The Manor of King's Nympton was a manor largely co-terminous with the parish of King's Nympton in Devon, England.
At the time of the Domesday Book of 1086, the whole manor of Nimetone, in the hundred of Witheridge, belonged to the King [2] and was held by him in demesne, [3] but King Henry I (1100–1135) granted the manor, together with that of Black Torrington, in Torrington hundred, to Joel de Mayne (Latinised to de Meduana). [4] He appears to have been a resident of Normandy, as when that former possession of the English kings became separated from England, King John (1199–1216) seized it back into royal ownership. [5]
The manor was probably re-granted by King John (1199–1216), as is known to have been the case with Black Torrington, to Geoffrey de Luscy. [6] The manor subsequently escheated to the crown by cause unknown.
King Henry III (1216–1272) granted the manor, again together with Black Torrington, to Roger la Zouche, [7] lord of the manor of North Molton. Risdon states that la Zouche granted the manor to Godfrey Lucy.
Sir Geoffrey de Cornwall was lord of the manor tempore King Edward III (1327–1377). His heir was a minor and became the ward of Enguerrand VII, Lord of Coucy, Earl of Bedford (1340–1397). He was succeeded successively by Sir Bryan de Cornwall and Sir John de Cornwall, temp Kings Henry IV (1399–1413) and Henry V (1413–1422).
The manor of King's Nympton was eventually purchased by Sir Lewis Pollard (c. 1465 – 1526), of Grilstone, Bishop's Nympton, Justice of the Common Pleas from 1514 to 1526 [11] and MP for Totnes in 1491 and JP in Devon in 1492. He enclosed a deer park in the late 15th century. His heir was his eldest son and heir Sir Hugh Pollard. [12]
Sir Hugh Pollard (fl. 1535, 1545), eldest son and heir, great-grandfather of Sir Lewis Pollard, 1st Baronet of King's Nympton. He was Sheriff of Devon in 1335/6 and Recorder of Barnstaple in 1545. [13] He married twice:
In 1539 Hugh Pollard acquired a 21-year lease of the site and demesne of Torre Abbey at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and in 1543 acquired the freehold from John St. Leger (died 1596) of Annery. [16]
Sir Lewis Pollard (died before 1569), eldest son and heir, was a serjeant-at-law and served as Recorder of Exeter from 1548. [18] [19] He married Joan Prust, daughter and heiress of Hugh Prust, Esquire, (died 1559) of Thorry, near Hartland (alias Thorvey, etc.), who married secondly Sir John Perrot (1528–1592), Lord Deputy of Ireland. [20] The Prust family were settled at "Gorven" from at the latest 1199, a deed of which date is recorded in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon as mentioning John Prust of Gorven. [21] Hugh Prust (died 1559) was the second son of John Prust of Thorry by his wife Agnes. Thorry had been held by an unnamed tenant in 1299 from the Abbot of Hartland for the rent of 1 lb of pepper, due annually at Michaelmas. [22] It was still held in 1566 (from overlord unknown) at the same rent, by the "heirs of Hugh Prust", i.e. the Pollards. [23] In 1530 Hugh Prust gave to St Nectan's Church, Hartland, the set of surviving bench-ends showing his initials "H P" each in its own shield. [24] Hugh Prust was one of the largest tenants of the lands of Hartland Abbey as revealed by the Valor Ecclesiasticus made in 1535 preparatory to its dissolution. Amongst his lands were the lease of the manor of Bykyngton (i.e. Abbots Bickington) which he had leased from the Abbey for 40 years paying £12 per annum rent. [25] This manor became the seat of his descendant Sir Amyas Pollard, 3rd Baronet (died 1701). Hugh Prust was described in a contemporary document as "a man of great wealth and of fair land and living" [26] and had a private chapel at Thorry served by the cleric John Horwell (died 1553), the prior of Hartland Abbey before its dissolution in 1539, who also served as mass-priest in St Mary's Guild, at the sole expense of Hugh Prust. [27] Hugh Prust's other lands held from Hartland Abbey in 1566 were: [28] the whole of: Friar's Hill, Holepark, Thorry and Wembsworthy; part of Elmscott, Hardisworthy, Pitt and Higher Velly. In addition the widow Katherine Prust (possibly the widow of Hugh Prust or of his brother Richard Prust (died 1550) of Wollesworthy [29] ) held possibly as her dower: part of Fursdon and Natcott. Lewis Pollard died before 1569 and his infant sons became wards of Sir John Chichester (died 1569) of Raleigh. He left the following children:
Sir Hugh Pollard, eldest son and heir, married twice:
"My Jacob [30] had by mee
As many sonnes as hee,
Daughters twice three"
Above her portrait is a chronogram in verse:
"See heer In ChrIst sLeeps shee,
FroM paInefVLL Labors free,
Her VVorks henCe foLLoVV on,
To resVrreCtIon"
If the capital letters in red are added together as Roman numerals ("VV" being treated as V + V, and the first letters of each line excluded) the sum of 1634 results, Susanna's date of death. [31] The remaining unused letters are SFHT, the initial letters of each line, of uncertain cryptic meaning. Below the chronogram is a heraldic escutcheon showing the arms of Northcote impaling Pollard: Argent, a chevron sable between three escallops gules. Below her portrait inscribed on a black stone tablet is the following verse:
"Jehovah first compos'd us two in one,
Then made one two, till strong affection
Did reunite us one; Death tried his skill
To part's us againe, but could not worke his will
One was our hope, faith, comfort, one's o(u)r tombe
One place our soule hath, till the day of Dome
Regia pacifisae commisit chartula libram
Justitiae lustris aetatis quinque peractis
Libravit rectum pura cum mente probatus
Stellata camera spectatur ut ignibus aurum"
Sir Lewis Pollard, 1st Baronet (c. 1578 – c. 1645), eldest son and heir. He was created a baronet on 31 May 1627. He married Margaret Berkeley, daughter of Sir Henry Berkeley of Bruton. [36]
Sir Hugh Pollard, 2nd Baronet (c. 1610 – 1666), eldest son and heir. During the Civil War the Pollards were staunch Royalists but Sir Hugh Pollard was fined £518 for his "delinquency”. It may have been the severity of this fine which caused him to sell the manor to his cousin Sir Arthur Northcote, 2nd Baronet (1628–1688), whose large inscribed slate ledger stone and funeral helm survives in King's Nympton Church, the place of his burial.
The manor remained in the Northcote family until 1740 when it was sold to James Buller (1717–1765) of Morval, Cornwall.
James Buller (1717–1765) was MP for East Looe 1741–1747 and for Cornwall 1748–1765. [38] His first wife Elizabeth Gould (died 1742) was the heiress of the estate of Downes near Crediton in Devon, which became at some time the principal seat of the family. [39] He married secondly in 1744 to Hon. Jane Bathurst (died 1794), second daughter of Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, of Cirencester Park, and sister of Henry Bathurst, 2nd Earl Bathurst (1714–1794), Lord Chancellor 1771–1778. It appears she did not wish to live in the house of her husband's first wife, or else had a liking for the new Palladian fashion in architecture, as James built for her a new house at King's Nympton. He demolished the previous mediaeval manor house at King's Nympton and built in its place between 1746–9 the fine Palladian mansion which was then known as "New Place", which survives today known as "King's Nympton Park". His architect was Francis Cartwright of Blandford in Dorset and the design was based on Marble Hill in Twickenham, one of the earliest Palladian houses in England built between 1724–9. [40] In 1756 James Buller donated to the parish church a magnificent set of silver-gilt vessels, being a thanks-offering for the survival of himself, his children and over 80 parishioners after an inoculation against smallpox. The set comprises a chalice, paten, flagon and alms dish. [41] The Bullers eventually withdrew to Downes in about 1839 and in 1842 [42] sold the estate to James Tanner, who added the existing low Tuscan porch.
The Tanner (alias Mortimer) family of yeoman status had been established at Rose Ash and at Creacombe since at the latest the 17th. century. [43] John Davy of Flitton, North Molton, one of the leading pioneers in the breeding of North Devon cattle, married Elizabeth Tanner, and had by her a son John Davy Tanner, living in 1824.
