Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a famous Elizabethan explorer, was born in an earlier house on the Greenway estate in 1539. His half-brother Sir Walter Raleigh also lived there. Raleigh popularised the use of tobacco in England, and according to legend, lit his first pipe at Greenway, causing a concerned servant to throw a jug of ale over him - believing his master was on fire!

Written by Mike Holgate

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