The study of the Russian estate “Zavetnoye” is complicated by the fact that at the moment there is a relatively small number of estates of this type and the estate economy has been in decline for a long time.
Mikhail Antonovich Tokarsky`s estate “Zavetnoye” was built in 1914 in the Okulovka district of the Novgorod region – a peculiar architectural complex of scientific interest.
Nevertheless, a lot of information about the Tokarsky family has been preserved. The Tokarskys were a prominent noble family of the Novgorod gubernia, Mikhail Antonovich`s projects received the approval of Nicholas II.
According to various sources, the allotment belonged to different people, the issue of the ownership of the allotment purchased by M. A. Tokarsky in 1914 is still open for further research.
According to the project developed by M. A. Tokarsky, a magnificent architectural complex was built in the estate in a short time. The entrance to the estate was lined with a birch alley with cobblestone paths. The entire territory of the estate was also surrounded by a chain-link fence. The fence pillars were decorated with figurines and ornaments.
A neo-Gothic chapel made of thin-walled reinforced concrete was built on the hill. Inside there were thin columns along the walls, with intertwining ribribs that formed narrow lancet niches - three on each wall - with a circular "rose" under the arrows of the ceiling. In the middle of each wall there was a lancet window.
The Zavetnoye estate was not only an architectural, but also a garden and park ensemble. The area of the park was 8.2 hectares. However, it is not possible to fully reconstruct the appearance of the park.
No construction and design documentation relating to the period of the estate constructions has been found yet, this issue is promising for further research.
An important distinguishing feature of the Zavetnoye estate was the building of a factory. Unfortunately no photos remained. In the State Archive of the Novgorod Region petitions for the state registration of steam boilers, made by M. Tokarsky himself were found. The documents contain two detailed plans of the homestead factory for the years 1916 and 1917.
The 1917 document also contains a drawing of a steam boiler, which M.A. Tokarsky intended to install to his factory. The source states that this unit was built in the town of Uleaborg in the Grand Duchy of Finland.
According to these plans the appearance of the homestead enterprise is quite accurately reconstructed .
The question of what was produced the factory produced before and after World War I is open for further elaboration.
Almost nothing is known about everyday life at Zavetnoye Estate. Further research involving sources of personal origin is needed.
Reconstructing the history of the estate during the revolutionary and post-revolutionary years is a particular problem. According to unconfirmed information, the factory was given to workers. It is known for certain that in April 1917, M.A. Tokarsky joined the Food Committee of Timofeyevskaya volost as one of the representatives of private landowners. The estate with the factory was nationalized soon after the October Revolution. In June 1918, the chairman of the Krestsy District Executive Committee sent a petition for assistance in sending some goods to Kresttsy to the Committee of Employees and workers of Tokarsky's factory. A. I. Tarakanova, a Karelian historian, writes: "Mikhail Antonovich gave the Zavetnoye estate and the reel factory to the workers and returned to St. Petersburg. He was respected, and at first the business manager used to come and offer to return and be a director. He did not leave his homeland, worked in his profession as a representative of the labor intelligensia. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that during the 1920s the engineer registers several patents for his inventions. M.A. Tokarsky died in 1942 during the evacuation from Leningrad on the way to Vyatka.
The fate of the estate complex at the end of its existence is still not clear. There is a theory that in 1920 there was a plan to add the Zavetnoye estate to the Petrodvorets Art Fund. But the existence of the documents is not confirmed. The factory was later liquidated. The manor was lost during the Second World War, all wooden buildings of the complex were dismantled for building materials, the rest started to decay and disintegrate.
The history of the estate and the factory in the 20s-30s is a promising area for research. Further, we will consider the history of the ruined complex during the second half of the 20th century.
The question of protecting the monument was still open until the 1990s. The certification of the object was carried out from the 1970s to the 1990s. The condition of the complex deteriorated during the second half of the 20th century.
As a result, the prospects for further research into the Zavetnoye estate are quite clear. It is necessary to continue work in archives funds. Besides, personal sources of M.Tokarsky family and other inhabitants of the estate and its surroundings are of particular value for further research.
Источник: https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/62960619b6f950413122c384/usadba-zavetnoe-v-okulovskom-raione-novgorodskoi-oblasti-629606444d5e23721f042a72