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SPREYTON FARM HISTORIESThe first mention of Spreyton is in the Domesday Book of 1086. At that time, the country was divided into manors. All land belonged to the King, but he “granted” manors to his followers in exchange for feudal dues. At the time of the Norman conquest in 1066, the Manor of Spreyton (which probably covered roughly the same area as the present parish) was held by a Saxon called Osferth. By 1086, the Saxon landholder had been expropriated and Spreyton became one of the many manors in Devon that William the Conqueror granted to his close follower Baldwin de Brionne, whom he appointed Sheriff of Devon. At that time, a large part of the manor of Spreyton was covered by forest (the name means “settlement in the brushwood”). The Domesday Book refers to woodland one league long and two furlongs wide (about 1.5 miles by 0.25 miles). But there was enough agricultural land for eight teams of ox-drawn plough teams, and there were 14 “villagers”, small farmers who held land from the lord of the manor in exchange for feudal dues such as so many days’ labour on the lord’s estate. Some of the farms in Spreyton probably date back to that time and were the same ones that were held by those villagers mentioned in the Domesday Book. Unfortunately, there is no documentary evidence of the names of the villagers’ farms, so we can never know which exactly which farms date back to then – and indeed to earlier Saxon times. The forests in Devon were royal hunting forests owned by the King. In the 13th century, the Plantagenet monarchs raised money by selling to local people the right to clear and cultivate the forest land. This was when almost all the farms not already existing in 1086 were created. So probably all Spreyton farms are at least 700 years old and many older. Some of the forest land was probably cleared by Lord of the Manor for his own use; the rest he would have let to farmers, who would have cleared a path into the forest (which explains why so many farms have long drives to them), built themselves a dwelling and then systematically cleared the land around their dwelling. By the late 1100s, the lordship of Spreyton had passed to a family called Talbot, who probably lived at either Barton or Week. They remained the landlords until they ran out of heirs in the late 15th or early 16th century. They retained ownership of most of the farms in Spreyton, letting them out and living on the rents. But some land probably was sold and became effectively freehold, including probably Rugroad and Croft (although the lord of the manor continued to collect a feudal due of one pair of gloves every year for these two properties). The Kelly family of Kelly in West Devon probably acquired the manor of the manor of Spreyton (or part of it) in the 1500s by marrying a Talbot heiress. A junior branch of the family appears to have taken up residence in Spreyton, at Barton, which became their home farm or “capital messuage”. But by the 1600s, ownership of Spreyton (and the right to the all-important rental income from the farms) had become split between several people, no doubt as a result of complicated inheritances and marriage deals. Half of the manor seems to have passed to the Gilbert family of Compton, who sold it to John Battishill (from South Tawton) in 1639. The Battishills, like the Kellys, made Barton their home in Spreyton. Another quarter came into the hands of the Wise family of Sydenham, who sold it to Nathaniel Risdon of Spreyton in 1657. From him this quarter descended to the Hole family of South Tawton, who sold it to the Cann and Lambert Gorwyn families in the early 1800s. A final quarter of the manor was sold by Arthur Kelly of Kelly to John Cann of Fuidge in 1758. Not all the farms remained in the same ownership as the manor itself. The various owners of the manor gradually sold off of their shares in the freeholds of many of the individual farms. Sometimes the purchasers were the tenants. But the big landowning families also sold bits of farms to each other, in order to consolidate the ownership of each of the farms into the hands of one person (until then each farm had three landlords, which cannot have been much fun for the tenants, and must also have been bureaucratically awkward for the landlords). By the 19th century, most farms in Spreyton were in the hands of three families: the Battishills of Barton (Barton, Week, Woodhouse, Stockhay, Bowbeer, part of Falkedon, Cramphay and Spreytonwood); the Canns of Fuidge (Fuidge, part of Falkedon, North Beer, South Beer, Bush, Downhayes, Heath, Riders Beer) and the Lambert Gorwyns or Lamberts as they became known (Coffins, Rugroad, Croft and the largest part of Falkedon). The Cann estate was the first to be broken up, in the 1830s after the Canns lost their money in an unsuccessful attempt to run a bank in Exeter. The Battishill estate was put up for auction in 1913 after the death of the last of the Spreyton Battishills. And the Lambert estate (with Spreytonwood, which they had acquired after the Battishill sale) was sold in 1972 after the death of the heir. When farms were sold in the 1600s and 1700s, the previous owner often retained a right to a small “reserved rent” (usually a few shillings) payable to him or his heirs in perpetuity by the current