Beautiful Great Bidlake Manor

Beautiful Great Bidlake Manor, just outside Bridestowe, is the ancestral home of the Bidlake family, who can trace their roots back 56 generations to the Danish royal family in 259AD, via Malcolm “Long-Neck” King of Scots (1031- 1093)

In 1268, one Radus de Combe purchased land with a river running through it and including the Bidlake watermill. De Combe’s descendants, as was the practice at the time, took on the name of their estate and the long history of Bidlake family began.

The Bidlake family were staunch royalists during the civil war — King Charles I reportedly stayed at Great Bidlake in July 1644, a guest of Henry Bidlake (1612-1659). After the battle of Torrington on 16 February 1646, a detachment of Roundheads chased Henry back to Great Bidlake and surrounded the manor. Henry, disguised as a cowman, managed to escape to a tenant’s farmhouse in nearby Burleigh Wood where legend has it that he evaded capture by hiding in a grandfather clock. In gratitude, Henry gave the house rent-free to the tenant for many generations.

Henry assisted in the escape of Queen Henrietta Maria and Prince Charles from Pendennis Castle in Falmouth across the Channel to France. The castle remained under siege by Parliamentarian forces until its surrender in August 1646 — Henry was arrested and taken to London; a copy of the Pendennis Castle surrender document signed by Henry is kept in the Bidlake family archives in Devon Record Office.

In 1651 Henry was fined £300 for treason - a colossal sum in those days. His estates were confiscated until the fine was paid. He died only a few months before the restoration of the Monarchy.

The Bidlake family continued to live at Great Bidlake Manor until the last direct descendent of Radus de Combe, Philippa Bidlake , died unmarried in 1792. The estate was then inherited by the Wollocombe family, who were the Rectors of Stowford for many generations.

Fascinating Bidlake characters down the centuries include John Bidlake, a headmaster of Plymouth Grammar School and Chaplain to “mad” King George III , who according to Stephen Pile in his ‘Book of Heroic Failures’ had a passion for vegetables and wrote some of the worst poetry ever penned: ‘The sluggard carrot sleeps his day in bed. The crippled pea alone cannot stand’!

Another, Richard Bidlake, a colonel in the Royal Marines, was responsible for guarding Napoleon on his way to exile in 1815. William Henry Bidlake (1867-1938) was a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts movement and as an ambidextrous artist, his party trick was to sketch with both hands simultaneously.

Frederick Thomas Bidlake (1867-1933) was a champion record-breaking racing cyclist whose 24-hour 410-mile tricycling record stood for more than four decades. Considered by many to be the ‘father of cycling’ he was killed in a road accident in 1933 just before he was due to retire to Great Bidlake. His daughter, Elizabeth Bidlake had married into the Wollocombe family and lived at Bidlake Mill until her death in 1987. The Bidlake Memorial Prize is awarded to cyclists each year, with modern day recipients including Chris Boardman and Mark Cavendish.

Historian Elly Babbedge explains ‘The Bidlake family is unusual in that they have kept a vast number of documents ranging from letters and notebooks to legal documents, including a conveyance of the land upon which the manor house now stands, dated 1268. These are now stored safely in the Devon Heritage Centre in Exeter and I have been using them to research this tenacious family.’

In the First World War the estate was run entirely by women, a project now being studied by academics at Exeter University.

During World War II, Great Bidlake became the home of a boys’ prep school, Marlborough House.

The estate was sold after the war by Elizabeth Wollocombe — but last year, a childhood dream became reality when James Bidlake, whose parents Gordon and Barbara live on the Bere peninsula, bought back the family’s ancestral home.

James, who is planning a major celebration in 2018 marking the 750th anniversary of the family settling at ’s move to Great Bidlake, said: ‘My wife Alex and I are now the fortunate custodians of this captivating house. It’s a huge thrill to own a place with such a deep family connection. Some people have been trying to convince us it’s haunted, but tell us not to worry because the family ghosts are now happy it’s back in the family! What we do know for sure is that everyone who stays at Great Bidlake loves it and can’t wait to come back. It’s a superb place for family holidays and celebrations.’