Tapeley Park — Land & Legacy

Tapeley Park is a Grade II* listed historic house in Devon, and a member of Historic Houses. Read about its history, architecture and gardens, plus how to visit and what's nearby.

About Tapeley Park

Tapeley Park stands above the Torridge estuary at Westleigh in North Devon.

Its mansion house was built or enlarged around 1704 and later remodelled into Queen Anne style with pilasters, a portico and parapet.

The house and its gardens are both grade II* listed.

The grounds combine formal Italianate terraces with a working kitchen garden and a permaculture garden.

The gardens open to the public on a regular basis.

History of Tapeley Park

The estate passed from the Clevland family to William Langham Christie of Glyndebourne in Sussex in the mid-19th century. His grandson, John Christie, later bequeathed Tapeley to his daughter Rosamund Christie, who held it until her death in 1988. She left the estate to her nephew Hector Christie, born 1963, who has run it ever since.

Architecture of Tapeley Park

The present house began as an early 18th-century building, remodelled in the 19th century and again in the early 20th century, when pilasters, a portico, pediment and parapet were added to give it its current Queen Anne appearance.

Worth knowing

John Christie, whose family inherited Tapeley in the 19th century, founded the Glyndebourne Opera Festival. His great-nephew Hector Christie briefly turned the house into a commune in the 1970s. Its financial recovery was the subject of Channel 4's Country House Rescue in 2011, presented by Ruth Watson.

Gardens & grounds at Tapeley Park

The gardens are grade II* listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and include Italianate terraces, a kitchen garden and a permaculture garden developed by Hector Christie.