The Estates And Their Connected History

Adderley, Glendale & Runnymede

James Stanes was the first member of the Stanes family to visit India making the trip from the City of London in one of his father’s vessels in the late 1840s.  While the ship was in Madras, James was persuaded by his father’s agent to visit the Nilgiris.  There he decided to stay opening Runnymede Coffee Estate, Coonoor.  He died in May 1852, and. his grave dated 08.05.1852 is one of the oldest in the Churchyard of St. Stevens, Ootacamund.

James’ brother William too liked the Nilgiris, situated at an altitude anywhere between 4500ft and 7000ft above MSL, and decided to continue his brother’s work.  He married Harriet Scudder and the couple made their home in Runnymede House, Coonoor.  The third Stanes brother, Thomas, came to India.  In April 1854, William applied to the Collector of Coimbatore for permission to clearfell and plant with coffee a piece of land in the Culler Valley.  In 1855, Thomas Stanes opened Adderley Estate here.  In 1857, elder James Stanes, the father paid a visit to his two sons and was so pleased with their success that on his return to England, he sent his youngest son, Robert, to join the brothers.

Robert arrived just before Christmas in 1858 and went to stay with Thomas to learn coffee planting.  Robert started the Stanes Coffee Curing Works in Coimbatore in a temporary workshop of the Madras Railway Company and the curing works started in 1861.  It was from Coimbatore that Robert Stanes went to Anamallai hills and bought Waterfall Estate in 1870.

Glendale, Glenmore and Runnymede, Brooklands and Springfield, Adderley, Glenburnie and Colacumbie originally belonged to Nilgiri Plantations Co. Ltd., managed by T. Stanes & Co. Ltd.. 

Practically, the whole of the initially planted coffee estates was devastated by black bug, stem borer and other leaf diseases.  Tea planting began successfully from about 1897 and most the coffee estates were uprooted and replaced with tea.

Adderley Guest House was the original main bungalow and was built around 1880, and the aura still remains that is really ‘olde’ world.

Waterfall Estates

Waterfall Estates are located on the northern slopes of the Anamallai Hills range in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, and was the first estate to be planted in Anamallais in the 1860s by R. J. Lowry of Carnatic Coffee Co..  This is the first tea plantation one comes across while coming up the ghats from Pollachi.

Waterfall Estates have the distinction of being the pioneers in the Annamallais, to be cleared and planted with plantation crop.  The name ‘Waterfall’ came from an obvious landmark. 

R. J. Lowry of Carnatic Coffee Co. initiated the planting of coffee here during 1865 after purchase of the lands on freehold right in ‘wasteland’ auctions by the government.  Since Lowry could not succeed at coffee planting, he sold the estate to (later, Sir) Robert Stanes in 1870 who had established the T. Stanes Coffee Curing Works in Coimbatore in 1861 to serve the Nilgiris.  During 1900, the coffee plantation was severely affected by coffee rust disease and coffee was abandoned and replaced by a tea plantation in 1925.

The headquarters of the Annamallais Ropeway Co. including the Workshop and Powerhouse started in 1927 for movement of tea and supplies between Annamallai Estates and the railhead at Pollachi, was situated in Waterfall until it was wound up in the 1960s.  The main Guest House Bungalow still goes under the name of ‘Ropeway Bungalow’.

Waterfall estate is a gift of Nature.  It is surrounded on all sides by thick forests and the estate has a beautiful waterfall.  There are numerous streams and reservoirs in the area.  It is a paradise for nature lovers: wild animals and exotic birds frequent the estates.

The estates are located at an altitude of 4500 ft above MSL and are unique in that they get both the southwest as well as the northeast monsoon with cool air and temperature throughout the year.