Ruxford is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon.
Ruxford is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon.
Hroces Ford (Ruxford) is recorded in the Anglo Saxon Charters. [1]
The inquisition post mortem dated 8 June 1404 of Thomasia de Raleigh, heiress of Raleigh, Pilton in North Devon and of many other estates, and wife of John Chichester of Donwer, records that "the aforesaid Manor of Rokesford (Ruxford) is held of Philip Courtenay as of his manor of Bradninch by knight-service". This was Philip Courtenay (c.1342-1406) (5th son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon and his wife Margaret Bohun) who had been Steward of the Duchy of Cornwall in Cornwall 1388-1391. [2] The feudal barony of Bradninch, with its member manors including Ruxford, was held before and after Courtenay's brief tenure by the Duchy of Cornwall.
The estate of Ruxford was held for several generations by the de Raleigh family from the Courtenay family. The eventual heir of de Raleigh was the Chichester family. The de Raleigh family subinfeudated Ruxford to de Sully. The inquisition post mortem of Sir John Chichester (d. 1569) of Raleigh dated 2 January 1569 lists Ruxford as held by him from Queen Elizabeth "as of her Manor of Bradninch", which is the last surviving record of its dependency from the feudal barony of Bradninch. [3]
Effigies of Sir John de Sully (1282-1388), KG, and his wife Isobel exist in Crediton Parish Church. Sully was lord of the manor of Iddesleigh, but was said by Westcote (d.circa 1637) to have had his seat at "Rookesford, lately the land of Chichester and alienated to Davye", i.e. Ruxford, in the parish of Sandford about 1/2 mile north-west of Crediton. He held Rokysforde from the overlord John de Raleigh of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, as is evidenced in the latter's deed of 1362 now held in the North Devon Record Office. [4] The heir of John de Raleigh by marriage to his daughter Thomasine was the Chichester family of Raleigh. According to Hoskins the estate of Ruxford is recorded in a charter dated 930 in which a large estate was granted to the canons of Crediton Church. [5] The existing farmhouse known as Ruxford Barton was rebuilt in 1608 by the Chichester family, as is evidenced by a strapwork cartouche in plaster-work displaying the arms of that family with initials and date 1608, in the principal bedroom on the first floor of the parlour wing. [6]
In 1618 Ruxford Barton was purchased from Sir Robert Chichester, Bart, KB, by Emmanuel Davie, a "clothier of Crediton", a cousin of the Davie family of Creedy, Sandford. The deed of conveyance is summarised as follows:
In about 1620 a plaster escutcheon was affixed inside the house showing the de Via arms of the Davie family impaled with the arms of Northcote, [7] the arms of the family of his first wife Katherine Northcote (d.1620). [8]
Arlington was a manor, and is a village and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon in England. The parish includes the villages of Arlington and Arlington Beccott. The population of the parish is 98.
Posbury is an ancient estate in Devon, now a hamlet, situated about 2 miles south-west of Crediton and 2 miles north of Tedburn St Mary and 1 mile west of the small hamlet of Venny Tedburn.
Sandford is a village and civil parish in the District of Mid Devon within Devon, England. Sandford is part of the electoral ward named Sandford and Creedy. The ward population at the 2011 Census was 3,429.
Crediton Parish Church, formally the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and the Mother of Him who Hung Thereon, is a prominent building and worshipping community in the Devon town of Crediton. The church is built on the site of what was the "cathedral" of the Bishop of Crediton in the former diocese until 1050 when the see was transferred to Exeter. A college of canons remained at Crediton, administering the buildings and life of the "collegiate" church. The nave and chancel of the current building date from the 15th century. At the English Reformation the church was surrendered to Henry VIII in 1545, and the college dispersed. The church buildings were bought by the Crediton Town Corporation who still administer the fabric today. Now a parish church, the life of the church is administered by the parochial church council (PCC), although many still refer to the church as the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross.
Knowstone is a village and civil parish situated in the North Devon district of Devon, England, halfway between the Mid Devon town of Tiverton, Devon and the North Devon town of South Molton. The hamlet of East Knowstone lies due east of the village. Knowstone was the birthplace of Admiral Sir John Berry (1635–1691), second son of Rev. Daniel Berry (1609–1654), vicar of Knowstone cum Molland. An elaborate mural monument erected by Sir John in 1684 to the memory of his parents survives in Molland Church.
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.
Roborough is a village and civil parish 5.5 mi (8.9 km) from Great Torrington. Situated topographically on the plateau between the Torridge and Taw Rivers, the parish covers 1,258 ha and contains a population of some 258 parishioners. It is surrounded by a pastoral landscape of rectangular fields, high hedges and scattered farmsteads.