owner of the farm. The right to these rents (sometimes referred to as high or chief rents), along with the right to ancient feudal dues like the pair of gloves for Croft and Rugroad, could be bought and sold and, in the case of Spreyton, usually went with the Lordship of the manor, which remained divided between the Cann, Battishill and Lambert families. These rents continued to be collected well into the 1800s. In the 1600s and 1700s, the normal form of tenure was the 99-year lease “determinable” on up to three lives. The tenant nominated up to three people (usually his wife and young children) and the lease lasted for 99-years or until all three of the nominated “lives” had died if that were sooner – as it invariably was. The tenant usually paid an upfront sum for the lease and then an annual rent. In addition, he had to pay the landlord a “heriot”, a sum equivalent to the value of his “best beast”, every time one of the nominated “lives” died. In practice, after the first or second of the nominated people had died, it was quite common for the tenant to negotiate a new lease based on newly nominated “lives”, so tenanted farms could remain in the same family for several generations. By the end of the 1700s, this type of tenure was being replaced by leases for fixed periods, usually ten, fourteen or twenty-one years, with detailed prescriptions on how the tenant was to cultivate the land. All the farmhouses would originally have been of cob and thatch, with some stone in the construction of many. Quite a few succumbed to fire and have been rebuilt. The old cob buildings that survive are not easy to date, but most were probably built originally in the 1400s or 1500s, a time of prosperity for Devon farmers. Most have been altered since then but they almost invariably began life as traditional Devon long houses, with living quarters and a dairy/scullery at one end; then a “cross-passage” going from front to back of the house; and on the other side a linhay and accommodation for the animals.
Detailed histories of some of the farms are below. Others will be added later.
Barton, Parish and Manor of Spreyton Also known as Spreyton Barton. The name Barton is almost certainly the Old English beretun, from bere ‘barley, corn’ and tun ‘settlement’. It was the name often given to the ‘demesne’ or home farm of the manor, and it seems likely that Barton was indeed the farm inhabited by the lord of the manor in medieval times (although there are also indications that some of the Talbots, the medieval holders of Spreyton manor, lived at Week). The two-storey farmhouse is the only building in Spreyton to have a Grade II* listing from English Heritage, and the latter comments that the ceilings on ground and first floors are unusually high, indicating a house of high status. It is next to the church, a natural place for the dwelling of the Lord of the Manor, and used to have its own entrance to the churchyard, as well as a carriageway entrance from the road. Pevsner (in Buildings of Devon) suggests that parts of it date back to the 15th century, but English Heritage says that the oldest part, the main south-facing farmhouse, was originally built in the 16th century, probably as an open hall-house. It probably replaced an earlier, more modest, building. A number of improvements and additions were made to the house in the 17th century, including two wings, and it was further modernised in the 19th century. It is basically cob-and-thatch with some slate roofs, and has extensive 17th century panelling inside. Its facilities included inter alia a dairy, bakehouse and pump-house. In 1913, when Barton was put up for sale, it was described as having six bedrooms on the first floor, and on the ground floor two sitting rooms; a kitchen; back kitchen; dairy; larder; and “other conveniences”. The farm buildings listed in the 1913 sale documents were correspondingly extensive. They consisted of a stable for eight horses, built of stone, cob and a slate roof, with a loft; three linhays: one for ten cows (stone and slate), one for eight cows with a separate calves’ house (both thatched), and one for seven bullocks (cob with an iron roof); a bull’s house and yard, including a root house, loose box and cider house (including a cider press and horse wheel); and finally four small fowl houses (stone and slate), a potato house, a piggery (stone and slate) and a large cob and thatch barn. With the estate went four cottages in the village to house the farmworkers. Barton may have been the house of the Lord of the manor, but it was also almost certainly always a working farm, the lord’s “home farm”. In 1842, the farm was described in the tithe apportionment return as consisting of 186 acres, large for the period. On its western side, the farmland is bounded by the river Yeo. There is a substantial area of wooded “bottom”, but there is also much good arable land. The road from Spreyton to South Tawton forms the farm’s northern boundary. Barton, along with the rest of the manor of Spreyton, passed into the hands of the Kelly family of Kelly in west Devon at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, after a Kelly had married a Talbot heiress (there are still Kellys at Kelly, in an unbroken line from their ancestor who received his estates from William the Conqueror). A junior branch of the