Docton House is understood to have been a Cistercian Monastery, part of the Hartland Abbey Estate lands.  Travellers to Hartland Abbey could moor their ships in the muddy creek opposite (where Richmond Dock now stands), stay overnight here, and then make an onward journey to Hartland the next day.  We do claim that Docton Court is Appledore’s oldest building, and we are often asked how old it is.  There are no specific documents relating to the early history of this building, but there are some stories and evidence about its grand past.
 
Although our deeds only go back to about 1900, we believe that a document housed in the National Archives in London relates to this property.  In 1334 permission was granted for a Barnstaple merchant called Geoffrey Fardel to build business premises near to the river in Appledore, and the described position matches the location of this property.  It also suggests that the land between here and the main river frontage was quite a lot closer than it is today, and was also in the same ownership.  The rent for this was one silver penny per year.
 
After that, and for the next 500 years or so, the history of this building is based on many assumptions.  It is likely that the Black Death in 1349 put paid to Mr Fardel’s business, and that the lands were afterwards obtained by the monks of Hartland Abbey.  No records of this have survived, but land ownership after the dissolution by Henry VIII does infer this connection, and it would make sense having a Cistercian rest-house here.  Travellers visiting the Abbey would have about one day’s journey from Appledore, this being the nearest safest landing place for a ship.
 

After the Dissolution of Hartland Abbey Monastery in 1538, there is a tradition that Docton House was the residence of a Spanish Don or Ambassador at the time of the Armada (1580s). He was supposed to be a merchant dealing in Spanish produce, so we can imagine his cellars filled with Mediterranean choice wines and other goods. After this, the building came into the possession of the Docton family. No records survive, but 1588 would seem to be a good date for a Spaniard to disappear - that being the year of the Spanish Armada, and the Doctons are known to have purchased much land in Appledore in the early 1600s, so this cannot be coincidental. The Doctons were a prominent North Devon family, and appear in the parish records in Northam until the 18th century.

The Doctons converted the building into a grand dwelling house, with commercial usage of the ground floor, and living accommodation above.  This first floor had a decorative moulded plaster ceiling probably installed around the 1620s, which was largely removed in the early 20th Century.  The remaining mouldings have now been restored and partly re-created by us.  The rear service wing was probably built around the same time.  There is a cartouche over the main doorway which contains the coat-of arms of the Docton family, and relates to a marriage between John Docton and Agnes Chantrell around 1540, although this plaque would have been placed there a couple of generations later to indicate their noble background.  There are also three early Tudor granite-framed doorways on the lower floor (the 3rd one is hidden within the neighbouring garage), indicating that this building originally had commercial use on this level.

On 10th July 1645, Prince Charles (the future Charles II) visited Appledore and possibly stayed here. Although aged only 15, he had been appointed commander of the Royalist forces in the south-west and was here to raise more forces to the cause, but more importantly to escape the threat of disease in Bristol.  At the same time, an emergency mint is believed to have been set up in this location, to produce coinage for the troops.
 
In 1737, Dorothy Docton set up a charity to enable six poor children under the age of 11 to be taught to read until they could understand the Bible in English. She died in 1744 after which this building left the ownership of the Docton family, and the surrounding lands, which extended back as far as One-End Street, were sold off. Nearly fifty years later though, it was still known as Docton’s Mansion.  In 1864 a sale notice for Doctons refers to 2 dwelling houses, malt-house, cellars, lofts, stable, enclosed yards, and walled garden, late in occupation of William Williams.  Since then, the building has been used for various purposes: Ships pulley-block making, Photographers studio, Canoe-making and more recently just for storage.
 
This Grade II* listed building has now been renovated throughout by us, and we have created a new use for this historic structure.  We renamed the front part of the building as ‘Docton Court’ to distinguish it from ‘Docton House’ at the rear (the building having recently been split into two properties), and the front façade forms the gallery and our living accommodation.