James Templer a Devonian entrepreneur bought an old 80,000 acre estate in 1765 and established a country seat. He began to landscape the land including building a lake. He replaced the old house, Stoford Lodge, and in 1777 built himself a large mansion house in the Palladian style which he named Stover House. The Stover estate remained in the Templer family until 1829 when it was sold to Edward Adolphus Seymour, the eleventh Duke of Somerset. The gatehouse (which is now a Grade II listed building) was added to the start of the carriage drive at this time. This gatehouse currently stands on the busy A38 which goes from Exeter to Plymouth.

Boddy Collection