Beam, Great Torrington

Steeply wooded banks shelter the valley and the house is situated on slightly higher ground above lush water meadows, almost completely surrounded by the Torridge"[1] The estate was a subsidiary seat of the Rolle family, lords of the manor of Great Torrington, whose main seat was Stevenstone on the other (south) side of that town and therefore upstream from Beam.

Much of the estate is today owned by Baron Clinton, as heir to the Rolles, but it has had many occupants, including use by the army in both world wars and as a borstal.

Thus the cycleway which crosses the river at Beam, formerly the railway line, was named the "Tarka Trail", due to its association with these and other haunts of the fictional animal.

Later the railway crossed the river at a slightly lower place, and continued toward Torrington over the Beam estate.

The weir at Beam, situated downstream from Rothern Bridge and upstream of Beam Aqueduct, features in Henry Williamson's novel Tarka the Otter as one of the otter's favoured haunts with its fast running water and languid pools beneath the weir; Below the fish-pass the water rushed in a foamy spate.

[3] Beam was for long a subsidiary seat of the Rolle family of nearby Stevenstone, who were latterly lords of the manor of Great Torrington.

During the Civil War Beam House was used as an outpost for the Royalist army whose last holding in the West Country was at Great Torrington, lost in 1646 to the Parliamentarian Sir Thomas Fairfax.

end of Torrington, which passing over, we again rose up a steep hill, introducing us to a common precipitous towards the river but having a delightful prospect on the north of 'Beam' a seat of Dennis Rolle Esq., a most lovely and sequestered spot, protected on every side by the richest woods of the finest amphitheatrical form, the roots of which were washed by the river, which, as if enamoured of the spot, winds round it in many a meander and seems reluctant to retire from it.Another occupant was the Very Rev.

[13] Lord Clinton's family had long owned the manor of Frithelstock, adjoining Beam on the opposite side of the River Torridge.

In World War II the house was occupied by the 2nd Battalion, Gloucester Regiment, and was used for training in clandestine operations.