Agatha Christie’s Greenway Estate

Saturday, 15 March 2014 - 01:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Palaces, Castles, Manors, Parks
Reading Time:  4 minutes

Greenway House © MilborneOne/cc-by-sa-3.0

Greenway House © MilborneOne/cc-by-sa-3.0

Greenway is an estate on the River Dart near Galmpton in Devon. It was first mentioned in 1493 as “Greynway”, the crossing point of the Dart to Dittisham. In the late 16th century a Tudor mansion called Greenway Court was built by the Gilbert family. Greenway was the birthplace of Humphrey Gilbert. The present Georgian house was probably built in the late 18th century by Roope Harris Roope and extended by subsequent owners. The gardens may have been remodelled by landscape gardener Humphry Repton.

Greenway was bought by Agatha Christie and her husband Max Mallowan in 1938. The house was occupied by Christie and Mallowan until their deaths in 1976 and 1978 respectively. Christie’s daughter Rosalind Hicks and her husband Anthony lived in the house from 1968, until Rosalind’s death in 2004. The Greenway Estate was acquired by the National Trust in 1999 and it is now a Grade II* listed building. The house and garden is open to the public, as is the Barn Gallery. The large riverside gardens contain plants from the southern hemisphere, whilst the Barn Gallery shows work by contemporary local artists.

National Trust reception building at Greenway Estate © geograph.org.uk - Rod Allday/cc-by-sa-2.0 Vinery © geograph.org.uk - Derek Harper/cc-by-sa-2.0 The Agatha Christie Bus Tour bus © geograph.org.uk - Derek Harper/cc-by-sa-2.0 Boathouse © geograph.org.uk - David Lewis/cc-by-sa-2.0 restored Victorian greenhouse © Vernon39 Greenway House © MilborneOne/cc-by-sa-3.0
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National Trust reception building at Greenway Estate © geograph.org.uk - Rod Allday/cc-by-sa-2.0
Agatha Christie frequently used places familiar to her as settings for her plots. Greenway Estate and its surroundings in their entirety or in parts are described in the following novels:

  • Five Little Pigs (1942)
    The main house, the foot path leading from the main house to the battery overlooking the river Dart and the battery itself (where the murder occurs) are described in detail since the movements of the novel’s protagonist at these locations are integral to the plot and the denouement of the murderer.
  • Towards Zero (1944)
    The location of the estate opposite the village of Dittisham, divided from each other by the river Dart, plays an important part for the alibi and a nightly swim of one of the suspects.
  • Dead Man’s Folly (1956)
    The boat house of Greenway Estate is described as the spot where the first victim is discovered, and the nearby ferry landing serves as the place where the second real murder victim is dragged into the water for death by drowning. Other places described are the greenhouse and the tennis court, where Mrs. Oliver placed real clues and red herrings for the “murder hunt”. The lodge of Greenway Estate serves as the home of Amy Folliat, the former owner of Nasse House.

Read more on NationalTrust.org.uk – Greenway house and garden, DartmouthRailRiver.co.uk, Smithsonianmag.com – Where Agatha Christie Dreamed Up Murder, Arab News, 29 January 2021: Legend of Agatha Christie lives on aboard Nile steam ship and Wikipedia Greenway Estate (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




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