William Mitchell established a
farm called Whiteford in Australia. James Mitchel's 1901
census entry provides the origin of the name Whiteford. They are
living in Stoke Climsland Cornwall. Two houses down the road,
the road name entered changes from Stoke Village to Whitford.
Various sites on the web have more information.
Picture is from Callington
Pictures from the Past
See below
Extracts from a document Stoke
Climsland Conservation Area Character Statement By NORTH CORNWALL DISTRICT COUNCIL
To the west of Stoke Climsland was Whiteford
estate. A large new mansion was built in 1775 by Sir John Call, and
the surrounding park laid out to include a boating lake and
Palladian bridges. The estate was acquired by the Duchy in 1879 and
Whiteford Mansion was demolished in 1912. The parkland and some
garden structures survive from that era. Whiteford Temple, then used
for banquets, is a landmark feature on the hillside, visible from
the centre of Stoke Climsland.
The Duchy Home Farm was built as a model farm in
1913, at the northern edge of the park, probably on the site of an
earlier structure. Much of the material for the building was reused
from the demolition of Whiteford Mansion. An old pathway runs from
the Home Farm to the village. To the north of the centre of the
village the Duchy later built a series of artisans
cottages around the green.
The principal approach into the village from the
south leads uphill past Whiteford Park and finally through a tree
canopied section of road past the old Rectory. A local footpath cuts
through t o b e
Lower Town along the southern boundary of the old Rectory garden. A
local footpath cuts through to the Lower Town along the southern
boundary of the old Rectory garden. Arriving in the centre, the
initial view is of the Sports Club with the War Memorial and the
tall bellcote gable of the Old School immediately beyond. Looking
back, there is a fine view of Whiteford Park.
Beside Hillside, a footpath leads away from the
village across farmland down to Duchy Home Farm. The avenue of
mature sweet chestnuts leading to the front of the farmstead is a
feature of vistas and glimpses from the footpath and several
other viewpoints on the west side of the village. The maintenance of
the open nature of this area has allowed the historic visual link
between the village and the old Whiteford estate to endure.
To the west of Lower Town is a new house, Foundry House,
which is faced with imitation stone blocks. The old bellfounders
yard was in this area. There are significant views from the lane
fronting these properties across to Whiteford, where the temple
garden building is clearly visible on the hillside. Folk Festival
"A stunning arched auditorium set within beautiful parkland provides
the venue for the Whiteford Music Festival"
"Surrounded by rolling hills, and with views across Stoke Climsland
to the moors of Dartmoor beyond, Whiteford provides a truly unique
setting. The festival has been short listed to the final twelve in a
national competition."
Extracts from the Google site on Whiteford House
In 1775 John Call, High Sheriff of Cornwall,
built Whiteford House, and he built it on a grand scale both inside
and out: Inside it was lavishly designed and decorated with
elegant staircases and chimney pieces, a fine plaster work boudoir,
delicately painted shutters, and even a looking glass room in which,
according to local tale, an unfortunate post boy was briefly
imprisoned by saucy parlour maid!
Outside, the already magnificent views of
Dartmoor and Kit Hill were complemented by fountains, and a walled
fruit garden that must once have rivalled that at Heligan.
Whiteford stayed in the Call family until 1870
when it went briefly to Andrew Montagu and finally into the Duchy of
Cornwall ownership 1879.
The turn of the century saw the house fall into
disrepair and, in 1913, the Duchy ordered its demolition, much of
the granite being used for buildings now occupied by nearby Duchy
College. However, the servant’s quarters of the original house
stayed in occupation by Duchy staff until 1968 when the buildings
were condemned by death watch beetle.
During the 20th century, children in the local
community also enjoyed the grounds as they provided the venue for
the annual Cub and Scout camp. In fact some standing stones
that were laid out as a Scout chapel can still be found within the
grounds.
Extracts from Archeology Alive Site
Although the majority of Whiteford's parkland (89 hectares) lies
within the ownership of the Duchy College twoimportant areas are
owned privately: the site and remains of Whiteford House and its
surrounding complex of buildings; and the Temple, a late
18th-century ornamental building originally used as a sort of summer
house, which is owned by the Landmark Trust. Both of these
properties are being carefully restored and maintained. Three sites
beyond the parkland were also studied as important peripheral
landscape elements related to Whiteford: two plantations and Sir
John Call's folly on the summit of Kit Hill. Sir John Call in the
later 18th century made Whiteford the most significant landscape
park in this part of Cornwall. It would have stood out from a
landscape that was otherwise devoted to farming and mining as an
elegantly designed park. The house and temple were not only
eye-catchers but also places from which great vistas opening out
down the Luckett valley were to be seen. From these places the views
were carefully framed and enlivened by groves, plantations, and
scattered trees, that extended down beyond a long curving ha-ha to
serpentine lakes in the eastern valley. Long views took in the
purple hills of Dartmoor and more local ones were to Stoke Climsland
church and the hulking mass of Kit Hill. The park was maintained and
even extended in the 19th century but the Call family fortunes
turned in the
late Victorian period. By the early 20th the house was abandoned and
then demolished and the parkland became part of the Duchy's home
farm at Stoke (now the base for the ever-expanding Duchy College).
Not all was lost from the park - the temple survives, as do many of
the original scattered trees. The ha-ha is a clear earthwork and the
lakes have been recently cleared and re-watered. The essence of
Whiteford Park survives but in a degraded condition
Callington Pictures from the Past
Source of the Whiteford picture. Also has a picture of Stoke
Climsland and Venrerdon
Sir John Call
Sir John Call (1732-1801), born to a Launcells
family, spent 20 yearsin India flourishing and making his fortune.
He gained considerable experience of military engineering and could
have advanced to Governor of Madras but for the death of his father
impelling a return to England in 1770. He had already acquired the
Whiteford estate in Stoke Climsland, and once in occupation, he soon
married, and rebuilt the house as a mansion.
Research Notes
Interestingly, my Google search found nothing prior to the
arrival of Sir John Call. However the will of Tristram Bowhay 1605
mentions articles in the house at Whiteford.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Di Gibbs, OPC for Stoke Climsland, who prompted me
to check the internet for Whiteford House. If you have additions or
corrections to this page, please contact
us Bones in the Belfry home page
Page last updated - 2025
