwork.