Manor of Heanton Punchardon

Last updated

The Manor of Heanton Punchardon was a manor in the parish of Heanton Punchardon, Devon, England.

Contents

Descent of the manor

Punchardon

Arms of Punchardon, of Heanton Punchardon, according to Guillim (died 1621): Sable, six plates three, two, one PunchardonArms.png
Arms of Punchardon, of Heanton Punchardon, according to Guillim (died 1621): Sable, six plates three, two, one
Map showing location of Pont-Chardon in Normandy, and its proximity to Meulles and Le Sap, the chief seats of his overlord in England Baldwin FitzGilbert, Sheriff of Devon and feudal baron of Okehampton PontchardonNormandyMap.PNG
Map showing location of Pont-Chardon in Normandy, and its proximity to Meulles and Le Sap, the chief seats of his overlord in England Baldwin FitzGilbert, Sheriff of Devon and feudal baron of Okehampton

Hantone is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held by Robert de Pont-Chardon from Baldwin the Sheriff (died 1090), first feudal baron of Okehampton. The manor of Hantone included a mill, a fishery, had land for 12 ploughs with 24 villagers, with 10 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture and 100 acres of woodland. Of livestock it had 11 cattle, 9 pigs and 163 sheep. [2] [3]

Robert's family were lords of the manor of Pont-Chardon ("Chardon Bridge", literally "Thistle [4] Bridge") (modern Pontchardon ) in Calvados, Normandy, situated on the River Touques. His name was Latinized to de Ponte Cardonis or de Ponte Carduno [5] ("from the bridge of Cardon"). Robert de Pont-Chardon was certainly well rewarded for his companionship and support by Baldwin FitzGilbert (died 1090), Sheriff of Devon, and feudal baron of Okehampton (alias Baldwin de Meulles and Baldwin du Sap), tenant-in-chief of 176 manors in Devon, who granted him lands in England amounting to four and a quarter[ citation needed ] knight's fees. Baldwin's chief seats in Normandy were Meulles and Le Sap, from which he took his alternative surnames, which were located 7 kilometers north-east and 7 kilometers south-east of Pont-Chardon respectively. The lands granted to Robert were chiefly in Devon, Somerset, Hertfordshire and a manor in Hampshire. His Devon estates comprised the following five manors, all in North Devon and all held from Baldwin the Sheriff (whose follower he thus may have been):

In 1894 Reverend Elgood Punchard published his research into the Punchard family in a volume entitled "Punchard of Heaton Punchardon - Records of an Unfortunate Family" [6] in which he traced the descent from wealth and standing in royal favour in the Norman era to relative obscurity by Tudor times in the 16th century. Rev. Punchard described the descent of the Punchardon family thus (largely following Pole [7] ):

Junior branches of Punchardon

Of this senior stock was William de Punchardon (died 1274), priest and prebend of Bosham, and Canon of Crediton in 1270, and Canon of Exeter in 1273. His will, dated 3 February 1274-5 is preserved in Bishop Bronescombe's Register. [15] In 1268 Simon Punchardon was presented to the Rectory of West Buckland, by Dame Ermegard.

Punchardon of Little Bovey

Arms of Punchardon of Little Bovey: Argent, a cross cerclee voided gules PunchardonOfBoveyArms.png
Arms of Punchardon of Little Bovey: Argent, a cross cerclée voided gules