Kellys seem to have come to live in Spreyton and to have made Barton their “capital messuage” or main farm (a late 16th or early 17th century document about glebe lands refers to ‘Mr Kellir’s Barton’). It was probably a Kelly who built the present house. By the 17th century, however, the ownership of Barton, along with that of most of the rest of the manor of Spreyton, had become divided between three different families, no doubt because of marriages and inheritances: these were the Kellys (who had one quarter), the Gilberts of Compton (one half) and the Wise family of Sydenham (the final quarter). During a large part of the 1600s, the property appears to have been let, the income from it no doubt being divided between the three owners. In 1644, according to a manorial rent book in the Devon Record Office, the tenants of Barton were John Bellamy, William Canne and Augustine Haydon. In 1639, John Battishill, from an old South Tawton family, purchased the Compton family’s half share in the manor of Spreyton, including a half share of Barton. J.L. Vivian’s The Visitations of Devon claims that Barton was in the Battishill family since the time of Queen Elizabeth, first as leaseholders from the Kelly family and then as freeholders. So the Battishills may already have been renting it before then, especially as the name of Battishill turns up in the parish records as early as 1590. John Battishill’s share in the freehold of Barton passed to Thomas Battishill of Drewsteignton (possibly his son) who in 1677 bequeathed it to his own son William. The latter took up residence at Barton, and it is probably he who “improved” and enlarged the house in the late 17th century by adding two wings, the panelling and other features. He was the first of several William Battishills to live at Barton, and presumably had to pay rent for the half of the property he did not own. A subsequent William Battishill managed to purchase another quarter of the freehold of Barton in 1757, from the Rev. Richard Hole (this was the quarter belonging to the Wise family, who had sold it in 1657 to Nathaniel Risdon of Spreyton, from whom the Holes inherited it). Richard Hole maintained a right to an annual “reserved rent” for Barton of 11s.6d, payable in perpetuity (the right to this rent was later sold to the Lambert Gorwyn family of Falkedon and Coffins, who were still collecting it in the 19th century). It is not clear when the Battishills acquired the freehold of the fourth quarter, but it was probably around the same time. The Battishills acquired other land nearby and became the largest landowners in Spreyton. In particular, they also owned Week and seem to have used that as an alternative residence to Barton. There is, for instance, a tablet in Spreyton church that commemorates William Battishill “of Barton and Week” who died in 1806. His eldest son William (and his wife Dorothy, also commemorated on the tablet) took over Barton, while Week went to a younger son, John. William and Dorothy’s son William Harrington Battishill (c.1803-1881) was the last of the Battishills to live at Barton. He inherited Week and also owned Woodhouse; Bowbeer; Stockhay; Cramphay; Lower Falkedon; and Creyford in Hittisleigh – a total of some 900 acres. William Harrington Battishill farmed some 400 acres of the estate himself; in 1851, he was employing 16 labourers. He was a childless widower, and in that year four young labourers were living with him at Barton, together with three house servants. Sometime in the 1860s, he moved out of Barton and it was let, together with the other farms that William had in hand, to William Shillson or Shilson. In 1871 Shillson was living at Barton with his wife Elizabeth, five children, an unmarried sister-in-law and two servants. He remained until the 1880s. In 1881, shortly before his death, William Harrington Battishill made over Barton to his nephew William John Battishill, a solicitor in Exeter. William John continued to rent out Barton – in 1891 the tenant was William Mudge, farmer; and in 1901, it was William Isaac, the nephew of the landlord of the White Hart Inn (as the Tom Cobley Tavern was then known), who was still there in 1911. William John seems to have had money problems, as in 1907 he raised a mortgage of £2,700 on Barton and other properties. Finally, in 1913, after William John’s death, the entire Battishill estate, including Barton, was sold. Shortly after, Barton was acquired by William Hamlyn in exchange for the farm of Wray Barton in Moretonhampstead. His descendants have continued to live and farm at Barton. Sophia Lambert 2010
Spreyton Barton Fields belonging to Barton in 1842
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO BARTON IN THE DEVON RECORD OFFICE Agreement of 8.12.1707 between William Battishill, yeoman, and Andrew Battishill, yeoman, both of Spreyton. It is noted that William and Andrew levied a fine in Easter term 13 Will III (1702) of a half of 3 messuages, 3 gardens, 3 orchards, 40 acres of land, 8 acres of meadow, 40 acres of pasture,160 acres of furze and heath, and 170 acres of moor [total 418 acres], in Barton, Higher Fawton and Lower Fawton, in favour of Thomas Hore junior and William Ponsford.. It is agreed that the intention of the fine is for:
Counterpart signed by William Battishill. Witnesses: Ben Robins, Daniel Dingle.
