Luscombe Castle is a country house situated near the resort town of
DawlishDawlish is a town and civil parish in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon in England, from the county town of Exeter. It has a population of 12,819...
, in the county of
DevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The house was built in 1800 for Charles Hoare, a prominent banker whose sister, Henrietta, was the widow of
Sir Thomas AclandSir Thomas Dyke Acland, 9th Baronet was the son of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, 7th Baronet and Elizabeth Dyke.-Succession:He succeeded his nephew as baronet on the latter's death in April 1785...
of
KillertonKillerton is an 18th-century house in Broadclyst, Exeter, Devon, England, which, with its hillside garden and estate, has been owned by the National Trust since 1944 and is open to the public...
, near
ExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
.
The house was designed by
John NashJohn Nash was a British architect responsible for much of the layout of Regency London.-Biography:Born in Lambeth, London, the son of a Welsh millwright, Nash trained with the architect Sir Robert Taylor. He established his own practice in 1777, but his career was initially unsuccessful and...
, and was a trendsetter for the Gothic Revival with its castellated tower and walls. The inside is simple Neo Classicism, but with Gothic windows. The rooms are arranged around a central lobby beneath the tower.
The garden was laid out by
John VeitchJohn Veitch was the founder of the Veitch horticulture dynasty who created the Exeter based firm of Veitch Nurseries.Veitch was born in Ancrum, near Jedburgh, Scotland, but left Scotland at an early age and walked to London to seek employment and his fortune. He found employment with the nursery...
to the designs of
Humphry ReptonHumphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...
, who shared a partnership with Nash for some years. While Nash focused on Gothic style houses, Humphry placed them in landscapes designed for the Picturesque movement, with unadorned nature, the start of what is now the typical British landscape garden.
To the west lies a formal garden, while the more picturesque open lawns lie to the east.
During
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Luscombe Castle was used as an
evacuationEvacuation of civilians in Britain during the Second World War was designed to save the population of urban or military areas in the United Kingdom from aerial bombing of cities and military targets such as docks. Civilians, particularly children, were moved to areas thought to be less at risk....
centre for girls aged four to 15 years. After the war, the house provided accommodation for girls under the auspices of
Barnardo'sBarnardo's is a British charity founded by Thomas John Barnardo in 1866, to care for vulnerable children and young people. As of 2010, it spends over £190 million each year on more than 400 local services aimed at helping these same groups...
. The home was closed in July 1948 and returned to its former owner.