The first memorial plaque to be added at the Old House at Coate read ‘BIRTHPLACE of RICHARD JEFFERIES BORN NOVEMBER 6TH 1848’ and was set into the garden wall next to the gothic gate. Thanks to the North Wilts Field and Camera Club the plaque, made of Aberdeen granite, was unveiled at a small ceremony on 6 June 1903. In his speech Nevil Story Maskelyne read the inscription on the tablet. He said that
'it did not record the date of his death, for he was not really dead to us; his name would live immortal.'