Conveyance of 20.12.1757 whereby Richard Hole of North Tawton, Clerk, executor of the last will and testament of the late Mary Risdon of Spreyton, widow, his late aunt, and also devisee of the lands concerned, Mary Risdon having inherited them from her son Nathaniel Risdon, late of Crediton, gent. conveys to William Battishill of Spreyton, gent., for £300 his one fourth share in Spreyton Barton, now in the tenure of WB; one fourth of Great Falkedon, now in the tenure of WB and his under-tenants Robert Kellaway and Richard Tremlet; one fourth of Middle Falkedon or South Falkedon or Cann’s Falkedon; one fourth of Stockon, aka Stockey, now in the possession of Sam. Bull as under-tenant to WB; one fourth of the messuage and two Grist Mills known as Spreyton or Horracombe Mills now in the possession of Jeremiah Bickle as under-tenant to WB; and RH’s one fourth share in Begbeere, late in the possession of Christopher Parsons and now in that of RH. All the premises are part of the Manor of Spreyton, WB ‘to be holden of the high and chief Lord or Lords of the Fee by the rents, suits and services heretofore due and of right accustomed’. WB to pay a reserved rent to RH of 11s 6d for Spreyton Barton; 10s. for Great Falkedon; 10s. for Cann’s or Middle Falkedon and Church Woodland; 2s.6d. for Spreyton Mills; 2s. 6d. for Stockey; and 3s. for Begbeer. Witnesses are Humphry Aram and Richard Dadd. Previous deeds mentioned are:
Abstract of title of the executors of William John Battishill, 1913. Concerns Barton, Cramphay, Higher Falkedon, Cann’s Falkedon and Joints Tenement (all in Spreyton), inherited from his uncle William Harrington Battishill.
BUSH, Manor and parish of Spreyton
The origin of the name is uncertain; there are no other places called Bush listed in the Devon Dictionary of Place-Names, but maybe the original farmhouse was near a prominent bush.
Bush was part of the Manor of Spreyton that belonged to the Talbots in the Middle Ages. The Talbots probably lived at Spreyton Barton and would have let Bush for income. The first record of Bush so far traced is in a 1644 rent-roll, when Richard Phillipps was listed as paying 2s.6d. rent for Bush. The Spreyton parish records show that in 1697 Robert Hore was paying the church rate due from the occupant of Bush. The Hores were a large family scattered all over Devon in the 17th century. Robert probably came from the prosperous branch that lived in South Tawton. Whether the Hores lived at Bush is uncertain, as they were also renting Coffins and Heath and probably still had land in South Tawton. But they appear to have regarded Spreyton as their parish as there are several Hore gravestones in the floor of Spreyton church.
Like most of the rest of the Manor, the freehold of Bush became split between more than one owner after the Talbots ran out of male heirs. By the 17th century, half was in the hands of the Battishill family (who came from South Tawton, but bought several farms in Spreyton and moved into Spreyton Barton); a quarter to the Hole family of North Tawton; a quarter to the Kellys of Kelly in west Devon. The three-quarters belonging to the first two were acquired during the 18th century by Mark Cann, a member of a wealthy branch of the old and prolific Cann family (Cann genealogy is complicated, but he was probably only distantly related to the Canns at Fuidge whose memorials are prominent in Spreyton church). “Mark Cann, yeoman” is listed as a freeholder in Spreyton as early as 1734, so he may have acquired part of Bush by then. Mark Cann never seems to have lived at Bush (in 1793, for instance it seems to have been let to one George Powlesland, probably from Powlesland farm in South Tawton, as he took an apprentice to work on “Bush estate” that year). But Mark’s son George did move there and lived there for many years. He owned a number of other farms and presumably chose to live in Bush because he saw it as a suitable gentleman’s residence, nicely situated in the village.
Until 1760, Arthur Kelly of Kelly still owned the remaining quarter of the freehold of Bush and presumably received rent from the Canns. In 1760, an interesting charitable arrangement was entered into. Arthur Kelly sold his quarter share of the freehold of Bush to four trustees, so that they could use the rental income from that quarter for the poor of Spreyton. It seems that some sums of money provided by some earlier benefactor had been lost and the grandees of the parish decided to make up for this by clubbing together to buy the quarter of Bush. The trustees were three members of the Cann family, including Mark Cann himself and John Cann of Fuidge, plus William Battishill of Spreyton Barton (the Canns and the Battishills were by this time the main landowners in Spreyton).
In 1771, the trustees gave Mark’s son George Cann (who by that time had acquired the other three quarters of Bush, no doubt as a gift from his father), a 99-year lease of their quarter at a rent of £3 per annum (implying an annual rentable value for the whole property of £12). The Charity Commissioners conducted an enquiry into this arrangement in 1823 and were clearly doubtful about it. Their detailed report is in the National Archives and the Devon Record Office. They questioned the length of the lease and appeared to doubt the appropriateness of a trustee giving a lease to his own son who was already in possession of the other three quarters of the freehold. George Cann subsequently surrendered the lease for a shorter 21-year one, and in the end the Commissioners concluded that £3 was a reasonable rent. In 1859, the Commissioners finally decided to sell their quarter to the then owner of the rest of Bush for £390.
