History

Newton Surmaville has always been an elegant and imposing home but by the time the Cannons arrived in 2007, it was in urgent need of many upgrades to bring it up to modern day standards. Aside from a new central heating system, electricity is now provided to all rooms, new bathrooms have been installed, plus a laundry and ironing room. There is also a cinema room and a kids playroom. However only very modest alterations have made to the structure of the house and despite further extensive refurbishments by the current owners, all the character, charm and original features of the house have been maintained. 

Externally in 2007, the entire gardens were on the verge of irredeemable decline. The meadows had been fenced where cattle used to graize, the walls were encased with ivy, the walled garden which had once been so productive with fruit and vegetables now just contained the odd gooseberry bush and the rest of the gardens were left unkempt or with long grass that was not tended. Amazingly the Cannons managed to take on this huge task and restore all these areas to their former glory. This involved a huge amount of planning and hard work by the owners and their wonderful team of gardeners.

Newton House, as it was originally known was created by two men. The first, Robert Harbin, was responsible for building the present house, which replaced a medieval property and which was completed in in 1612. Much later a descendant George Harbin significantly enlarged the house and made a lot of internal alterations and improvements. When Robert Harbin bought the estate in 1608 the medieval house was completely demolished, although a couple of arched windows do survive from this period. However, once the new house was built remarkably little was changed for the next three centuries, when major alterations were finally required.

Before George Harbin made many improvements the house was not very practical, as access to one room could only be achieved by going through another. This was one of the things George Harbin addressed in the 1820’s and he also built a lobby on both floors as well as altering the main staircase to fit the new extension. He built new corridors which greatly added to the general feeling of privacy within the house and introduced ornate ceilings to the justice room, drawing room, dining room and main bedroom. George was responsible for a huge amount of improvements to the house and he went on to build a morning room which later became the music room and which allowed the family easy access to the gardens. George also demolished the stables and rebuilt them to the rear of the property. He altered the position of the driveway, constructed the garden walls and built the outbuildings. So, there is no doubt that George Harbin or ‘the Squire of Newton’ as he was known, hugely contributed to the house becoming the magnificent home it is today.

The house stands proudly but quietly on the edge of Yeovil, which is on the main Roman road from Dorchester to the Fosse at Ilchester. Newton Surmaville House is situated in an unassuming valley whose principal resident is the River Yeo, which has meandered through for thousands of years. The river then flows through Yeovil itself and onto the Somerset levels. The other main inhabitant of the site is the wildlife! There is a large collection of newts in the ponds, kingfishers on the river, deer, foxes and badgers in the woodlands, buzzards patrolling the skies, rooks in the chimneys and a mass of other bird life, plus bees from the neighbour’s hives, butterflies and dragonflies in the summer but sadly no trout in the ponds as they were eaten by the otters.