DEVITT HOUSE

 

In 1916 the shipping magnate Sir Thomas Devitt was looking for a suitable site for a shore-based nautical college where boys could be educated to officer-standard for the merchant navy. He decided on Tower Court, Pangbourne, an estate which was originally the summer residence of the monks of Reading Abbey, then a hunting lodge used by the Marquess of Blandford, and had then been bought by John Donaldson who had made his name and his fortune as a shipbuilding engineer. He employed John Belcher RA, a former President of the Royal Institute of Architects, to design a country house for himself, his wife and ten children. But the builders took longer than expected and Donaldson died before it was complete. For thirty years Tower Court was used by Clayesmore School, whose founder got into financial difficulties and was delighted to sell to Sir Thomas Devitt. The present Boat House and Thames River frontage, essential for a nautical college was soon purchased, and Tower Court became Devitt House.