Staverton Builders Ltd

DATE: 1930-1980

LEVEL: SubFonds

Records of Staverton Builders Ltd and subsidiary companies. Staverton Builders was founded as an independent company originally contracted to undertake construction on the Dartington Hall estate and to accept outside contracts in order to give the company permanence. In establishing Staverton Builders, Leonard Elmhirst drew on the experience of former Welwyn Garden City employees for instance A E Malbon who became Staverton's managing director, and Welwyn architect Louis de Soissons who was hired to design planned housing estates at Dartington and who became the principal advising architect to Staverton.

Records consist of a small amount of executive correspondence, a complete set of reports of the managing director; and Board of Directors records including meeting minute books dating from 1930 through July 1948. There are copies of loose minutes dating to 1968. Other records include those of Devon Electric and General Services Ltd; apprenticeship records dating from the 1930s to 1965; a sub-series of conveyances, mortgages and deeds relating to properties owned and developed by Staverton; and records of construction contracts completed in the 1950s. Some records contain information of interest to those studying architecture at Dartington Hall, as Staverton was the contractor for most buildings on the Dartington estate.

There are records of companies formed to market housing developments built by Staverton . Executives of Staverton were involved with several housing co-operative schemes; for instance the Plymouth-based Devon and Cornwall Building Society (1934-1935) and the South Western Co-operative Housing Society Ltd founded in 1944 and continuing today, and records of these independent companies are also included in this series.

Later records cover Staverton operations during difficult economic times in the 1970s and the sale of Staverton to the J T Group plc in the late 1970s.

Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst purchased the Dartington Hall Estate in 1925, and proceeded to renovate the dilapidated buildings and erect new buildings throughout the estate and also in Dartington village. Initially, the works department of Dartington Hall Limited undertook building works, drawing on the experience of former Welwyn Garden City employees and A E Malbon who was to become Staverton Builders Ltd's first Managing Director.

On 21st July 1931 Staverton Builders Ltd was incorporated out of the Dartington Hall estate works department. A subsidiary company, Devon Electric and General Services Ltd was formed in 1931 to manage electrical work. Staverton also operated a joinery producing 'Dartside Furniture' and other fittings. Further subsidiary companies were formed to manage speculative building schemes of which the best known was the housing estate at Churston near Paignton. Other housing developments built in the 1930s by Staverton included those at Dittisham Court; St James Priory Estate, Exeter; Cliff Park, Paignton; and Carlyon Bay, St Austell, Cornwall. To a large extent Staverton pioneered modernist architecture in the southwest of England, but this was a problem too. Staverton's houses were sometimes too radical for their intended middle class audience.

Staverton Builders grew to be one of the major contractors in the southwest of England. Some of the largest projects for which Staverton was the primary contractor include the Ocean Terminal at Southampton which was completed in 1950, the Hams Hall C Power Station, near Coleshill, Warwickshire, completed in the late 1950s, and Devon County Hall, Exeter. After World War II Staverton built hundreds of houses as well as civic centres and department stores in Plymouth and Paignton, and buildings for the universities of Exeter and Cardiff. At its height, Staverton employed over a 1000 people, most based at the Staverton Bridge Mill headquarters.

For much of its history, Staverton was a separate company outside of the umbrella of Dartington commercial activity. For the first six years, Leonard Elmhirst served as company chairman with the company initially being owned by Bascor Investments Ltd, a Foreign Personal Holding Company. In 1936, financial crisis led to the re-organisation and recapitalisation of Staverton Builders Ltd, with most shares held by Bascor Investments Ltd, a company which benefited the Dartington Hall Trust by debenture. On 7 August 1936, Staverton Builders Ltd shares held by Dartington Hall Ltd were transferred to Bascor Investments Ltd. New Bascor Ltd was dissolved voluntarily in 1957 and Staverton became directly owned by the Dartington Hall trustees with shares held by Dartington Investments Limited and in 1959 it changed its name to Staverton Contractors Limited. In June 1966, the joinery department became a separate company, Staverton Joinery Ltd.

Staverton Construction Ltd was incorporated in 1975 and records indicate that with effect from April 1984, the undertaking of Staverton Contractors Ltd was transferred to Staverton Construction Ltd. On 12 February 1976 the Staverton Contracting Group was sold by the Dartington Hall Trust to the Bristol based JT Group Ltd. However, The Dartington Hall Trust retained interest in its ownership via its shares of the separate Staverton Joinery works and of Dartington Plant Ltd, Devon Electric & General Services Inc and Northcott Contractors. The Company was sold in 1990 to Farr Plc, based in Westbury, Wiltshire and Staverton Construction Ltd was dissolved in 2000.

As stated, A E Malbon, former general manager at Welwyn Garden City, became the company's first managing director and served until 1957. His son Harry Malbon took over in 1958 but was replaced in 1959 by J M Hazlehurst with Peter Sutcliffe as chairman of the Board. Charles Robinson was managing director with Christopher B Zealley as chairman in the 1970s.

Information for Researchers

All papers belonging to The Dartington Hall Trust Archive (with the exclusion of Dartington Hall School pupils individual records) are held at the Devon Record Office. All enquiries relating to research should be made to Devon Records Office, Great Moor House, Bittern Road, Sowton, Exeter, Devon EX2 7NL
+44 (0)1392 384253
+44 (0)1392 384256
devrec@devon.gov.uk
www.devon.gov.uk/record_office

The following requests should be made direct to the Archives & Records at The Dartington Hall Trust as shown below:
Copies of images as seen on The Dartington Hall Trust online catalogue with appropriate reference number (Ref No.)
Permission to publish or quote from any document held in the Dartington Hall Trust Archive
Former pupils of Dartington Hall School wishing to view their records
Archives & Records
The Dartington Hall Trust
Dartington Hall
Totnes TQ9 6EL
01803 847200
yvonne.widger@dartington.org

This information is copyright The Dartington Hall Trust