Fyne Court

Fyne Court is a National Trust-owned nature reserve and visitor centre in Broomfield, Bridgwater, Somerset, England.

Originally the house pleasure grounds of pioneer 19th-century electrician, Andrew Crosse, whose family had owned the house from its construction.[1] It burnt down in 1898. His laboratory table on which he carried out experiments stands in the aisle of the Church of St. Mary and All Saints in Broomfield and an obelisk in his memory is in the churchyard.

Fyne Court has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1967. The Quantock Hills AONB Service have their headquarters in the grounds

Fyne Court, built by the Andrew Crosse family in the early 17th century and destroyed by fire in 1894 was home to Andrew Crosse (1784-1855). A philosopher and one of England's earliest scientists, he carried out investigations here into the electricity of the atmosphere. The room where he carried out his experiments (the Andrew Crosse Hall) still stands, together with a few other buildings including the old coach house, now used as offices.

Broomfield church contains the laboratory table at which Andrew Crosse carried out his experiments. In the churchyard stands an obelisk erected to his memory by his wife, Cornelia, with an epitaph.

On 29th September 2009 the National Trust took on the management of Fyne Court some 40 years after being given the property by John Adams.

Fyne Court Quantock Hills Somerset before the fire

Since 1974, Fyne Court had been managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust, but after 35 years they have decided-to end their lease. During that time the Wildlife Trust based their head quarters here and established a locally important nature reserve and a comprehensive education programme.

Fyne Court is also the main office for the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Service and during November The National Trust will also establish the main office for its' Somerset Countryside properties here.

All three organisations are committed to working together for the future of Fyne Court and the wider environment.

Andrew Crosse was a man of many talents. He wasn't just interested in the sciences, hut also In the arts.

He look Inspiration For his poetry from the Quantock Hills where he lived.


Amongst the many visitors to Fyne Court, it's reputed that William Wordsworth and Samuel laylor Coleridge came to see Andrew Crosse.

Coleridge Cottage Is only a lew miles away from Fyne Court In the Quantocks. Many of Andrew's poems were Inspired by nature and the things he saw around him

He seems to have had two very happy marriages. His first wife was Mary Anne Hamilton, with whom he had 7 children. His second wife, Cornelia Berkeley, was scandalously his junior.

Mary Anne died in 1846 and four days later so did Andrew's brother, Richard. Understandably Andrew was devastated and left Fyne Court for London. The house fef into disrepair and the gardens became overgrown

Three years after Mary Anne's death, the 45 year old Andrew named the beautiful 22 year old Cornelia Berkeley. They moved back lo Fyne Court. It's largely due to Cornelia that we know to much about Andrew Crosse. She recorded his life in detail in her books of Andrew Crosse The Electrician (1857)' and 'Red Letter Days of My Life (1892)'.

On his death bed, Andrew changed hit will, gifting Fyne Court to his beloved wife, Cornelia. His eldest son, John, was left the organ from the music room.  After Andrew's death, Cornelia gave the estaie to John  Andrew is thought to have introduced his eldest son, John, to Lord Byron's daughter. Lady Ada Lovelace.

The two, who were married to other people, embarked on an affair.

Ada lost huge amounts of money and John pawned the farnity jewels on her behalf.

Fyne Court Folly Quantock Hills Somerset

Whist waiting for the fire brigade desperate attempts were made to try and save family portraits, china and furniture from the flames. Windows were smashed to get them out as quickly as possible. Even local farmers had been called to help.

The inside of the central part of the house then began to collapse. Everyone tried to stop the fire spreading to the music room and the library. In case their efforts were unsuccessful, orders were given to clear the library of all its books. They were flung out of the window onto the lawn.

Large crowds from Taunton had heard about the fire and had turned up to look at the devastation. After24 hours the exhausted firemen finally left. Even after heavy rain, the building still smouldered. Amazingly, the wine cellar survived with its contents intact.

Luckily the house and its contents were insured. The London Assurance Company paid out £4000. This was a large amount of money and would have been more than enough to rebuild a modern house. Instead of doing this, Mrs Hamilton moved into Fyne Court Cottage near the church, it was a much smaller property. Mrs Hamilton was at the time and seemed happy to live there.

After Mrs Hamilton moved to the cottage the grounds of Fyne Court began to fall into disrepair. In 1952 the estate was sold to John Adams who was a fruit merchant. He used the walled garden for growing strawberries. The rest of ihe grounds became very overgrown. John Adams did a lot of repairs to the music room and it was still used for parties.

When John Adams died he bequeathed the property to the National Trust who took ownership of it in 1972. Somerset Wildlife Trust managed the sire until November 2009. Since then we have been caring for this special place

Contributed by: Johnl Peters