NOTABLE HOUSES
notable local HOUSES
Brookhill, Kingswear
I
n January 1943, at a dark point in the war, a group of men arrived in Dart Harbour determined to do all they could to fight the powers of nazism: the Free French. these men, given the (nearly) royal seal of approval by General De Gaulle himself, commandeered a number of properties to use whilst they planned daring raids across the channel at German-occupied France. One of these would forever be associated with their time
in Devon – Brookhill in Kingswear. this beautiful house, which sits high above the sea, taking
in views of the mouth of the Harbour, was built by two members of one of the most powerful families, the Holds- worths, south Devon has ever known. the Holdsworths began their inexorable rise to
prominence in 1650, when Arthur moved from Modbury to Dartmouth. either through design or luck, he planted the seeds of his family’s later dominance when he married. He took the hand of Joan newman. the newmans were one of the most prominent families in the town, thanks to their use of the triangular newfoundland trade and subsequent property and vineyards in the Mediterranean. In the follow- ing 200 years, Holdsworths would marry into a number of powerful town families, cementing their influ- ence and wealth. From 1715-1830 a Holdsworth
was Mayor for 49 years. If you include close relatives of the family, then the figure rises to 79 years out of 115. these days, town mayors have
very little actual political power, but in the 18th
and early 19th Centuries it
was a massively influential position: Mayors and the council chose the candidates who were put forward to be MP (and so few people had the vote prior to the reformation Act of 1832 that most people putting an ‘x’ in a box were related to, or had strong connections to the candidate or their sponsor). they handed out lucrative maintenance and building contracts for most of the major civil work in the borough and they even chose the vicars at the local churches.
Brookihill, Kingswear from the River Dart When Brookhill was first built in 1820 (then called Brook
Cliff, so called because it was on a cliff next to a brook) the Holdsworth’s power was very much on the wane. In the house lived two of the last powerful Holdsworth genera- tion: brothers Arthur Howe and rev. robert. Arthur was MP for Dartmouth for more than two decades, was made Mayor on a number of occasions and was also Governor of Dartmouth Castle – a salaried position he gained by agreeing to support the Government on tricky votes in the House of Commons. He used the stunning house to entertain important political friends including royalty on a number of occasions. robert was vicar for townstal, (a position he had been given when his brother had been Mayor). Brook Cliff, in 48 acres of stun-
Above: Brookcliff 1820. Below: The newly rebuilt and renamed Brookhill built in the popular “Regency” style.
ning grounds, was not constructed to the highest standard and part of it collapsed into the sea sometime after 1825, killing two servants. the brothers rebuilt, further up the hill,
renaming it Brookhill. Brookhill was designed in the
popular ‘regency’ style of the times, channeled through their idea of an Italian villa, with ornate balconies and a lightness of touch that is very pleas- ing to the eye. In 1845 Arthur Howe built himself a house closer to Kingswear and
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In this continuing series, By the Dart takes a look at some local houses that have an interesting story to them.
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