North Molton is an historic manor in Devon, England.
North Molton is an historic manor in Devon, England.
North Molton was a manor within the royal demesne (known as Nortmoltone [1] in 1086) until it was granted to a member of the la Zouche family by King John (1199–1216). In 1270 Roger la Zouche was granted licence to hold a weekly market in the manor and an annual fair on All Saints' Day. [2] Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), son of Roger de la Zouche, was born in North Molton on St Denis's Day (9 October) 1267 and was baptised in the church there, as was testified by his uncle "Henry la Zuche, clerk" at his proof of age inquisition in 1289. [3] In 1313 he donated the advowson of the church to Lilleshall Abbey in Shropshire, [4] which retained it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. [5] The family's mansion-house was at Burcombe, the castellated remains of which were still visible in about 1750. [6] The site, which is today Burcombe Farm, is 1 1/4 miles SW of the church on the ridge road leading to South Molton.
A member of the family of St Maur (or "Seymour") married a co-heiress of la Zouche, and thereby acquired the manor of North Molton. [4] The Devon historian Tristram Risdon (d.1640) gives the arms of "Nicolas, Lord St. Maur, of Northmolton" and of "Richard, Lord St. Maur, sonne of Nicolas" as: Argent, two chevronels gules a label of three points vert. [7]
A surviving deed dated 1377 is summarised as follows: [8]
In 1503 North Molton was held by Sir William Seymour, the 4th son of John Seymour (died 1491), feudal baron of Hatch Beauchamp in Somerset, grandfather of Queen Jane Seymour. Sir William Seymour was made a Knight of the Bath at the marriage of Prince Arthur to Catherine of Aragon, and by his will dated 1503 he bequeathed his manor of "North Moulton in Devonshire" to his wife Margaret for her life, with other lands in Somerset to the value of 40 shillings per annum. [9]
During the reign of King Edward IV (1461–1483) William Bampfylde married Margaret St. Maur, and thus the manor eventually passed to the Bampfyldes, [10] lords of the manor of Poltimore.
Adjacent to the west of the church is "Court House", not to be confused with "Court Hall" the later residence of the Bampfyldes to the immediate east of the church. In 1550 Edmund Parker, "gent" the son and heir apparent of John Parker of North Molton, Esquire, was granted by John Zouche, Baron Zouche (of Haryngworth), by deed of gift, the office of bailiff of the manor of North Molton and lands called "Legh" for the term of his life. [11] Three years later in 1553 the Parkers built Court House. The Parker family appear to have started as local wool-merchants. Whilst never lords of the manor of North Molton they seem to have acquired the advowson of the church shortly after the Dissolution, which they retained until after 1839, in which year they made their last appointment of the vicar. [12]
The early genealogy of the Parker family as given in the heraldic visitations of Devon appears unreliable. A deed exists which records that in 1550 Edmund Parker, "gent" the son and heir apparent of John Parker of North Molton, Esquire, was granted by John la Zouche, 8th Baron Zouche (of Haryngworth), 9th Baron St Maur (c. 1486–1550), by deed of gift, the office of bailiff of the manor of North Molton and lands called "Legh" for the term of his life. [11] Three years later in 1553 the Parkers built Court House. Having originated in North Molton and having built Court House, the Parker family steadily grew in importance. The descent of the family is given as follows in the Heralds' Visitation of Devon: [15]
Thomas Parker (d.1545), buried in his family vault under the chancel, married Elizabeth Fry, a daughter and co-heiress of John Fry of "Fry's Hele" (today corrupted to "Friars Hele") in the parish of Meeth, near Hatherleigh, which was still owned by the Earl of Morley in 1822 according to Lysons, Magna Britannia. The Devon historian Tristram Risdon writing in about 1630 states in his account of Meeth: "Another barton of the same name (i.e. of "Hele") carrieth the adjunct of its ancient owners the Fryes, the last of which family had issue Elizabeth wedded to Parker of North Molton by which name Fryshele is now inherited". [16] The senior line of the Fry family was seated at Yarty in the parish of Membury in Devon. The arms of Parker impaling Fry of Fry's Hele (Vert, three horses courant argent [17] ) appear on the wooden panelling now in the chancel of North Molton Church, formerly in Court House.