The historic manor of Raleigh, near Barnstaple and in the parish of Pilton, North Devon, 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 lie within the later-created parish of Pilton. Pilton as a borough had existed long before the Norman Conquest and was one of the most important defensive towns in Devon under the Anglo-Saxons. The manor lies above the River Yeo on the southern slope of the hill on top of which exists the ruins of the Anglo-Saxon hillfort of Roborough Castle. The historic manor of Raleigh is now the site of the North Devon District Hospital.
Sir John Chichester, 4th Baronet of Youlston Park in the parish of Shirwell near Barnstaple, Devon was a British landowner and Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1734 to 1740.
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.
Ash in the parish of Braunton in North Devon is a historic estate listed in the Domesday Book. The present mansion, known as The Ash Barton estate is a Grade II* listed building.
Robert Incledon (1676–1758) of Pilton House, Pilton, near Barnstaple in North Devon, was a lawyer of New Inn, London, a Clerk of the Peace for Devon, Deputy Recorder of Barnstaple and was twice Mayor of Barnstaple, in 1712 and 1721. In 1713 as mayor he supervised the building of the Mercantile Exchange on Barnstaple Quay, as recorded on the building by a contemporary brass plaque and sculpture of his armorials. He built Pilton House in 1746.
Creedy is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon. It is named from its location on the west side of the River Creedy. It was the seat of the Davie family from about 1600 until the late 20th century. The mansion house on the estate has been called at various times New House, Creedy House, and as presently, Creedy Park. It was first built in about 1600, rebuilt in 1846, burnt down in 1915 and rebuilt 1916-21. It is surrounded by a large park, the boundary of which is enclosed by a stone and brick wall several miles long.
Hawkridge in the parish of Chittlehampton in North Devon, England, is an historic estate, anciently the seat of a junior branch of the Acland family which originated at nearby Acland, in the parish of Landkey and later achieved great wealth and prominence as the Acland Baronets of Killerton, near Exeter. The former mansion house is today a farmhouse known as Hawkridge Barton, a grade II* listed building. The Devon historian Hoskins (1959) stated of Hawkridge: "Externally there is nothing remarkable except a decaying avenue of ancient walnuts, so often the first indication of a 16th or 17th century mansion". The interior contains a fine plaster heraldic overmantel showing the arms of Acland impaling Tremayne, representing the 1615 marriage of Baldwin Acland (1593–1659) of Hawkridge and Elizabeth Tremayne.
Thuborough in the parish of Sutcombe, Devon, England, is an historic estate, formerly a seat of a branch of the Prideaux family, also seated at Orcharton, Modbury; Adeston, Holbeton; Soldon, Holsworthy; Netherton, Farway; Ashburton; Nutwell, Woodbury; Ford Abbey, Thorncombe, all in Devon and at Prideaux Place, Padstow and Prideaux Castle, Luxulyan, in Cornwall. The present mansion house, comprising "Thuborough House" and "Thuborough Barton", the north-east block, is a grade II listed building.
Sir John Sully, KG, of Ruxford and Iddesleigh in Devonshire, was an English knight. He was one of the many deponents who gave evidence in Scrope v Grosvenor, one of the earliest heraldic law cases brought in England, at which time he stated his age as 105. In about 1362, he was appointed by King Edward III as the 39th Knight of the Garter.
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. The 'canon' in the name refers to the Augustinian canons regular, either of St Mary du Val in Normandy or of Merton Priory, which owned it for several centuries. 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.
Dowrich is an historic estate in the parish of Sandford, on the River Creedy, three miles north-east of Crediton in Devon, England. Between the 12th century and 1717 it was the seat of the ancient gentry family of Dowrish which took its name from the estate where it had become established before the reign of King John (1199–1216), when it built a castle keep on the site. A 15th century gatehouse survives there today, next to the ancient mansion house.
Sir John Chichester lord of the manor of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple, North Devon, was Sheriff of Devon in 1576/7 and/or in 1585 and died of gaol fever contracted whilst acting as a magistrate at the Lent Black Assizes of Exeter in 1586.
Sir William Davie, 4th Baronet (1662–1707) of Creedy in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton in Devon, inherited the Davie baronetcy and the Davie estates from his elder brother Sir John Davie, 3rd Baronet (1660–1692), MP for Saltash 1679–85 and Sheriff of Devon in 1688, who died unmarried at the age of 32.