Kittisford is a historic manor near Wellington in Somerset, England. It is situated on the River Tone, south of the village of Bathealton. The surviving manor house is called Kittisford Barton, situated formerly within the historic parish of Kittisford, now amalgamated into the parish of Stawley. It was built in the late 15th or early 16th century. It is a Grade II* listed building. [1]
The Domesday Book of 1086 lists the manor of Chedesford as held in-chief from King William the Conqueror by Roger Arundel, whose tenant there was a certain William. Immediately before the Norman Conquest of 1066 it had been held by the Saxon Osmund Stramun. The Domesday entry may be translated from Latin as follows: [2]
The descendants of the Domesday Book tenant "William" later assumed the surname de Kittisford, and held this manor till the time of Henry III, when the family died out in the male line. The daughter and heiress of John de Kittisford, the last in the male line, married John de Sydenham, lord of the manor of Sydenham near Bridgwater, Somerset, to whom therefore passed the manor of Kittisford. [4]
The Sydenham family of Sydenham, [5] about 1/4 mile east of the centre of modern Bridgwater, now the site of Bridgwater College, held Kittisford for several generations. The family split into many prominent branches, the senior branch died out in the male line in the 15th century when Sydenham passed via the heiress to the Cave family, then to the Percival family, later Earl of Egmont. The next senior line was seated in the early 15th century at Combe Sydenham in Somerset, of which family was Simon Sydenham (died 1438), Bishop of Chichester, and later inherited the Somerset manors of Orchard Sydenham (later called Orchard Wyndham) and Brympton d'Evercy, which latter remained the seat of the Sydenham baronets, which title was created in 1641. [6]
In 1481 Kittisford passed to the Blewett family on the marriage of Agnes Sydenham, daughter and heiress of John Sydenham, to Nicholas Blewet of Lottisham. [8] The Blewett family had long been seated at nearby Greenham and at nearby Holcombe Rogus in Devon. Walter Blewet, a descendant of Nicholas, as is recorded in his inquisition post mortem, held at his death the manor of Kittisford, and the advowson of the Church of St. Nicholas thereto belonging and a messuage and one hundred acres of land called South Cothay in the parish of Kittisford, held from the overlord "Eleanor, Countess of Northumberland" (apparently Eleanor Poynings, widow of Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland (1421-1461)), by grand serjeanty of one pair of spurs to be paid yearly. His son and heir was Nicholas Blewett (born 1451). [9] In St. Nicholas' Church, Kittisford, survives a monumental brass to Richard Bluett (d.1524) and his wife Agnes Verney. [10] [11] Richard Bluett (d.1524) was the younger son of Walter Bluett of Holcombe Rogus by his wife Jane St Maur, daughter of John St Maur by his wife Elizabeth Brooke, daughter of Thomas Brooke (c.1391-1439), MP for Dorset and Somerset. [12] [13]
In 1791 the owner of the manor of Kittisford was Thomas Langdon. [14]
Holcombe Rogus is a village, civil parish and ecclesiastical parish in the English county of Devon. In 2001 the population of the parish was 503.
Orchard Wyndham is a historic manor near Williton in Somerset, centred on the synonymous grade I listed manor house of Orchard Wyndham that was situated historically in the parish of Watchet and about two miles south of the parish church of St Decuman's, Watchet. Parts of the manor house are medieval. It has been owned for more than 700 years by the prominent Wyndham family, who continue there as of 2015.
Combe Sydenham is an historic manor in Somerset, England. The 15th-century manor house, called Combe Sydenham House is in the parish of Stogumber, Somerset and is situated just within the boundary of Exmoor National Park. It is a Grade I listed building.
Kerswell Priory was a small Cluniac priory in the parish of Broadhembury in Devon, England.
Blackborough is a hamlet and former manor in the parish of Kentisbeare, Devon, England. It is situated within the Mid Devon district. The nearest substantial town is Cullompton, approximately 4.7 miles (7.6 km) to the south-west. Within Blackborough are situated the large mansion of Blackborough House also notable are Hayne Farm and the Old Smithy. The former neo-Gothic Early English style parish church of All Saints, built in 1838 by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont, lord of the manor, who also built Blackborough House was demolished in 1994, having become structurally unsafe. The churchyard however is still maintained and the ecclesiastical parish and parochial church council still exist.
