THE LOSS of a Teignbridge country house has been highlighted as one of 32 across Devon representing the county’s vanishing heritage.

Genealogy website Family Tree says the loss of these estates took jobs, local memory and family history clues with them.

Lindridge House, near Bishopsteignton, is one of the examples of what was lost.

The large mansion stood near Ideford, in the parish of Bishopsteignton, and has been described as one of the finest houses in the south west.

It was destroyed by fire in the early 1960s.

Fire engines from five stations attended, but as the swimming pool, contrary to the stipulations of the insurance policy, had been drained for cleaning and not refilled, lack of water made the fire uncontrollable.

Only the blackened walls remained standing.

The ruins stood for the next 20 years and were then demolished for a housing development including a red-brick apartment block which now occupies the site of the former mansion

Its gardens, however, have since been restored and are Grade II listed on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Family Tree says the loss of places like Lindridge House should not be seen only as an architectural or aristocratic story.

Helen Tovey, Editor of Family Tree, said: ‘Lindridge House is exactly the kind of place that shows why lost country houses still matter.

‘It was not just a grand home. It was a workplace, a local landmark.

'Behind houses like Lindridge were servants, gardeners, cooks, tenant workers, estate staff, local suppliers and families whose lives were tied to those places.

‘When a house like that disappears, we lose more than architecture. We lose part of the local context that helps people understand where their families worked, lived and belonged.

‘That is why family history is not just names and dates. It is about putting people back into the places, jobs and communities that shaped their lives.’

Family Tree also estimates the 32 lost in Devon could represent £29m a year in vanished heritage value.

The analysis identified named lost country houses in Devon from available heritage records, including homes that were demolished, ruined, destroyed by fire or lost as major historic houses.

Using today’s historic house economy as an benchmark, those 32 houses could represent around £28.7m a year in economic activity, with around £19.1m potentially linked to local spending.

Country houses were workplaces as well as homes. They employed domestic servants, gardeners, cooks, grooms, stable hands, carpenters, builders, estate workers, local suppliers and tenant workers.

They shaped roads, parks, farms, trades, housing, family memories and local identity.

Historic England records that Historic Houses represents 1,450 independently owned historic houses, castles and gardens across the UK.

In 2022, they generated £1.3billion for the UK economy, supported more than 32,500 full-time equivalent jobs and spent more than £156m on repairs and maintenance.

Using that £1.3billion contribution as a benchmark gives an average of around £897,000 per site per year.

Applied to Devon’s 32 named lost country houses, that suggests a possible annual heritage-economy value of around £28.7m.

The estimate is illustrative, not a formal valuation.

But Family Tree says the calculation helps show the possible economic and local-history value that disappeared when these buildings were lost.