Although the elder branch of the family in North Devon, continued only in female lines after 1300, other descendants of the first Robert de Punchardon were landholders at Little Bovey, in South Devon, down to 1413. [16] Hugh Punchardon, with the consent of Reginald de Punchardon his eldest son, during the reign of King John (1299–1216) gave lands there to his daughter Mary de Punchardon. Roger de Punchardon held the same estates during the reign of King Henry III (1216–1272). In 1277 Sir William de Punchardon of this line, following a muster at Worcester, performed military service due from Edmund, Earl of Cornwall. [17] On his own tenure he was further summoned to Carmarthen in 1282, for the war in West Wales. [18] In 1310 another William Punchardon served for Richard Lovel, [19] and attended the levy at Tweedmouth. Three years later he crossed overseas on the same military duty, and in 1312 [lower-alpha 1] his lands had the usual foedus de protectione (letters of protection). In 1311 he was manucaptor of Alfred de Penhergard, burgess returned for Liskeard. In 1322 a certain Thomas Punchard was similarly bound for the return of John le Taverner for Bristol. [17] The most distinguished of the line was Sir Richard de Punchardon, made a knight banneret by King Edward III (1327–1377). During the French Campaign of 1356, which ended with the Battle of Poitiers on 19 September, he was caught in an ambuscade, but with his gallant comrades, he fought a way through to the main army under the Black Prince. [lower-alpha 2] Sir Richard de Punchardon's lands at Bovey were again under royal protection in 1359. [20] He stood high in court favour, and was entrusted by the King with the guardianship of the young de Bensted of Benington, with estates in Essex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Wiltshire. [21] Froissart speaks of him as Marshal of Aquitaine in 1366, at the birth of Richard of Bordeaux. His grandson Richard II Punchardon held Bovey until 1413. In 1446 John Punchardon, perhaps a brother, was noted at South Hole, Hardesworth and West Barlyngton. [22] The Bovey line probably ended during the Wars of the Roses as no further record of its fate survives.

Heraldry

According to Guillim (died 1621) the arms of the Punchardon family of Heanton were: Sable, six plates three, two, one, sometimes shown as ten plates, four, three, two, and one. [lower-alpha 3] However, according to Pole (died 1635), Sir William Punchardon of Heanton Punchardon bore: Argent, a cross sarcel voided gules. [23] Rev. Punchard (1894) suggested this coat given by Pole was that of the Bovey (Little Bovey [24] ) line of the Punchardon family. Risdon (died 1640) gave the arms of Willelmus de Ponte Cardonis, de Lydyet (possibly Lydiard-Punchardon, Somerset) as: Argent, a cross moline voided gules. [25] The Crest was: A unicorn's head erased gules bezantee armed or. [lower-alpha 4]

Basset

Arms of Basset: Barry wavy of six or and gules. Arms of Basset.svg
Arms of Basset: Barry wavy of six or and gules.

The manor of Heanton Punchardon was held from the 15th century to 1802 by the Basset family, formerly of Umberleigh, whose seat was Heanton Court, situated on the bank of the River Taw, 3/4 mile SE of the village. The house is now the Tarka Inn. The last of the male line was Francis Basset (c. 1740 – 1802), MP for Barnstaple, who died in 1802 unmarried and without children. This last Francis Basset appears to have been the "Colonel Basset" who was master of the North Devon Staghounds (which became in 1837 the Devon and Somerset Staghounds) from 1775 t0 1784. Confusion however arises between this Francis Basset Esq. (c. 1740 – 1802) of Heanton Court and his contemporary and distant cousin (from a junior branch of the family) Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville and Basset (1757–1835), of Tehidy in Cornwall, who is stated in his History of Parliament biography to have been Lt-Col. of the North Devon Militia from 1779.

The mural monument to Elizabeth Bassett (1571–1635) is situated on the east wall of the Bassett Chapel. She was one of the four daughters and co-heiresses of Sir William Peryam (1534–1604), Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, by his second wife Anne Parker, daughter of John Parker of North Molton, Devon. She married in 1591 Sir Robert Bassett (1574–1641) of Heanton Punchardon, MP for Plymouth in 1593, and bore him two sons and four daughters, [27] amongst whom was Colonel Arthur Bassett, MP, who erected the monument.

Davie-Basset

The heir of Francis Basset (died 1802) was his nephew Joseph Davie Esq. of Watermouth Castle, near Lynmouth, son of John Davie of Orleigh Court, near Bideford, by his wife Eleanora Basset, Francis Basset's sister. In accordance with the terms of the inheritance, as was then usual in such cases, Joseph Davie and his descendants adopted the arms and surname of Basset in lieu of their patronymic.