John Parker (son), married the heiress of Thomas Ellicott of Bratton Clovelly, Devon, 8 miles west of Okehampton. The Earl of Morley still held Ellicott Barton in 1822 as reported by Lysons. [18] It seems to have been the daughter of this John Parker, Anne Parker, who became in about 1570 the second wife of William Peryam (1534–1604), of Little Fulford near Crediton, the future Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer. He was buried in the family vault under the chancel on 18 May 1611. [19] The arms of Parker impaling Ellicott (Lozengy or and azure) [20] appear on the wooden panelling now in the chancel of North Molton Church, formerly in Court House.
Edmund Parker (d.1635) (son), who married Dorothy Smith, daughter of Clement Smith (c.1515-1552) of Great Baddow in Essex, Lord Treasurer’s Remembrancer in the Exchequer (often erroneously called "Chief Baron of the Exchequer"), MP for Maldon 1545 and 1547, [21] [22] by his wife Dorothy Seymour, youngest daughter of Sir John Seymour (d.1536) of Wulfhall, Wiltshire, and sister of Queen Jane Seymour (d.1537), wife of King Henry VIII. Edmund Parker's wife was thus the first cousin of King Edward VI (1547–1553). Dorothy Seymour's eldest brother was Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (d.1552), Lord Protector of England from 1547 until 1549 during the minority of his nephew, King Edward VI. The Duke's arms, a special grant from King Henry VIII, appear on the Parker panelling in North Molton Church. The peacock arms of Smith (Argent, a cross gules between four peacocks close proper) are also shown on the Parker panelling and were confirmed by the Deputies of the heralds Camden and Clarenceux, as listed in the Heralds' Visitation of Warwickshire and Leicestershire, to Francis Smyth, of Wooton, grandson of Sir John Smyth, and 5th in descent from John Carrington "or Smith" (d.1446), who was 5th in descent from Sir Michael Carrington, Standard Bearer to King Richard I, and who died in the Holy Land. In May 1635 Edmund Parker (d. August 1635) made the following grant: [23]
Lease 1) Edmund Parker of North Molton, esquire 2) John Williams the elder, yeoman, Philip Shapland of North Molton, husbandman, John Williams the younger, all of North Molton.
Tithes, tenths, oblations, obventions and offerings arising out of the boroughs and parishes of Twitchen and North Molton. Also the Eaver barn, the two higher barns, the lower shippen [one illegible], the Mowhaie, the Courtelage below the Mowhaie, the outer Kitchen and storehouse over the same and the Chamber over the two storehouses, the deyhouse and the larder and the two [illegible] and the wool chamber adjoining with the pasturage of the grass of the churchyard [illegible], all in North Molton.Term: five years.Rent: £350 pa.
This appears to relate to the outbuildings of Court House, next to the churchyard.
John Parker (d.1610) (son), who predeceased his father, was Sheriff of Devon. In 1582 he married Frances Mayhew, only child and heiress of Jerome/Jeronimy Mayhew of Boringdon manor, in the parish of Plympton St Mary, near Plymouth, Devon. The arms of Parker impaling Mayhew (Gules, a chevron vairy between three ducal crowns or) [24] appear on the wooden panelling now in the chancel of North Molton Church, formerly in Court House. The marriage settlement dated 4 October 1582 is summarised as follows: [25]
Marriage Settlement 1) Edmund Parker of Burley, St Thomas near Exeter, esquire 2) Fraunces Mayhowe, sole daughter and heir apparent of Jerome Mayhowe. Annuity of £66 13s 4d arising out of 1)'s lands in Plympton St Mary
Consideration: Marriage of John Parker and Fraunces Mayhowe.
