Coombe Trenchard

Coombe Trenchard was designed and built for the Sperlings, wealthy Edwardian friends of Sabine Baring-Gould of nearby Lewtrenchard Manor. The family had lived on site in the old rectory for several years before deciding on a replacement house, to be designed by Walter Sarel of London and built by Dart & Francis of Crediton, in 1906. The gardens were redesigned at the same time. Both house and gardens are redolent of the high Arts & Crafts style of the belle époque.

The estate comprises mainly pasture and woodland, with the house centrally located and approached via a 1km driveway. The gardens are laid out around the house and incorporate a stream (the parish boundary) with bridges, a woodland garden, terraces and walks and many Arts & Crafts features. From employing 6 full time outdoors staff for the 50 or so years the Sperlings lived at Coombe Trenchard, the property went through a long period of much less intensive maintenance. so on our first visit to the house and gardens in 2007 we were greeted by the challenging prospect of a kitchen garden that had been lost to brambles, and which the then owner had not seen for 35 years, and a woodland garden that was an impenetrable jungle with 15m high laurel trees blotting out all sunlight. However it was clear to us from many of the features that were intact and from the clues left behind of missing paths and bridges that this was a very special place.