Williams

Arms of Williams of Caerhays, Scorrier & Tregullow in Cornwall: Vair, three crescents or. Vair, three crescents or.svg
Arms of Williams of Caerhays, Scorrier & Tregullow in Cornwall: Vair, three crescents or.

A catalogue note in the Williams Estate Archive held in the North Devon Record Office under ref: B170, states: "William Williams purchased the Heanton Estate from the Bassetts in the mid nineteenth century and the family lived at Heanton Court". [29] Documents show Williams as the new owner as early as 1852 and the Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales in 1894-5 stated a member of the Williams family to be lord of the manor. [30] A younger member of this family became heir to the Davie-Basset family, namely Charles Henry Williams, Esq., (who later assumed the surname Basset) of Watermouth Castle, near Lynmouth, JP and MP for Barnstaple (1868–1874) and master of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds from 1887 to 1893. Born 16 November 1834, being the fourth surviving son of Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet (1791–1870), MFH, [31] of Tregullow, Cornwall, by his wife Caroline Eales, younger daughter of Richard Eales of Eastdon. He married on 7 January 1878, Harriet Mary Basset, only daughter of Arthur Davie Basset, Gentleman, of Watermouth Castle, and sister and co-heiress of Reverend Arthur Crawfurth Davie Basset, JP and MA, also of Watermouth. Again there had been a failure in the male Basset line. As a condition of his inheritance he assumed by Royal Licence in 1880 the surname of Basset in lieu of his patronymic, with the arms of Basset.

In 1861 the occupant of Heanton Court was George Norman. [32]

Notes

  1. regnal year 6 Edward II
  2. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Froissart. Chron : II. p. 296; III. p. 16. In vol: iv. Sir Richard is referred to as a Poitevin ; but this could only have been by enfeoffment. He was constantly at the Court of Edward III. See also Lysons' " Britannia," vi. p. 262.
  3. (Black shield with six or ten silver circles; Bovey Punchard: Silver shield with a red curly-ended hollowed-out cross) Guillim, John, Display of Heraldry, 1632, p.297: " Hee beareth sable, six plates : three, two and one: by the name of Punchardon. These are bullions of silver, having no manner of impression upon them: but are only prepared ready for the stampe. In the blazoning of this there is no mention made of colour, because they are alwaies silver" See also Berry’s " Encyclopaedia Heraldica," ii. and iv
  4. "Gold horned, red unicorn head with a jagged neck edge over gold coins".
  5. These arms are shown for Basseth in the Book Of Additions [26] by Matthew Paris (died 1259), showing heraldic shields of King Henry III (1216–1272) and his principal nobles. They can be seen on four 17th-century Basset family mural monuments in Heanton Punchardon Church

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Braunton</span> Village in Devon, England

Braunton is a large village, civil parish, ecclesiastical parish and former manor in Devon. The village is situated 5 miles (8 km) west of Barnstaple. It is one of the largest villages in Devon with a population at the 2021 census of 10,217 people. There are two electoral wards. Their joint population at the above census was 8,218. Within the parish is the fertile, low-lying Braunton Great Field, which adjoins the undulating Braunton Burrows, the Core Area in North Devon Biosphere Reserve, the largest psammosere in England. It confronts the Atlantic Ocean at the west of the parish at the large beach of Saunton Sands, one of the South West's international-standard surfing beaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watermouth Castle</span> Historic site in Devon, England

Watermouth Castle is a building in Watermouth, near Ilfracombe, North Devon, England, designed by George Wightwick as a residence for the Bassett family in the mid-19th century and is not a true castle but a country house built to resemble one. It has been designated as a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Peryam</span> English judge

Sir William Peryam of Little Fulford, near Crediton in Devon, was an English judge who rose to the position of Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer in 1593, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umberleigh</span> Human settlement in England

Umberleigh is a former large manor within the historic hundred of (North) Tawton, but today a small village in North Devon in England. It used to be an ecclesiastical parish, but following the building of the church at Atherington it became a part of that parish. It forms however a part of the civil parish of Chittlehampton, which is mostly located on the east side of the River Taw.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halsbury</span> Historic manor in north Devon, England