A certain Richard Mayhowe of Tavistock, gent. had acquired this manor on 22 May 1549 as the following quitclaim testifies: [26]
Quitclaim 1) Thomas Wriothesley, knight of the order of the garter, Lord Wriothesley, Duke of Southampton 2) Richard Mayhowe of Tavistock, gent.
Manor of Boringdon, formerly belonging to the now dissolved priory of Plympton
Edmund Parker (1592–1649) (grandson, son of John Parker (d.1610)), baptised at Bratton Clovelly. He married Anna Seymour (d.1639), a daughter of the highly influential Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baronet (c. 1563–1613) of Berry Pomeroy, Devon, grandson (in the lower ranking elder line) of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1500–1552), Lord Protector, brother of Queen Jane Seymour and uncle of King Edward VI.
Edmund Parker (1613–1691) (son), married Alice (d.1664)
George Parker (1651–1743) (2nd and eldest surviving son), married as his second wife Anne Buller, daughter of John Buller (d.1716), MP, of Morval in Cornwall. In 1712 he purchased the manor of Saltram, near Boringdon, from the Carteret family.
John Parker (1703–1768) (3rd and eldest surviving son), married Catherine Poulett, daughter of Queen Anne's minister John Poulett, 1st Earl Poulett (d.1743) and made Saltram his chief seat, having embarked on an ambitious re-building programme, perhaps influenced by the 1730s re-modelling by Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (1696–1751) at Castle Hill, Filleigh. [28]
John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735–1788) (son), who married as his second wife Hon. Theresa Robinson (1744/5-1775), second daughter of Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham.
John Parker, 1st Earl of Morley (1772–1840) (son), who was created Viscount Boringdon and Earl of Morley in 1815.
Court House was built in 1553 and its front is long and of two storeys. One room contains Tudor panelling and a fireplace surround from Poltimore House dated to 1692. [29] Other oak panelling from Court House now lines the chancel of North Molton Church. Carved with arms of the Parker family and families with which they were connected, this panelling probably dates from around the 1650s and was moved to the church in the 1840s. [29]
The original Jacobean "Court Hall" to the immediate east of the church was built by Sir Amyas Bampfylde (d.1626). [30] It was enlarged in 1835 by his George Bampfylde, 1st Baron Poltimore (d.1858), 7th in descent from Sir Amyas, shortly after his elevation to the peerage in 1831. The family's main seat was at Poltimore House near Exeter, in south Devon, now in a ruinous state, and Court Hall served largely as a hunting lodge for which its proximity to Exmoor with its red deer served well. By 1841 the Bampfylde family owned 10,000 acres of the 15,000 covered by North Molton parish, the second largest in Devon. Following the death in 1936 due to an accident of Hon. Coplestone John de Grey Warwick Bampfylde (d.1936), the only son and heir of George Wentworth Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baron Poltimore (1882–1965), the 4th Baron Poltimore moved to Rhodesia in the 1950s. Although his heir to the barony was his younger brother Arthur Blackett Warwick Bampfylde, 5th Baron Poltimore (1883–1967), Lord Poltimore was free to dispose of his manorial lands at North Molton as he pleased. The Barons Poltimore have since resided at The Ancient House, Peasenhall, Saxmundham in Suffolk. [31] About half of the estate was sold to the tenant farmers, and Lord Poltimore's daughter Lady Stucley remained to administer the remnant. Lady Stucley, née Hon. Sheila Margaret Warwick Bampfylde (b.1912), married Sir Dennis Stucley, 5th Baronet (1907–1983) of Hartland Abbey and Affeton Castle both in North Devon. The additional property of Court Hall was therefore no longer needed by the family and it was let as a private nursery school. When the school closed the house was found to be in poor repair and the main part was demolished leaving only the servants' wing which had been added in 1902. [32] The property is still owned by a descendant of Lord Poltimore, in the person of Mrs Sara Susan Worthington (b.1942), née Stucley, youngest daughter of Sir Dennis Bankes Stucley, 5th Bt., by his wife Hon. Sheila Bampfylde. She married firstly in 1963, and later divorced, Sir Michael Peto, 4th Baronet (1938–2008), by whom she had issue Sir Henry Christopher Morton Bampfylde Peto, 5th Baronet (b.1967). She married secondly, as his second wife, Capt. Charles William David Worthington (b.1930) of Kingston Russell House, Dorset. He is the son of Lt William Greville Worthington (d.1942), RNVR, by his wife Lady (Mary) Diana Duncombe (1905–1943), daughter of Charles Duncombe, 2nd Earl of Feversham (d.1916) by Lady Mary Blanche Eva Greville (d.1964), daughter of Francis Greville, 5th Earl of Warwick. Court Hall has functioned from about 2008 as a bed and breakfast hotel. The family also still retains substantial land at North Molton on which it operates a commercial game-bird shoot, leased to a syndicate.
