| Cofton | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's Church, Cofton | |
  Cofton Location within Devon | |
| OS grid reference | SX968802 |
| Civil parish | |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | EXETER |
| Postcode district | EX4 |
| Dialling code | 01626 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Cofton is a small village, parish and former historic estate near Dawlish, Devon.
The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, [1] was rebuilt in 1838-9 by William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (1777–1859), of Powderham Castle, a leader of the High Church revival [2] and eldest son of Rt. Rev. Henry Reginald Courtenay, Bishop of Exeter. The architect was Charles Fowler. [3]
There were formerly two chapels in the parish of Dawlish:
As reported by the Devon historian Polwhele, [4] the original structure of St Mary's Church was a private chapel built for his own use by Dr George Kendall (1610-1663), [5] Doctor of Divinity, who owned and resided at the estate of Cofton, and conducted the services personally. [6] Pevsner however suggests the chapel had stood since the 13th century. [7] In 1793 Cofton Chapel was in ruins, but still contained two monuments, one to Dr Kendall, the other to Mrs Charity Cooke (d.1646), a daughter of William Cooke of Exeter. [6]
Dr George Kendall was the son and heir of George Kendall (d.1648) of Cofton by his wife Anne Cooke, a member of the Cooke family of Exeter, probably [8] a junior branch of the Cooke family of Thorne in the parish of Ottery St Mary, Devon. George Kendall (d.1648) was the Customer of Exeter and Dartmouth and other member ports, but shortly before 1620 had been "wrongfully dispossessed". [9] The Kendall family had been seated in at Treworgie in Cornwall four generations prior to Dr George Kendall. [10]
Dr George Kendall matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford in 1626/7, aged 16 and in 1654 obtained the degree of Doctor of Divinity. From 1643-55 he was Rector of Blisland in Cornwall, of which benefice he was deprived. In 1645 he was appointed a Prebendary of Exeter Cathedral. From 1646-62 he was Rector of Kenton, Devon, of which benefice he was deprived. He was Rector of St Benet's Church, Gracechurch Street in the City of London in 1660. [11] His biography appears in Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy (1714).
The mural monument of Dr Kendall, formerly on the north wall of the chancel, was transcribed by a correspondent (signing himself "FJ") to the Gentleman's Magazine of 1794 as follows: [12]
In 1785 when "FJ" first viewed the monument the arms of Kendall (Argent, a chevron between three dolphins naiant embowed sable) and Pole (Azure semée of fleur-de-lys or, a lion rampant argent) [13] were visible but had been effaced by 1794. Mary Pole (1628-1676) was baptised at Moretonhampstead, and was a daughter of Periam Pole (born 1592) of Southcote [14] in the parish of Talaton, a son of the Devon historian Sir William Pole (d.1635), of Shute, Devon, [15] by his wife Mary Peryam (1567–1605), one of the four daughters and co-heiresses of Sir William Peryam (1534–1604), of Fulford House, Shobrooke, Devon, a judge and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
Ludwell (anciently Lithewyll [16] ) Chapel, dedicated to St Mary, also within the parish of Dawlish, was in 1793 a ruin standing in a field called "Chapel Park" on the estate of Ludwell, owned in 1793 by Richard Whidborne. [6] Polwhele was informed by Mr Whidborne that all he knew about the chapel's history was that his father had told him "it is prayed for in Roman Catholic countries by the name of the Holy Chapel at Ludwell", and that on being given the estate by his father he had been made to promise that he would, "not remove any of the stones or any part of the building". [6]
Cofton is situated on the A379 road near the fishing ports of Cockwood and Starcross and is a popular holiday village in the area. The Cofton Holidays holiday park is situated within the parish, [17] and features a leisure centre, outdoor swimming pool, [18] pub (The Swan), fish and chip shop, and café. [19]
Within the village are two pubs: The Anchor Inn and The Ship Inn. [19] [20]
Dawlish Warren is a seaside resort near to the town of Dawlish, in Teignbridge on the south coast of Devon, England. Dawlish Warren consists almost entirely of holiday accommodation and facilities for holidaymakers, especially on caravan sites.
Walter Yonge (1579–1649) of Great House in the parish of Colyton in Devon, England, was a lawyer, merchant and diarist.
Sir Walter Yonge, 2nd Baronet of Great House, Colyton, and of Mohuns Ottery, both in Devon, was a Member of Parliament for Honiton (1659), for Lyme Regis (1660) and for Dartmouth (1667–70).
Farringdon is a village, civil parish and former manor in the district of East Devon in the county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Clyst Honiton, Aylesbeare, a small part of Colaton Raleigh, Woodbury, Clyst St Mary and a small part of Sowton.
Escot in the parish of Talaton, near Ottery St Mary in Devon, is an historic estate. The present mansion house known as Escot House is a grade II listed building built in 1837 by Sir John Kennaway, 3rd Baronet to the design of Henry Roberts, to replace an earlier house built in about 1680 by Sir Walter Yonge, 3rd Baronet (1653–1731) of Great House in the parish of Colyton, Devon, to the design of Robert Hooke, which burned down in 1808. Today it remains the home of the Kennaway baronets.
Sir William Pole (1561–1635) of Colcombe House in the parish of Colyton, and formerly of Shute House in the parish of Shute, both in Devon, was an English country gentleman and landowner, a colonial investor, Member of Parliament and, most notably, a historian and antiquarian of the County of Devon.