Halsbury is a historic manor in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is situated 2 miles north-east of the village of Parkham and 4 miles south-west of the town of Bideford. Halsbury was long a seat of the ancient Giffard family, a distant descendant of which was the celebrated lawyer Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury (1823–1921), who adopted the name Halsbury for his earldom and was the author of the essential legal reference books Halsbury's Statutes. Halsbury Barton, now a farmhouse, retains 16th- and 17th-century elements of the former manor house of the Giffard family. It was described in a record of 1560 as a "new dwelling house".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Basset (1462–1528)</span> English sheriff

Sir John Basset, of Tehidy in Cornwall and of Umberleigh in Devon was Sheriff of Cornwall in 1497, 1517 and 1522 and Sheriff of Devon in 1524. Although himself an important figure in the West Country gentry, he is chiefly remembered for his connection with the life of his second wife and widow Honor Grenville, who moved into the highest society when she remarried to Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle KG, an illegitimate son of King Edward IV, and an important figure at the court of King Henry VIII, his nephew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Henry Williams</span>

Charles Henry Williams of Pilton House and Westaway House, Pilton, near Barnstaple, and of Watermouth Castle all in North Devon, was a British naval and military officer, JP and Deputy Lieutenant for Devon, and a Conservative Party politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Barnstaple, 1868–1874. He was master of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds between 1887 and 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Basset family</span> Anglo-Norman family

Members of the Basset family were amongst the early Norman settlers in the Kingdom of England. It is currently one of the few ancient Norman families who has survived through the centuries in the paternal line. They originated at Montreuil-au-Houlme in the Duchy of Normandy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon and Somerset Staghounds</span>

The red deer of Exmoor have been hunted since Norman times, when Exmoor was declared a Royal Forest. Collyns stated the earliest record of a pack of Staghounds on Exmoor was 1598. In 1803, the "North Devon Staghounds" became a subscription pack. In 1824/5 30 couples of hounds, the last of the true staghounds, were sold to a baron in Germany. Today, the Devon and Somerset is one of three staghounds packs in the UK, the others being the Quantock Staghounds and the Tiverton Staghounds. All packs hunt within Devon and Somerset. The Chairman as of 2016 is Tom Yandle, who was previously High Sheriff of Somerset in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Bluett</span> English politician

John Bluett of Holcombe Court, lord of the manor of Holcombe Rogus in Devon, was MP for Tiverton from 1628 to 1629 when King Charles I embarked on his Personal Rule without parliament for eleven years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whitechapel, Bishops Nympton</span> Manor house in Devon, England

Whitechapel is an ancient former manor within the parish of Bishops Nympton, in north Devon. It was the earliest known residence of the locally influential Bassett family until 1603. The core of the present manor house is late 16th or early 17th century, with later additions and alterations, and was classed as Grade I listed on 9 June 1952.

The Manor of Loxhore was a manor in the parish of Loxhore, North Devon, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Coffin (1456–1523)</span>

Richard Coffin (1456–1523), of Alwington and Heanton Punchardon in North Devon, was a Sheriff of Devon.

The Manor of Shirwell was a manor in North Devon, England, centred on the village of Shirwell and largely co-terminous with the parish of Shirwell. It was for many centuries successively the seat of two of the leading families of North Devon, the Beaumonts and their heirs the Chichesters of Raleigh, Pilton, both of which families were seated at the estate of Youlston within the manor of Shirwell. The manor house which survives today known as Youlston Park is one of the most architecturally important historic houses in North Devon and exists largely in its Georgian form, but retains many impressive late 17th-century interiors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Basset (1518–1541)</span> Devonshire gentleman (1518–1541)

John Basset was an English gentleman from Devon, a member of the old Basset family, and heir to a substantial inheritance. His short life is well documented in the Lisle Papers. He studied law at Lincoln's Inn and at the age of 20, at the start of a promising career, entered the household of Thomas Cromwell, Lord Privy Seal, but died suddenly aged only 23, albeit having married and produced a son and heir, born posthumously. His stepfather and father-in-law was Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle, Lord Deputy of Calais (1533–1540), a bastard son of King Edward IV and thus uncle of King Henry VIII, whose arrest with that of his mother in 1540 at Calais for heresy and treason, was a major, potentially catastrophic, event in his life. He died a year after the arrests, from an unknown illness, but his siblings all went on to have successful careers, especially his younger brother James, mostly as royal courtiers, apparently unaffected by the crisis.

