Historic Devon house welcomes donation after hit from road closure

A historic Devon house has welcomed donations from a housing developer whose road closure knocked its income and led to an event cancellation.

Drainage work at Redrow’s Saxon Brook development in Poltimore, on the edge of Exeter, meant the main road to the area off the B3181 was closed.
Branches Café at Poltimore House complained about the impact on customer numbers on its Facebook page, as the restricted access dented customer numbers and also hit events at the house and other neighbouring businesses. 
The road closure meant access to Poltimore was via a narrow lane off Park Lane, or via a lengthier route to Killerton House.
Peter Totterdill, chair of the Poltimore House Trust, said local businesses had been concerned about the potential impact of the closure that had initially been planned for a month.
“As a charity, the Trust relies heavily on income from visitors to our café and events programme, enabling us to maintain the grounds for the community and to work towards a sustainable future for this historic house,” he said.
“As a result of the long diversion resulting from the road closure, we did experience a noticeable reduction in visitor numbers and café income.
“We were also saddened to have to cancel Miracle Theatre’s performance of Midsummer Night’s Dream in our grounds, a loss to us and to this wonderful theatre company.”
Mr Totterdill said he was “extremely grateful” to those visitors who did manage to use the cafe and visit the site while the road was closed, adding that he was pleased the road was reopened “well ahead of schedule thanks to JTT Contracting bringing the completion forward”.
He said he was grateful to Redrow for its “kind donation”, and that details of a volunteering day by the housing developer’ staff would be discussed soon.
A spokesperson for David Wilson Redrow South West said: “We’re very sorry to hear of the disruption caused by the recent road closure, which was necessary to carry out essential drainage works at our Saxon Brook development in line with Devon County Council approval.
“We’re pleased to confirm that the road has now reopened ahead of schedule.
“We are committed to being a good neighbour and have made a £500 donation to the Poltimore House Trust, with a further £1,500 to follow early next year, and offered a staff volunteering day and digger support for current projects.
“We will continue working closely with Branches Café and the Poltimore House Trust to minimise disruption and offer support wherever needed.”
Poltimore House dates back to the 16th Century, and was originally home to the Bampfylde family before becoming a school and then a hospital in the 1900s.
After years of neglect, the house was acquired by the Trust, and despite what they describe as a “devastating arson attack in April 2024”, it aims to build a “sustainable future for the house and grounds combining the arts, community activities, creative businesses, education, leisure and wellbeing.