Edward Capel inherited Troston Estate in 1763 from his cousin Dorothy Maddocks. His mother was married to Rev. Gamaliel Capel who was cousin to Lord Capel - a family descended from the Plantagenets and Duke of Suffolk.

Edward was Deputy Inspector of Plays and spent 30 years preparing an edition of Shakespeare’s work. He was described as having “the manners and sentiments of a gentleman … possessed of no little vanity, somewhat unsociable … and a temper soured by neglect”. He died a bachelor in 1781 and his estate passed to his nephew Capel Lofft.

Capel Lofft was born 14th November 1751 in Boswell Court, Fleet Street, London. He was educated at Eton and Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he studied Law. His father Christopher had been private secretary to the famous Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough. (Sarah was one of the most influential and richest women of her time through her close friendship with Queen Anne and later the Hanoverians following Anne’s death. She was famous for being a great friend but a powerful enemy).

Capel had twin sons: Henry who was killed (age 28) in a bloody charge at the indecisive battle of Albuhera in Spain 16th May 1811, and Robert Emlyn who later inherited the estate when his father died. Capel had four more children by Ann Lofft and when she died after a long illness, had a further two children by his second wife.

Capel was described “as small, boyish, careless in his dress and never in fashion”. As a young barrister he was actively involved in the case which ended slavery in England in 1772. Later as a magistrate in Bury St. Edmunds he was “struck-off” for trying to save Sarah Lloyd from hanging. (In 1799, she was a 22 year old serving girl whose boyfriend stole property from her employer and a fire started, although no serious damage was done. He said nothing throughout the trial while Sarah told how she had become implicated in his crime. The boyfriend was acquitted … ).

He was less sympathetic with the highwayman, John Nichols, who preyed on travellers on the road near Rymer Point, who was executed in 1794. His body was hung in a cage as a warning to others at a site called Gibbet Pightle - probably near the Honington Camp Post Office & Shops.

He was also the lawyer who established the gleaning rights of the villagers of Great Barton - a case which set the precedent and is still used in cases today!

He was a classical scholar, skilled astronomer, botanist and author of many books of poems, prose and translations of Virgil. He was a friend of Coleridge and Hazlitt, and patron of Robert Bloomfield - he was a companion of the Prince of Wales.

Robert Bloomfield often visited Troston Hall and was invited to plant and name two chestnut and two oak trees. In fact most trees in the garden were given names like Homer, Virgil, etc.

Although there had been piece-meal enclosures from the 16th century, Troston had many acres of open space and common land. At a meeting in 1805, various Troston landowners* proposed that the common fields should be enclosed to increase productivity and allocated to them in proportion to their existing holdings. Although a major benefactor from the scheme, Capel Lofft insisted those who could prove they had ancient rights should be compensated with larger gardens or allotments, and a “Poor’s Estate” established to provide rent for the purchase of fuel. The allotments are now the site for the houses of Garden Fields. The land for the Poor’s Estate is the field bequeathed back in 1666 and is located near the sharp bend on the road to Ixworth.

After the necessary Act of Parliament was passed the following year, the survey team met in the Pykerill Inn at 10 am 9th June 1806 to define the new boundaries and paths. (The Poor Estate was put up for auction and the highest bidder was William Pack of the Bull Inn for £38 per annum. A box was bought to hold the papers of the Estate and records of coal purchases - and still stands in the vestry of the Church).

Capel Lofft was a staunch republican and supporter of American Independence and the French Revolution. His attempt to get Napoleon a trial before being sentenced was badly received and he left Troston to travel extensively across Europe. He died 26th May 1824 at Moncalieri, near Turin, Italy and buried near the town of Pinerolo, Piemonte.

Robert Emlyn Lofft then became Lord of the Manor for the next twenty-three years. Not surprisingly he attempted to lead a quiet life and reestablish the family with the local aristocracy.

He was succeeded by his son Henry Capel in 1847 who rented out the estate until 1860. When he returned to Troston he planned to turn the village into a model village and built a brickworks to re-front Hall Farm and the flint cottages on Church Lane.

In 1866 he died and his brother Robert Emlyn took over the estate until 1900. He continued his brother’s wish to build a model community and was a great benefactor to the village. He built the School in 1871 for some seventy pupils and paid for the teachers. With his own hands he carved the pews that can be seen in the Church. However, he overstretched his financial resources when he ventured into cattle-breeding and lost a lot of money. He had to rent out the Hall and much of the farm land. In 1896 he went to live in number 4 Heath Road - one of the cottages he had built for his workers.

The Beginning of the End

When Robert died in 1900, the estate was put in the hands of Trustees, who included his sisters and his oldest male nephew Frederick Bevan. (The Bevan’s were members of a large Quaker family who in 1896 merged their network of banks across East Anglia with Barclays Bank).

Aged 55, Frederick died in 1916 and the estate remained with the other Trustees - his wife Eliza Bevan and sisters: Mrs Holden and Miss Lofft. Frederick’s eldest son, Lawrence Emlyn Douglas Bevan, was born in 1903 and therefore still a minor and not regarded as a beneficiary.

In 1919, Mrs Bevan and Miss Lofft died - and Mrs Holden sold the whole estate to Mr F.W.Wateridge of Shropshire - an admired advocate of agricultural reform like Robert Lofft. He experimented with establishing a co-operative farm with some of his employees, who agreed to put a percentage of their wages into the venture. After four years of scant returns, the entire estate was put up for sale and some of the participants received small parcels of land around Troston - others never saw a profit on their investment.

Having escaped the farming world, Lawrence went into the family banking business. He was noted for his reserved nature and prudent approach to investment. He was noted for his passion for Rolls Royce cars. Over the years he progressed to become Chairman of the National Provident Institution - another financial enterprise with Quaker roots.

Lawrence Bevan proceeded to buy back some of the estate when ever it came up for sale. He lived, however, most of the time in London but spent many weekends in Troston Cottage with his chauffeur (the entire interior of the substantial cottage was painted white, including the furniture - and all the flowers in the large garden were white too).

He was renown for his charitable work and generosity to villagers who had fallen on hard times. He waved rents on property he owned, like Church Cottage, and provided modest pensions. He was mentioned in the Honours List for his donations to St Peter’s and St Paul’s Hospital in London.

On his death in 1972, his heir Timothy (a distant cousin) sold the last vestiges of the estate.

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Notes:

  • William Pack of Bull Farm who built the pub in about 1800
  • Thomas Rossier of Red House Farm
  • James Garnham of Troston Lodge
  • Jonathan Border in Lower Farm
  • James Fison of Street Farm
  • Edward Hoy who lived where there is now the Old Rectory. (He was the Church Warden and felt the home of the rector, who lived in the Ancient Parsonage, was too humble and swapped houses. The Ancient Parsonage was later bought by Capel Lofft who re-named it Troston Cottage).

Article submitted courtesy of Graeme Norris 2025 11 07.