If you find yourself in South Devon at all, and you are looking for something that will entertain family members of all ages, then consider a trip to the National Trust run A la Ronde, a most unusual sixteen sided home near Lympstone, Exmouth. The property was built in 1796 on fifteen acres of land that were acquired by two spinster cousins Jane and Mary Parminter.
The Parminter family had acquired considerable wealth as merchants with Jane’s father being a Barnstaple wine merchant who had business interest in Lisbon. Jane was born in Lisbon, and while growing up in London, became a guardian to her orphan cousin Mary. Upon the death of her father in 1784, Jane decided to undertake the delightfully named “grand tour”, which was a traditional tour of Europe. This is undertaken with Mary, Jane’s invalid sister Elizabeth, and a female friend.
There is a school of thought that Jane and Mary’s lives at A la Ronde were of a secluded and eccentric nature, and even that the design could have been attributed to Jane herself. This may or not be the case, but what remains a fact is that they lived together at the property until Jane’s death in 1811. What attracts visitors today apart from the unusual design is the incredible number of objets d’art, especially shells, that the ladies collected during their European tour.
Although it was a stipulation of Mary’s will that the property could only be inherited by “unmarried kinswomen”, The Reverend Oswald Reichel, a brother of one of the occupants came into ownership. He introduced many improvements, some of which have now been removed by the National Trust in order to provide a greater sense of the original appearance.
During their lives, the two ladies found the journey to church in Exmouth increasingly difficult, and as a result a chapel, together with a small school for six girls, plus an almhouse were built in the grounds. Both ladies are buried beneath the chapel.
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