The first Escot House was the mansion purchased by Sir John Kennaway, 1st Baronet, in 1794 after his return from India. The painting above is based on a watercolour by the famous local painter John Swete from Kenton. It stood on the same estate later occupied by the rebuilt nineteenth‑century house, but the original building belonged to the earlier pattern of Devon country houses: a substantial, classically influenced residence set within landscaped grounds, approached by a long drive and surrounded by farmland and woodland belonging to the Talaton parish. The house became the centre of Kennaway’s new status as a landed gentleman, marking the transition from his diplomatic career in Hyderabad to the responsibilities of estate ownership in East Devon.
The house served as the family seat for just over a decade. During this period Kennaway reorganised the estate, adjusted tenancies, and established the social and administrative routines expected of a landowner of his standing. The building itself was typical of late eighteenth‑century country architecture, with formal reception rooms, a central hall, and accommodation arranged for both family and estate visitors. It functioned as the base from which Kennaway carried out his duties as magistrate and local figure, and it provided the domestic setting for the early years of the Kennaway family’s presence in Devon.
In 1808 the house was destroyed in a fire that began when a young female guest attempted to dry clothes too close to a fireplace. The blaze spread rapidly through the building, and despite efforts to contain it the structure was gutted. The incident became locally well known, partly because Sir John Kennaway was at the time a director of the local fire insurance company but had not yet signed the necessary documents for his own policy. His reported remark to the unfortunate guest—“My dear, I forgive you, but I never wish to see you again”—captured both the personal shock of the event and the practical consequences of the loss.
The destruction of the first Escot House forced the Kennaway family to relocate. Sir John moved to Fairmile and spent much of his remaining life in Sidmouth, at the house now known as Kennaway House. The estate itself continued to operate, but the absence of a central residence marked a significant interruption in its development. It was left to his son, Sir John Kennaway, 2nd Baronet, to rebuild the mansion and re-establish the family’s architectural and social presence at Escot. The later house, constructed in the nineteenth century, replaced the original building entirely, leaving only documentary references and estate records to indicate the form and life of the first Escot House.
Although no part of the original structure survives, its history forms an essential chapter in the Kennaway family’s establishment in Devon. The first Escot House represented the initial phase of their transition from East India Company service to landed status, and its destruction shaped the subsequent development of the estate, the rebuilding programme, and the creation of St Philip & St James as part of the family’s wider responsibilities. The 1808 fire remains one of the defining events in the early history of Escot.