The following are some of the historic estates which were at one time situated within the manor or parish of North Molton:
One of three entries for "Molland" in the Exeter Domesday Book of 1086 relates to a small sub-manor now in the parish of North Molton. This manor in the former North Molton hundred was held by Tetbald, son of Berner, and is unrelated to today's Molland village, parish, estate and former manor. It is memorialised today by Molland Cross and Molland Farm, north west of North Molton village. Risdon (c. 1630) confused this manor with Molland-Champson, in today's parish of Molland. [33] It was at one time held by Ralph Sarazenus (the Latinised form of the name), and took the name "Molland-Sarazen". In 1326 it was held as one knight's fee from the feudal barony of Great Torrington, the lord of 1/5th of which was William FitzMartin, also feudal baron of Barnstaple, who died sine prole in 1326. His inquisition post mortem lists all his land-holdings including under the section "Fees pertaining to a fifth part of the barony of Toryton": "Mollond: 1 fee held by Thomas Sarasin". [34]
In 1489 following the death of Sir Richard Edgecumbe, a successor to the Zouche family as feudal baron of Totnes, it is recorded in his inquisition post mortem that he held in addition to that barony, among other holdings: "a messuage, 40 acres arable, 20 acres meadow, 60 acres furze and heather in Swancote within the manor of North Molton, worth 13 shillings and 4 pence". [35]
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Polham (Pulham) was one of 31 Devon landholdings held in chief from the king by Roald Dubbed, about whom little is known. It had been held before 1066 by two thanes freely and jointly. His tenant there was Reginald, who held other lands from him also. Attached to this estate was Plantelie (Praunsley), [36] which survive today as two neighbouring farms now in the parish of Twitchen, formerly within North Molton manor. Praunsley together with neighbouring Millbrook, passed at some time to the ownership of Pilton Priory and following the Dissolution of the Monasteries was one of its many holdings acquired in 1544 by George Rolle (d.1552) of Stevenstone and George Haydon, co-MP's for Barnstaple in 1545. Its tenant was then Bartholomew Staveley, and its annual value was 8 shillings 6 pence. [37] Both these farms were sold by Lord Poltimore to their tenants in the early 20th century.
Held by Pilton Priory and following the Dissolution of the Monasteries was one of its many holdings acquired by George Rolle (d.1552) of Stevenstone. [37]
Earl of Morley, of Morley in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for John Parker, 2nd Baron Boringdon. At the same time he was created Viscount Boringdon, of North Molton in the County of Devon, which is used as a courtesy title by the heir apparent to the earldom. It does not seem to have any connection with Baron Morley of Morley in Norfolk, held by another Parker family in the 16th century.
Saltram House is a grade I listed George II era house in Plympton, Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". The house was designed by the architect Robert Adam, who altered and greatly expanded the original Tudor house on two occasions. The Saloon is considered one of Adam's finest interiors. Saltram is one of Britain's best preserved examples of an early Georgian house, and retains much of its original décor, plasterwork and furnishings. It contains the Parker family's large collection of paintings, including several by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), who was born and educated at Plympton, and was a friend of the Parker family.
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.