James Tanner (1783–1868), JP, DL, of King's Nympton Park, was the son of Robert Tanner by his wife Mary Melhuish, daughter of Thomas Melhuish. He was the grandson of Jonathan Tanner of Rose Ash. [44] In 1827 James Tanner of King's Nympton married Elizabeth Vowler, the daughter of John Vowler of Parnacott. [45] James Tanner appears to have held a lease of King's Nympton Park before he purchased the property in 1842, as the Trewman's Exeter Flying Post of Thursday, October 2, 1823 made the following report of his hospitality towards his farm-workers: [46]
On Wednesday last, Mr James Tanner, of King's Nympton, one of the largest agriculturists in the North of Devon, on the completion of his harvest, and according to his annual custom, gave his labourers, amounting to upwards of 100, on the lawn in front of his residence, a good and plentiful repast of true old English Fare - roast beef and plum pudding, with an abundance of beer and cider. The joyous feast presented a most gratifying sight, particularly so when the customary neck was given, after which the merry dance commenced with a good band of music and glee and merriment prevailed; until night spread her sable mantle, and closed the festive scene; the jovial groups before retiring gave 3 hearty cheers to their benevolent employer and sung 'God Save the King'. A party of gentlemen, friends of Mr Tanner, met on the occasion at his hospitable mansion and with Mr Radford's capital pack of harriers enjoyed a good mornings sport; an excellent dinner welcomed them on their return, which met with a warm reception from the hunters and the remainder of the day was spent in mirth and harmony.
James Tanner had the following children by his wife Elizabeth Vowler:
Rev. John Vowler Tanner (died 1903), of King's Nympton Park, eldest son and heir, rector of Chawleigh. In 1871 he married Eliza Thompson (died 1909) elder daughter of Sir Matthew William Thompson, 1st Baronet (1820–1891), of Parkgate, Guiseley, Yorkshire. [48]
Charles Peile Tanner (b. 1873), eldest son, of King's Nympton Park. He was educated at Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He married in 1914 Frances Isabel Atkinson, daughter of William Fletcher Atkinson of Ilkley, Yorkshire. [49]
Moreton House is a grade II listed country house and former large estate near Bideford, North Devon, England. The house is about one mile west of the old centre of Bideford town, its entrance drive leading off the south side of the road between Bideford and the village of Abbotsham. It has in recent years become increasingly surrounded by the suburbs of Bideford, and in 2014 only 5 acres of the former parkland remain attached to the house. The estate is said anciently to have been the property of the famous Grenville family, lords of the Manor of Bideford, and of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall. It was later acquired by the Buck merchant family of Bideford, which rebuilt the house in 1760 and again in 1821.
The Pollard Baronetcy, of King's Nympton in the County of Devon, was a title in the Baronetage of England. It was created on 31 May 1627 for Lewis Pollard. The second Baronet sat as Member of Parliament for Bere Alston, Callington and Devon. The title became extinct on the death of the third Baronet in 1701.
Sir Hugh Pollard lord of the manor of King's Nympton in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1535/6 and in 1545 was appointed Recorder of Barnstaple in Devon.
Sir Hugh Pollard, 2nd Baronet was an English soldier and MP elected for Bere Alston in 1640, Callington in 1660, and Devon in 1661. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War.
Sir Lewis Pollard of Grilstone in the parish of Bishop's Nympton, Devon, was Justice of the Common Pleas from 1514 to 1526 and served as MP for Totnes in 1491 and was a JP in Devon in 1492. He was knighted after 1509. He was one of several Devonshire men to be "innated with a genius to study law", as identified by Fuller, who became eminent lawyers at a national level. He was a kinsman of the judge and Speaker of the House of Commons Sir John Pollard.
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.
