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The Internet Magazine for Organ-Keyboard Enthusiasts  |
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The Home of British Organ-Keyboard Festivals 1980-2002 Lord of the Manor – 1042 The first recorded Lord of the Manor at Kingskerswell was King Edward the Confessor, 1042 – 1066, who was followed by William the Conqueror, 1066 – 1077. From then on it was passed down or bought until Sir Henry Langford was given the estate in 1710. This family originated from Langford, where stone effigies of the old family can still be seen lying in the church. Sir Henry Langford was the 3rd Sheriff of Devon and a Judge at Greys Inn, London. Sir Henry left the estate to his godson Thomas Brown. Built in the 1830’s Henry Langford Brown, the great grandson of Thomas Brown, built Barton Hall in the 1830s in the then fashionable Tudor style, at a cost of £10,000. The site was chosen because of Langford’s interest in yachting. On arrival in Torquay he would fire a cannon to summon his coach to come and meet him at the harbour. In 1862 Barton Hall suffered a terrible event. At around 11.00pm on April 8th some of the servants in the Hall noticed smoke and then flames coming from the roof of the attics. The fire engines at Newton Abbot and Torquay were sent for but by this time the fire had a fierce hold and the furniture and contents were being carried out as quickly as possible. The fire was left to burn itself out which it did by 8.00pm. By this time the entire building had been destroyed with the exception of part of the out buildings at the rear. Restoration of the Hall was started immediately and the family stayed in Fluder House, some three quarters of a mile away, while reconstruction work continued. Requisitioned for 2nd World War In 1936 the present Squire Thomas Hercules Langford Brown, inherited the estate. The hall was requisitioned during the 2nd World War, firstly by the Fire Service and then by the Civil Defence. The Hall was left in a very bad state of repair and in 1947; Thomas was forced to sell the Hall and gardens to a group of Torquay Businessmen, including a Mr Liddell, who turned it into a holiday centre. He built an additional complex to the manor house, which included a cinema with the best projection equipment available at that time. Fred Pontin Takes Over On November 5th 1957, Fred Pontin and his sister Elsie Brown purchased Barton Hall and later made it the flagship of his holiday empire – a rival to Billy Butlin. He retained personal ownership for a while and made some alterations, which included closing the cinema because he preferred live shows where the bars could profit from refreshments. He passed Barton Hall on to Pontin’s Ltd in the early 1960’s. In 1978 the company was sold to betting company Coral in a £56 million deal, which Fred Pontin later regretted. In 1980, the first year of organ-keyboard festivals, Coral (including Pontin’s) was bought out by brewing giant Bass. In 1987 Pontin’s was sold to a management buyout team lead by Trevor Hemmings, who had been involved with Pontin’s since the late 1960’s. In fact it was Trevor Hemmings who Cled Griffin first contacted in 1979 with his idea of electronic organ-keyboard festivals. Scottish & Newcastle In 1989 Pontin’s was sold yet again, this time to the Scottish & Newcastle Group who made some changes over the next ten years before selling it back to Trevor Hemmings in 1999 who then sold Barton Hall as a children’s leisure centre to its present owners, 3D Adventure & Education, in 2001. During all the changes of ownership, Barton Hall ran smoothly and with good continuity with a string of General Managers. From 1990 they had their own control over their special events and their various specialist freelance producers. The holiday breaks included many different themes, including medieval banquets and murder mysteries with General Manager Aidan Glover coming up with many of the innovative ideas. The special events, including the organ-keyboard festival weekends, were held in off peak periods in order to keep the complex filled to capacity. During these occasions the organisers usually had sole occupancy with their own production team. Blue Coats The entertainment at Barton Hall during the summer holiday season revolved around the team of Blue Coats, with their own entertainments manager. Their extensive wardrobe of costumes enabled them to put on very impressive floor shows as well as being available for fancy dress balls at some of the special events. Many of Pontin’s Blue Coats went on to be stars in their own right, Shane Ritchie, Brian Connelly, Bradley Walsh and Gemma Craven to mention only a few. On the keyboard scene Alison Law, who appeared at the first organ festival in 1980, went on to become a Barton Hall Blue Coat for a few seasons. Alison is now married to Richard Bower of Keyklix fame. Andy Oakley was the last entertainments manager at Barton Hall before going on to be a versatile theatre entertainer as well as the popular presenter at the Lyme Bay keyboard festivals. Andy also appears as the star entertainer in the Keyklix cabaret show. ICT Suite Leading up to the occupation of Barton Hall, 3D Education & Adventure, who had already taken over the Pontin’s sites at the Isle of Wight and Weymouth, installed an ITC suite in the area previously known as the Show Bar, located below the ballroom in the entertainment complex. The air-conditioned suite had 48 computers, which were all connected to the Internet via their own server. During the organ-keyboard festivals, the ORGANfax web site team used the facilities to show guests the world wide web, and, of course, their own extensive web site designed especially for organ-keyboard enthusiasts. After seeing the content of the Internet for the first time, many guests went home and bought their first computer. The Barton Hall Ghost Most large country houses are said to be haunted and Barton Hall is no exception. The Barton ‘ White Ghost’ is said to inhabit the woods around the Hall and is supposed to be the spirit of a woman murdered by her husband. Other people claim to have seen the ghost at various times but not for the 22 years that organ-keyboard festivals were held there before moving to the new venue at Lyme Bay in Seaton, Devon. Related links:- 3D Education & Adventure The present owners of Barton Hall A Brief History of Pontin's A look back in time. Trevor Hemmings Notes of Interest Scottish & Newcastle Press Releases - Sale of Pontin's Lyme Bay Organ-Keyboard Festivals The venue after leaving Barton Hall ORGANfax Web site for organ-keyboard enthusiasts Andy Oakley's Entertainment Web Site Keyklix BACK TO CONTENTS MENU BACK TO MAIN PAGE |