East Hagginton was a historic estate within the manor and parish of Berrynarbor near to the coast of North Devon. It is near to, if not actually encompassing, the site of Watermouth Castle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manor of Orleigh</span> Historic manor in Devon, England

Orleigh is a historic manor in the parish of Buckland Brewer, situated 4 miles to the south west of Bideford, North Devon, England. The manor house is known as Orleigh Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip Beaumont (1432–1473)</span> English nobleman (1432–1473)

Philip Beaumont (1432–1473), lord of the manors of Shirwell in North Devon and of Gittisham in East Devon, was a member of parliament for a constituency in Devon and was Sheriff of Devon in 1469. He was the rightful heir of his elder brother William Beaumont (1427–1453), a substantial landholder, but faced claims to his inheritance from his bastard nephew, John Bodrugan, "The Beaumont Bastard", the illegitimate son of Joan Courtenay, William's wife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manor of Gittisham</span> Historic manor

Gittisham is an historic manor largely co-terminous with the parish of Gittisham in Devon, England, within which is situated the village of Gittisham. The capital estate is Combe, on which is situated Combe House, the manor house of Gittisham, a grade I listed Elizabethan building situated 2 1/4 miles south-west of the historic centre of Honiton and 3 1/4 miles north-east of the historic centre of Ottery St Mary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Basset</span> Member of the Parliament of England

Sir Robert Basset, lord of the manor of Umberleigh and lord of the manor of Heanton Punchardon in Devon, England, was MP for Plymouth in 1593.

References

  1. Guillim, John, Display of Heraldry, 1632, p.297
  2. Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 16:69
  3. "The Domesday Book Online - Devonshire F-H".
  4. Robert-Collins, Dictionnaire Francais-Anglais, Paris, 1990, p.112
  5. Pole, p.411
  6. Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association Punchard of Heaton Punchardon - Records of an Unfortunate Family
  7. Pole, pp. 396–7, Heanton Punchardon
  8. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Testa de Nevill
  9. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Rotuli Hundredorum, vol. i
  10. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Placitorum in domo Capit: Westmonast: Abbreviatio,"p. 137
  11. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Placita de quo Warranto," p. 177.
  12. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Feet of Fines, 1877
  13. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Pole's " Collections," pp. 896, 411, 404, 288, 428, &c.
  14. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Pole's "Collections," p . 411
  15. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Register," p. 283.
  16. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Pole's •' Collections," p . 266.
  17. 1 2 Punchard, 1894, quoting: Palgrave, Writs
  18. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Palgrave, Writs.
  19. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Afterwards Baron Lovel of Kary. In 1313 Edward II and Isabella went to France for the coronation of Louis X, and this nobleman was in attendance
  20. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Foedera," 83° Ed : iii
  21. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Abbreviatio Rotm : Orig : in Curia Scaccarii," vol. ii. p. 253.
  22. Punchard, 1894, quoting: Feet of Fines
  23. Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.454; followed by Lysons Magna Britannia, Vol.6: Devon, 1822, clxix
  24. Pole, p.266
  25. "Full text of "The note-book of Tristram Risdon, 1608-1628"".
  26. Book of Additions by Matthew Paris (died 1259), British Library, Cotton MS Nero D I, fol 171v; see File:MatthewParis BookOfAdditions BritishLibrary.jpg
  27. History of Parliament biography of Sir Robert Bassett, MP
  28. Burke's Landed Gentry, 1937, p.2442
  29. "Access to Archives". The National Archives. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  30. "Heanton Punchardon, Devon genealogy heraldry and family history". UK Genealogy Archives. 18 December 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  31. Bailys Magazine
  32. Address given as subscriber to the Bath & West of England Society, 1861