Hall is a large estate within the parish and former manor of Bishop's Tawton, Devon. It was for several centuries the seat of a younger branch of the prominent and ancient North Devon family of Chichester of Raleigh, near Barnstaple. The mansion house is situated about 2 miles south-east of the village of Bishop's Tawton and 4 miles south-east of Barnstaple, and sits on a south facing slope of the valley of the River Taw, overlooking the river towards the village of Atherington. The house and about 2,500 acres of surrounding land continues today to be owned and occupied by descendants, via a female line, of the Chichester family. The present Grade II* listed neo-Jacobean house was built by Robert Chichester between 1844 and 1847 and replaced an earlier building. Near the house to the south at the crossroads of Herner the Chichester family erected in the 1880s a private chapel of ease which contains mediaeval woodwork saved from the demolished Old Guildhall in Barnstaple.
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Downes House is situated about one mile east of Crediton in Devon. The house is an 18th-century Palladian re-modelling of an earlier house. It was classed Grade II* listed on 20 May 1985. Nearby is the site of a Roman villa, revealed by crop-marks as a rectangular enclosure containing a winged-corridor structure. In 2012 the estate comprised 1400 acres, including the Home Farm, Fordton Barton, Uton Barton, Dunscombe Farm and other land 110 acres and parkland.
The Manor of Molland was a medieval manor in North Devon, England. It was largely co-terminous with the existing parish of Molland, in which is situated the village of Molland. More accurately it consisted from the earliest times of two separate manors, held from separate overlords, later known as Molland-Bottreaux and Molland-Champson.
Joseph Prust (1620–1677) of Annery, in the parish of Monkleigh, Devon, was a royalist military commander during the Civil War. He was a lieutenant colonel.
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".
Way is a historic estate in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, Devon. It is situated about 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of the village of St Giles in the Wood and about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the town of Great Torrington. It was described by Hoskins (1959) as "the fons et origo of the mighty tribe of Pollard" and had been acquired by them from the de la Way family at some time before 1242.
Affeton is a former historic manor in Devon. It was at one time also a parish with its own parish church, but was later merged into the parish of West Worlington. The manor house was almost entirely demolished in the Civil War, the only part left standing was the gatehouse, which fell into ruin. A large farmhouse known as "Affeton Barton" was soon after built over the foundations and cellars of the manor house. The ruinous gatehouse was converted in 1868–9 to a shooting box for the use of the Stucley family of Hartland Abbey and Moreton House, Bideford, and became known thereafter as "Affeton Castle".
Warleigh is an historic estate within the parish of Bickleigh in Devon, about 6 miles from Plymouth. Warleigh House, the manor house of the manor of Tamerton Foliot is situated one mile west of that village on the south-east bank of the River Tavy where it joins the River Tamar. It was remodelled in about 1830 in the Gothic style by John Foulston and has been listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England since 1960.
Canonteign is an historic tything in the parish of Christow, near Chudleigh, in South Devon, England and situated in the valley of the River Teign. It belonged to Merton Priory in Surrey, founded in 1117 by King Henry I for the Black Canons (Augustinians). It is best known today for the Canonteign Falls waterfall. Canonteign today contains three significant houses: the original Grade I listed 16th-century manor house, the ancient barton house situated nearby behind a granite wall, and a new mansion house built by the Pellew family in the early 19th century nearby, to which that family moved their residence thereby abandoning the old manor house.
Woolleigh is an historic estate in the parish of Beaford, Devon. The surviving mansion house known as Woolleigh Barton, situated 1 3/4 miles north-west of the parish church of Beaford, is a grade II* listed building, long used as a farmhouse. It incorporates remains of a "very fine example of a late Medieval manor house" and retains a "very rich" 15th century wagon roof, a garderobe with the original door, and an attached private chapel with a 17th-century roof.
Sir Hugh Stucley (1496–1559) was lord of the manor of Affeton in Devon, and was Sheriff of Devon in 1545. His third son was Thomas Stukley, known as "The Lusty Stucley".
The manor of Alverdiscott was a manor situated in north Devon, England, which included the village of Alverdiscott.
The manor of Haccombe was a historic manor in the small parish of Haccombe, near the town of Newton Abbot, Devon, England. It was the seat of important branches of the Courtenay and Carew families.