Baron Morley was a title in the peerage of England. On 29 December 1299 William Morley, lord of the manor of Morley Saint Botolph in Norfolk, was summoned to Parliament, regarded as the creation of a hereditary barony. At the death of the sixth baron in 1443, the title was inherited by his daughter Eleanor Morley, the wife of Sir William Lovel, who was summoned to parliament as Baron Morley in right of his wife and died in 1476, shortly before her. It was then inherited by their son Henry Lovel, following whose death in 1489 it came to his sister Alice Lovel, who was married to Henry Parker. The title was then held by her descendants in the Parker family until 1697 when, on the death of the fifteenth baron without children, the title came to an end.
John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon was a British peer and Member of Parliament.
John Parker, 1st Earl of Morley FRS, known as 2nd Baron Boringdon from 1788 to 1815, was a British peer and politician.
Sir John Bampfylde, 1st Baronet of Poltimore and North Molton and Tamerton Foliot, all in Devon, was an English lawyer and politician. He was one of Devonshire's Parliamentarian leaders during the Civil War.
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.
North Molton is a village, parish and former manor in North Devon, England. The population of the parish in 2001 was 1,047, decreasing to 721 in the 2011 census. An electoral ward with the same name also exists. The ward population at the census was 2,206. Bounded on the north east by the border with Somerset, it is the second largest parish in Devon, covering about 15,000 acres. Until the 18th century the village was an important centre of the woollen industry, and mining was also a significant employer in the parish until the 19th century.
Sir John Fowell, 2nd Baronet of Fowelscombe in the parish of Ugborough in Devon, was thrice elected a Member of Parliament for Ashburton in Devon, between 1659 and 1677. He fought in the Parliamentary army during the Civil War and following the Restoration of the Monarchy was appointed in 1666 by King Charles II Vice-Admiral of Devon.
Sir John Fowell, 3rd Baronet of Fowelscombe in the parish of Ugborough in Devon, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1689 to 1692.
Sir Amyas Bampfylde of Poltimore and North Molton in Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1597.
Whiteway House in the parish of Chudleigh in Devon is a Grade II* listed Georgian house set in parkland. It was built in the 1770s by John Parker, 1st Baron Boringdon (1735–1788) of Saltram House, Plympton, and has early 19th-century alterations. It is situated 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) north of Chudleigh, at the foot of the Haldon Hills. The house had formerly a 5-bay north-east wing, a service range and a separate 19th-century service block to the rear, all demolished since 1962.
Sir Lewis Pollard his will was of 1526 when he retired 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.
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.
George Wentworth Warwick Bampfylde, 4th Baron Poltimore (1882–1965) of Poltimore and North Molton, Devon, was a peer and major landowner in Devonshire, whose family had been seated at Poltimore from about 1300. He was a Justice of the Peace for Devon and occupied the honorary position of High Steward of South Molton, Devon.
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 Clement Smith, son of Thomas Smith of Rivenhall, Essex, and Isabel, daughter of William Foster of Little Baddow, Essex, served as an administrator in the reign of Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer in the Exchequer, and was twice MP for Maldon in Essex, in 1545 and 1547. He was knighted by Edward VI on 22 February 1547.
Blagdon historically in the parish of Paignton in Devon, England (today in the parish of Collaton St Mary), is a historic Manor, the seat of the Kirkham family from the 13th to 17th centuries. The manor house known as Blagdon Manor (House) (or Blagdon Barton) survives as a grade II* listed building about two miles west of the historic centre of the town of Paignton, situated behind the "Blagdon Inn" public house (former stables), and almost surrounded by the "Devon Hills Holiday Park" of caravans and mobile homes, set-back at the end of a short driveway off the A385 Paignton to Totnes road. The settlements or farms of Higher Blagdon, Middle Blagdon and Lower Blagdon are situated to the north of the manor house.
Montagu Edmund Parker (1737–1813) of Whiteway House, near Chudleigh and of Blagdon in the parish of Paignton, both in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1789. Portraits of him by Sir Joshua Reynolds and John Downman survive at Saltram House.