The landed gentry and nobility of Devonshire, like the rest of the English and European gentry, bore heraldic arms from the start of the age of heraldry circa 1200–1215. The fashion for the display of heraldry ceased about the end of the Victorian era (1901) by which time most of the ancient arms-bearing families of Devonshire had died out, moved away or parted with their landed estates.
Nutwell in the parish of Woodbury on the south coast of Devon is a historic manor and the site of a Georgian neo-classical Grade II* listed mansion house known as Nutwell Court. The house is situated on the east bank of the estuary of the River Exe, on low-lying ground nearly contiguous to the water, and almost facing Powderham Castle similarly sited on the west bank. The manor was long held by the powerful Dynham family, which also held adjacent Lympstone, and was according to Risdon the site of their castle until John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (1433–1501), the last in the male line, converted it into "a fair and stately dwelling house".
Ash in the parish of Braunton in North Devon is a historic estate listed in the Domesday Book. The present mansion, known as The Ash Barton estate is a Grade II* listed building.
Little Fulford was an historic estate in the parishes of Shobrooke and Crediton, Devon. It briefly share ownership before 1700 with Great Fulford, in Dunsford, about 9 miles (14 km) to the south-west. The Elizabethan mansion house originally called Fulford House was first built by Sir William Peryam (1534-1604), a judge and Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. It acquired the diminutive epithet "Little" in about 1700 to distinguish it from Fulford House, Dunsford and was at some time after 1797 renamed Shobrooke House, to remove all remaining confusion between the two places. Peryam's mansion was demolished in 1815 and a new house erected on a different site away from the River Creedy. This new building was subsequently remodelled in 1850 in an Italianate style. It was destroyed by fire in 1945 and demolished, with only the stable block remaining today. The landscaped park survives, open on the south side to the public by permissive access, and crossed in parts by public rights of way, with ancient large trees and two sets of ornate entrance gates with a long decorative stone multiple-arched bridge over a large ornamental lake. The large pleasure garden survives, usually closed to the public, with walled kitchen garden and stone walls and balustrades of terraces. The park and gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The estate was the home successively of the families of Peryam, Tuckfield, Hippisley and lastly the Shelley baronets, in whose possession it remains today.
John Peryam, of Exeter, Devon, was elected four times as a Member of Parliament, for Barnstaple 1584, Bossiney 1586, Exeter 1589 and 1593. He served as Mayor of Exeter. He was the younger brother of Sir William Peryam (1534-1604) of Little Fulford, near Crediton in Devon, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
Creedy is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon. It is named from its location on the west side of the River Creedy. It was the seat of the Davie family from about 1600 until the late 20th century. The mansion house on the estate has been called at various times New House, Creedy House, and as presently, Creedy Park. It was first built in about 1600, rebuilt in 1846, burnt down in 1915 and rebuilt 1916–21. It is surrounded by a large park, the boundary of which is enclosed by a stone and brick wall several miles long.
West Ogwell is a village and former civil parish and manor, now in the parish of Ogwell, in the Teignbridge district, in the county of Devon, England. It is located 2 miles south-west of the town of Newton Abbot and 1 mile west of the village of East Ogwell. The church and manor house "lie hidden away on their own". In 1891 the parish had a population of 39. In 1894 the parish was abolished and merged with East Ogwell to form "Ogwell".
Sir Robert Basset (1573–1641), lord of the manor of Umberleigh and lord of the manor of Heanton Punchardon in Devon, England, was MP for Plymouth in 1593.
Great House on South Street in the town of Colyton, Devon, is the remnant of an historic Elizabethan mansion house built by the Yonge family, originally prominent wool merchants in the town, later Yonge baronets. It is a grade II* listed building.
John Lane was a wealthy clothier from Cullompton in Devon, remembered today for having built the magnificent Lane Chapel on the south side of St Andrew's Church, Cullompton. Due to a misreading of the inscription on the exterior of his Chapel he was said by Polwhele (1793) to have occupied the office of Wapentake Custos, Lanarius,. However no historical evidence supports the existence of such an office and the inscription was later correctly re-interpreted by Smirke (1847).
George Kendall (1610-1663), Doctor of Divinity, of Cofton in Devon, was a theologian.
Collacombe is an historic manor in the parish of Lamerton, Devon, England. The manor house survives as a grade I listed building, known as Collacombe Barton or Collacombe Manor (House).
Kingston is an historic estate in the parish of Staverton in Devon, England. The surviving large mansion house, known as Kingston House is a grade II* listed building, rebuilt in 1743 by John Rowe, after a fire had destroyed the previous structure. The Kingston Aisle or Kingston Chapel survives in the parish church of Staverton, built by and for the use of, the successive owners of the Kingston estate.
Indio in the parish of Bovey Tracey in Devon, is an historic estate. The present large mansion house, known as Indio House is a grade II listed building rebuilt in 1850, situated about 1/2 mile south of Bovey Tracey Church, on the opposite side of the River Bovey. According to the Devon historian Pole (d.1635) it was originally a priory, however research from 1840 onwards has suggested it was more likely merely a grange farm, a possession of St John’s Hospital, Bridgwater, Somerset, from 1216.