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.
Sir John Chichester (1519/20-1569) of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple in North Devon, was a leading member of the Devonshire gentry, a naval captain, and ardent Protestant who served as Sheriff of Devon in 1550-1551, and as Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1547, April 1554, and 1563, and as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1559, over which borough his lordship of the manor of Raleigh, Pilton had considerable influence.
The surname Denys was borne by at least three prominent mediaeval families seated in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon in southwest England between 1166 and 1641. It is not known if any relationship existed between these families. The surname Denys is just one of many variant spellings of the name: Denise, Le Deneis, Le Danies, le Deneys ,and most recently Dennis, are some of the others.
Holcombe Rogus is a historic manor in the parish of Holcombe Rogus in Devon, England. The present grade I listed Tudor manor house known as Holcombe Court was built by Sir Roger Bluett c. 1540 and was owned by the Bluett family until 1858 when the estate was sold to Rev. William Rayer. The house is immediately to the west of the parish church. The gardens and grounds are screened off from the public road at the south by a high wall in which is a tall and broad entrance archway which forms the start of the entrance drive.
The historic manor of Raleigh, near Barnstaple and in the parish of Pilton, North Devon, England, was the first recorded home in the 14th century of the influential Chichester family of Devon. It was recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 together with three other manors that lay within the later-created parish of Pilton. The manor lies above the River Yeo on the southern slope of the hill on top of which stand the ruins of the Anglo-Saxon hillfort called Roborough Castle. Part of the historic manor of Raleigh is now the site of the North Devon District Hospital.
Merryfield is a historic estate in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset, England. It was the principal seat of the Wadham family, and was called by Prince their "noble moated seat of Meryfeild" (sic). The mansion house was demolished in 1618 by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645), of Orchard Wyndham, a nephew and co-heir of Nicholas II Wadham (1531–1609), co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford, the last in the senior male line of the Wadham family. It bears no relation to the present large 19th-century grade II listed mansion known as Merryfield House, formerly the vicarage, immediately south of St Peter's Church, Ilton.
The manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone in north Devon and the nearby manors of Chenudestane and Chenuestan are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086:
Bableigh is an historic estate in the parish of Parkham in North Devon, England. It is separated from the village of Parkham by the Bableigh Brook. It was the earliest recorded seat of the Risdon family in Devonshire, from which was descended the Devon historian Tristram Risdon.
The Manor of Poltimore is a former manor in Devon, England. The manor house known as Poltimore House survives in its 18th-century remodelled form, but has been dilapidated for several decades. A charity named the "Poltimore House Trust" has been established for the purpose of its restoration. The manor was situated within the historic Wonford Hundred and was largely coterminous with the parish of Poltimore and contained the village of Poltimore, 4 miles (6.4 km) north-east of the historic centre of the City of Exeter. It should not be confused with the eponymous Devon estate of Poltimore in the parish of Farway, 16 miles (26 km) east of Exeter. Poltimore was the principal seat of the Bampfylde family from c. 1300 to 1920.
Sir William Wadham (c.1386–1452) of Merryfield in the parish of Ilton, Somerset and Edge in the parish of Branscombe, Devon came from a West Country gentry family with a leaning towards the law, who originally took their name from the manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone, between South Molton and Exmoor, north Devon.
Sydenham House, the manor house of the ancient manor of Sydenham in the parish of Wembdon, Somerset, England, is a grade II listed building, constructed in the early 16th century and refronted and rebuilt after 1613. In 1937, British Cellophane Ltd set up production and built extensive factories on 59 acres (24 ha) of land adjacent to the manor house. Production ceased in 2005 and between 2010 and 2015 the industrial site was razed to the ground. In 2015 the razed site is owned by EDF Energy, which in 2012 purchased the manor house with the former factory site, intended for construction of temporary accommodation for 1,000 workers.
Combe is a historic estate in Somerset, England, situated between the town of Dulverton and the village of Brushford.
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.
Weycroft is an historic manor in the parish of Axminster in Devon, England. The surviving manor house known as "Weycroft Hall" is a Grade I listed building which includes elements from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, with a great hall of circa 1400, and was restored in the 19th century.
Brooke in the parish of Ilchester in Somerset, England, was an historic estate, the earliest known seat of the prominent Brooke family, Barons Cobham.
