Past tales from a Plymstock estate

This week, Neill Mitchell reflects on the property his grandfather bought at auction over 100 years ago, and begs the question: 'Where did the Radford Lodge gates go?"

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PLYMSTOCK, once a rural agricultural hamlet but today a sprawling eastern suburb of Plymouth, has undergone many changes in its long history the common heritage of which may not be evident to the casual observer.

Survivals span the 17th century Harris family's Lady Chapel in St Mary and All Saints Parish Church and Bulteel family wall tablets, the elegant 18th century former country houses of Hooe Manor (Belle Vue, built in 1777) and The Retreat, to elements of landscape including Radford Park and its eclectic picturesque lakeside stone structures, continuing to the more recent residential development of Mitchell Close.

These features are legacies from the former 604-acre Radford Country and Agricultural Estate, the history of which dates from the 13th century, all usefully summarised on Wikipedia and in a number of publications. Not least Ivy Langdon's book 'The Plymstock Connection' (1995), Vivienne Allen's 'The Bulteels The Story of a Huguenot Family' (2004), Brian Steele's worthy illustrated booklet 'A History of Radford' (1990), and Chris Robinson's multiple works over many years.