Kitley

Kitley is a large country house in landscaped park. It was the seat of the Bastards, inherited through marriage to the Pollexfens in 1710. The present appearance of the house is due to a re-modelling by G. S. Repton around 1820-5.

The house is set in beautifully landscaped grounds including parkland, close to the creek, overlooking a large ornamental lake (Swete painted a watercolour of it in 1794) divided off from the sea by a dam. There is a thatched garden lodge.

In 1793 Reverend John Swete wrote that Kitley ‘stands in a most beautiful spot, enclosed as it were, by two arms of the Sea, the major part of the track which forms the little headland being covered with woods through which walks are cut that command when the tide comes in, most charming scenery.' White (1850) wrote ‘the large and elegant mansion stands in the picturesque valley about a mile from the village, upon a finely wooded lawn, embellished with terraces and a sheet of water.'

The 1913 and 1920 Ordnance Survey maps show a designed, extensive parkland surrounding the house with a long informal approach from the lodge to the west, several plantations, a rookery and a very large lake (fish pond) with a boat house.

Type

Park

Purpose

Ornamental

Principal Building

Commercial

Period

18th Century (1701 to 1800)

Survival

Extant

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Yealmpton