- Public Park
William Newcombe Homeyard and his wife Maria Laetitia Kempe Homeyard, inventors and manufacturers of Liqufruta cough syrup, bought Ness Cottage in Shaldon as a second home in 1921. The following years they set about creating the adjacent pleasure garden on the sloping hillside above the village.
The main features of the gardens are an informal series of paths and terraces offering glorious views over the Teign estuary and the Dorset coastline. Some trees, such as the three striking Weeping Beeches and a Arbutus unedo (Strawberry Tree) date from Mrs Homeyard’s day. The Cupressus macrocarpa avenue leading down to a spring-fed pond was removed before 2000.
Mrs Homeyard built a summerhouse in the form of a sham castle where she would take tea and play bridge with her friends. It was restored with an HLF grant and is now opened for refreshments during the warmer months. Other features include a limestone grotto known as The Witches Cave, a rill cascade down the slope and a series of ponds. Newer, more formal planted areas such as the Italianate rockery garden are tended by a volunteer group of Friends; for further details see their website.
Following Mrs Homeyard’s death in 1944 the gardens were sold to Teignmouth Town Council for a nominal sum. They opened to the public in 1955. Currently under the stewardship of Teignbridge District Council, admission to the gardens is free and they are open all year round.
S Pugsley: Devon Gardens- An Historical Survey, 1994: 165
