This gatehouse, which we lease from the National Trust, was probably built by William Pole when he bought Shute in about 1560. Then it led to a large medieval and Tudor house immediately behind, now much reduced in size and known as Shute Barton. When we first saw it, the gatehouse had mouldered picturesquely for some long time, its flues and fireplaces filled with sticks by jackdaws living in the immense elms around it. Much structural work was needed, but the weather has already begun to make what we did invisible.

While the repairs were being carried out North Devon District Council offered us a remarkable Jacobean plaster ceiling, from a house in Barnstaple demolished in the 1930s. The Council had been storing it in pieces ever since, but could do so no longer. Close in date to much of the gatehouse (which is not of a single date in any case), it fitted the upper room perfectly. So, although we would not usually do such a thing, we put it up and it looks wonderful.

The elms in front of the gatehouse, which were some of the best ever seen, succumbed to Dutch elm disease; but we took advantage of this calamity to restore the ground to its original level and lay it out as a green. As a result the gatehouse looks well from the village, and those who stay in it gain a fine view of the old deerpark, particularly from the kitchen sink.

View our history sheet for this Landmark

Sleeps: 3+2