Sharpham, Ashprington

[1] The house was commenced in about 1770 by the Royal Navy captain Philemon Pownoll (died 1780) to the designs of the architect Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788).

In 1748 Sharpham was sold by Gilbert Yard to Philip Cockey,[3][24] who was seemingly more interested in the resale value of the timber in the park than in the house.

In 1765 Philip Cockey sold Sharpham to Captain Philemon Pownoll, having previously in 1755 offered a lease on the estate.

Mr Cockey sold it in about 1763 to Captain Philemon Pownoll (c. 1734 – 1780) of the Royal Navy, born in Plymouth and the son of master shipwright Israel Pownoll (died 1779), master shipwright of Plymouth Dockyard (1762–65) and of Chatham (1775–79), who had built a large number of warships for the Royal Navy.

In 1762 Philemon Pownoll had acquired a fortune of £64,963 having captured a Spanish Galleon,[28] and in about 1770 commenced the building of the present house, completed after his death by his daughter and heiress Jane Pownall (died 1822).

After World War II his friend Michael Young, later Lord Young of Dartington, introduced him to the Dartington Hall Trust, a design school with craft workshops, established by Leonard Elmhirst and his wealthy American heiress wife Dorothy Whitney, who in the 1920s had purchased the historic estate of Dartington Hall near Totnes and had restored at great expense the manor house and its mediaeval Great Hall.

To provide opportunities for physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual learning; through activity, reflection, creativity and enquiry.