Portledge Manor

Last updated
Portledge Manor
Portledge House Alwington Devon.jpeg
General information
TypeHouse
Architectural style Elizabethan
Location Alwington, Devon, England
Coordinates 50°59′58″N4°17′24″W / 50.99949°N 4.289877°W / 50.99949; -4.289877 Coordinates: 50°59′58″N4°17′24″W / 50.99949°N 4.289877°W / 50.99949; -4.289877
Construction started13-17th centuries

Portledge Manor is an English manor house in the parish of Alwington, southwest of Bideford, Devon. It and the land surrounding it belonged to the Coffin family, a noble family of Norman origin, for almost 1000 years. [1]

Manor house country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor

A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with manorial tenants and great banquets. The term is today loosely applied to various country houses, frequently dating from the late medieval era, which formerly housed the gentry.

Alwington village in the United Kingdom

Alwington is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The parish is on the coast and includes the villages of Alwington, Fairy Cross, Ford and Knotty Corner. The parish has a total population of 381, increasing at the 2011 census to 400.

Bideford Town in Devon, England

Bideford is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.

Contents

History

St Andrew's Church, Alwington, Devon Alwington St Andrew's Churchyard - geograph.org.uk - 207032.jpg
St Andrew's Church, Alwington, Devon
Arms of Coffin: Azure, three bezants between eight crosses crosslet or CoffinOfMonkleighArms.PNG
Arms of Coffin: Azure, three bezants between eight crosses crosslet or

The house sits on the edge of Bideford Bay, looking out over the Bristol Channel. The parish of Alwington and the surrounding area was given to the family by William the Conqueror, as part of a reward for loyalty and service during the Norman Conquest. Most of the current house dates from the 17th century, but parts of it have stood since the reign of King Henry III, circa 1234. The 13th-century arch of the chapel still stands and the Brew House remains from when hops were grown on the estate. The Great Hall's minstrel gallery was moved in the late 19th century to Alwington Church, a 15th-century church containing many monuments to the Coffin family. The dining-room retains a ceiling plastered with the family's coat of arms. The courtyard was roofed in and made into a new hall in the middle of the 18th century. There are many pieces of fine furniture, ancestral heirlooms, carved stone coats of arms, Spanish armour, and guns from the Spanish Armada. There is also a bell tower and a Spanish courtyard. [2] The estate's archive, a historical record going back over 700 years, was sold to the Devon Council for almost £50,000. [1] The family owned most of the surrounding villages, but the last of these were sold at auction in 1981. The estate itself was sold in 1998, after nine centuries in the Coffin family's hands. This was due to a dispute with Inland Revenue. [3]

Bideford Bay

Bideford Bay, also known as Barnstaple Bay and often shown on maps as Barnstaple or Bideford Bay, is a large area of water on the northwest coast of Devon in South West England, at the southwestern end of the Bristol Channel where it joins the Celtic Sea. The bay extends from Hartland Point in the southwest to Morte Point in the northeast, a distance of 14 miles (23 km), and is partly sheltered by the island of Lundy, 12 miles (19 km) offshore. It takes its alternative names from the towns of Bideford and Barnstaple, located respectively on the rivers Torridge and Taw which flow into the bay. The alternative spelling Barnstable Bay, in use long after that spelling became obsolete for the town, is also sometimes seen.

Bristol Channel major inlet in the island of Great Britain

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean. It takes its name from the English city of Bristol, and is over 30 miles (50 km) wide at its western limit.

William I, usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman King of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087. A descendant of Rollo, he was Duke of Normandy from 1035 onward. After a long struggle to establish his power, by 1060 his hold on Normandy was secure, and he launched the Norman conquest of England six years later. The rest of his life was marked by struggles to consolidate his hold over England and his continental lands and by difficulties with his eldest son.

It is now the home of Michael Cannon, pub entrepreneur and former owner of Fuddrucker's restaurant chain. [4]

Pub drinking establishment

A pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, which traditionally include beer and cider. It is a social drinking establishment and a prominent part of British, Irish, Breton, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Australian cultures. In many places, especially in villages, a pub is the focal point of the community. In his 17th-century diary Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England".

See also

Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin British Army officer

Colonel Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin DSO & Bar, MC was an officer of the British Army who saw service during World War II. He commanded the 3rd Parachute Battalion in North Africa and the 7th Parachute Battalion in Normandy, Belgium, and Germany. His troops, amused by the unusual applicability of his family name, referred to him as "Wooden Box".

Manor of Monkleigh

The Manor of Monkleigh was a mediaeval manor centred on the village of Monkleigh in North Devon, England, situated 2 1/2 miles north-west of Great Torrington and 3 1/2 miles south-east of Bideford.

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Richard Coffin (1623–1700) book collector and antiquary (1622–1699)

Richard Coffin (1623–1700) of Portledge in the parish of Alwington in North Devon, was lord of the manor of Alwington and served as Sheriff of Devon in 1683.

Church of St Mary, Bideford church in Torridge, United Kingdom

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References

  1. 1 2 Adam Wilshaw (22 July 2010), A UNIQUE family archive which gives an insight into hundreds of years of life in North Devon could be secured for posterity by a council, Thisisnorthdevon.co.uk, archived from the original on 5 May 2013, retrieved 28 August 2010
  2. ↑ "Portledge and its owners". Bidefordbuzz.org.uk. 1 August 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  3. ↑ "The Pine-Coffin Saga; How the taxman forced a family to sell its stake in history". Thefreelibrary.com. 16 August 1996. Retrieved 28 August 2010.[ dead link ]
  4. ↑ "A day with... The Wemmergill shoot". Shooting times. Retrieved 28 August 2010.

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