Pridhamsleigh is first recorded by the name Leigh, meaning Wood, in a boundary dispute of 1219. A tithe payment was recorded on the property in 1281 by the Proudhomme family. It was valued at a sum of 10 shillings. In 1332 John Proudhomme was assessed as having to pay 2 shillings and 6 pence to the parish of Staverton. In 1343 John Proudhomme was granted the right to celebrate mass at a portable altar. There was a substantial Farmhouse at Pridhamsleigh by the late 13th and early 14th century. 

The fortunes of Pridhamsleigh changed dramatically in the early 17th century when it was acquired by the Gould family. There is an indenture (real estate purchase document) dated 1609 which mentions Edward Gould who was responsible for a grand building programme. When Edward Gould died in 1627 an inventory listing all the rooms, their contents, the farm equipment & animals and all of Edward’s other possessions was made. Pridhamsleigh was an extremely grand courtyard mansion with a richly carved classical entrance porch, expensive armorial window glass and luxurious household goods.  

The Gould family acquired another estate at Lewtrenchard in 1626 and work began on another grand mansion. 

The 1000 acre estate at Pridhamsleigh passed through several generations of Goulds, all called Edward until we get to 1786 when the son of William Gould and Elizabeth Drake ( a relation of Sir Francis Drake) inherited Pridhamsleigh Manor. In 1740 William Drake Gould married Margaret Belfield and they had two children Edward and Margaret. When William died in 1766, Edward inherited the estates. 

Edward, also known as ‘The Scamp’, was a gambler and his habit was funded by loans and mortgages drawn up by a relative called John Dunning. Dunning had been brought up in Ashburton and had become a successful lawyer in London, but he lacked a country estate. In the late 18th century Dunning called in all the loans and became the owner of the Pridhamsleigh fortune. Edward lived out his days in disgrace in Shaldon. His mother took all the family’s personal possessions to Lewtrenchard, now a hotel. 

Dunning built a new home at Spitchwick and with his new title, 

 Lord Ashburton, was married to Elizabeth Baring (her family founded a famous bank!) and they had 2 sons, John and Richard. When 1st Lord Ashburton died in 1783 his younger son Richard inherited his wealth because the elder son, John, died before his father. Richard Dunning became 2nd Lord Ashburton. When he died in 1823 without issue, the estate then passed to his cousin Alexander Baring in 1825. 

Pridhamsleigh was then rented out to tenant farmers, the estate remained the property of the owners of Sandridge Park until it was sold in 1935. 

In 2019 we bought the Grade 2* listed building and embarked on a project to create comfortable and relaxing accommodation for guests to enjoy Dartmoor, South Hams and Devon’s Beaches