THE new property manager for Cotehele, Toby Fox and his partner Sarah, have made a surprising discovery ? Sarah is a descendant of the powerful Edgcumbe family who lived at Cotehele from the 1350s. Sarah and Toby moved from Peterborough for Toby to take up his position as property manager at Cotehele, a mediaeval house and estate in the Tamar Valley, protected by the National Trust. However, little did they know that it would be a homecoming for Sarah. At a recent event looking at the history of Cotehele and Mount Edgcumbe, the couple discovered that Sarah is a direct descendant of the father of William Edgcumbe, the founder of the Edgcumbe family that built and lived at Cotehele and died in 1379. The Edgcumbes moved to Cotehele in 1353. Before this, they lived at Edgcumbe, the farm in the parish of Milton Abbot in Devon. From 1789 Mount Edgcumbe became the principal family seat. Cotehele is a mediaeval house with superb collections of textiles, armour and furniture, set in extensive grounds. The estate includes a working water mill that grinds flour and Cotehele Quay. The house, restaurant, gallery and mill are open daily from Saturday March 18 ? October 31 2006 (house and mill closed Fridays). The garden is open all year round. Toby Fox, National Trust property manager for Cotehele says: ?I was over the moon when I was offered the position of property manager at Cotehele by the National Trust. Not only is it an incredible and rather intimate place, but the estate is steeped in history. ?When I arrived, I started to find out more about the Edgcumbe family and it was only when I attended a conference organised at the property that we found a peculiar historical link to Sarah?s family. Some would say this was fate!
