Press Officer Rick Purnell  writes (edited by Bruce Watt) 

The local history of the Grade II listed Lawrence Castle (Haldon Belvedere), Dunchideok near Exeter, was the subject of Sue Knox’s entertaining and informative talk to Teignmouth Probus Club earlier this month. Sue Knox is a trustee of the Stringer Lawrence Memorial Trust – SLMT.

The belvedere was built by Sir Robert Palk in honour of his friend and associate Major-General Stringer Lawrence.

Palk originally from Ashburton had trained for the church and went to India as Chaplain to Fort St George (Madras) where he became acquainted with Lawrence who had been sent to by the East India Company to create an army to defend its interests.

He also associated with merchants and built a considerable fortune by trading. He returned to England and gave up his church office to be a merchant but was asked to go back to India by the East India Company to assist Lawrence in negotiations with local rulers and as Paymaster to the Indian Army.

He was very successful and became President of Madras. During this time Sir Robert Palk became a close friend of Major-General Stringer Lawrence. When Lawrence died, he left his fortune to Palk, who built Lawrence Castle, now Haldon Belvedere, in his honour in 1788 at a cost of some £2000-3000.

Some 11,000 acres of land had been acquired from the Clifford family by Sir Robert Palk to create the Haldon House estate. It was a grand estate indeed. The belvedere (known then as Lawrence Castle) was used for balls and parties, one of which was given for King George III in 1789.

Sadly, subsequent baronets saw decline and ruination and had to sell their land to settle gambling debts. Haldon House was eventually demolished in 1925 and Haldon Belvedere was uninhabitable too by 1992. In 1994, the derelict belvedere passed to the Stringer Lawrence Memorial Trust to renovate this Grade II listed landmark. It was leased to the Devon Historic Building Trust and with funds from English Heritage and sponsorship from Viridor (Waste Management), brought Haldon Belvedere back to life as ‘a going concern’ for posterity. In 2022, the lease reverted to SMLT. Whilst use as a wedding venue ceased due to the pandemic, the penthouse can still be hired as a holiday let with spectacular views over the surrounding countryside.

For further information go to https://www.haldonbelvedere.co.uk/about-hb/

The vote of thanks was given by member Bruce Watt.

Photo: Views from Haldon Belvedere