George Cann lived on at Bush until the end of his long life – he died aged 88 in 1832 (his gravestone is in Spreyton churchyard). In 1805 he married Susanna Lambert Gorwyn from Cheriton Bishop, a 40-year-old spinster of independent means who had been bequeathed the neighbouring farm of Heath by her uncle. She died in 1831 aged 76, and is buried with her husband. They had no children, and George bequeathed Bush to his nephew, also George Cann. The latter lived in South Tawton and then at Heath, and appears to have disposed of Bush sometime between 1832 and 1842, as a John Heathman is recorded as the owner in the 1842 tithe apportionment. This was probably the John Heathman of Sampford Courtenay who later lived at North Beer; it is possible that his wife Elizabeth was a Cann and that the transfer of the property to him was a family affair.
Under the Heathmans, the property was let out to John Battishill (c.1804-1874), a younger son of the Battishill family of Spreyton Barton who had become a doctor – he is described as a “surgeon in general practice”. He was already there at the time of the 1851 census, and remained there until his death in 1874. By 1871, his widowed brother William Harrington Battishill of Barton had come to live with him. William Harrington stayed on at Bush after John’s death, living with John’s widow Alicia and her unmarried daughter Susanna. Susanna died only in 1923 and is listed in Kelly’s Directory as living at Bush until at least 1910. Susanna, her parents and her brother are all buried in Spreyton churchyard.
Subsequent residents mentioned in the directories include John Charles Stewart Amery in 1919; William Hamlyn in 1923; and Miss Mary Ann Hopkins, described as a farmer of more than 150 acres, between 1926 and 1939. A press cutting in the Okehampton Library records the house being on sale in 1940, described as suitable for a small guest-house.
The house is a large, attractive and rather grand farmhouse which would normally be associated with a correspondingly large farm. Surprisingly, Bush seems to have had very little land. At the time of the Charity Commissioners’ inquiry in 1823, it was described as consisting of 23 acres of arable land; 1 acre of meadow; 22 acres of moorland “usually covered in furze but capable of being brought into tillage”; and 1 acre let on a 58-year lease by George Cann in 1806 to the Reverend Richard Holland to build 2 cottages for his workmen, which has been done “at considerable expense”. Given the amount of moor, it was probably not very profitable. The survey done in 1842 for the tithe apportionment gives a complete list of the fields belonging to Bush, by which time it had grown slightly (presumably as the result of purchases by George Cann), but only to 57 acres.
It is possible that the farm was much larger in the past. But it seems more likely that it was always a small farm (50 acres was considered quite viable in days past) and that the original medieval house was smaller. But the position in the village no doubt made the house attractive, and when the farm was acquired by large landowners such as the Hores and the Canns, they probably added to it in order to turn it into a gentleman’s residence. It certainly has undergone a number of alterations or “improvements” over the centuries. English Heritage describes it as of 15th or 16th century origins, but the earliest datable fabric as being 17th century. They suggest that there was a major refurbishment in the late 17th or early 18th century, and then a modernisation in the early 19th century and again in 1920. However, this does not square with an account given by George Cann to the Charity Commissioners. He said that his father Mark Cann, after he got the 99-year lease of the quarter he did not own in 1771, pulled down the house and began to build a new one, but died before it was completed. George Cann said that he completed the house. This suggests a major modernisation in the late 18th century. Be what it may, the present building is a handsome residence with a number of interesting features and has been given a Grade II listing. Several of the outbuildings belonging to the farm are also Grade II listed, and the house retains its granite mounting block near the entrance.
Census returns for Bush
1841: John Battishill, aged 37, surgeon; his wife Alice and 1-year-old daughter Susanna; and three servants or labourers, Jane Elias aged 22, Anne Cann aged 20 and John Heard aged 15.
1851: John Battishill, aged 47, with his wife Alicia, aged 48; their son, William John Battishill aged 6; a 31-year-old maidservant, Mary Beer; and a another young servant, George Lias (probably a mistake for Elias), aged 13. The fact that no farm labourers are mentioned indicate that the inhabitants were no longer farming the land and it was probably let to a neighbour. John Battishill is described as a member of the College of Surgeons and of the Apothecaries Company, practising as a general practitioner.
1861: John and Alicia Battishill, together with their unmarried 21-year-old daughter Susanna; their son William; two visitors (Elizabeth Yelland, aged 30, and Mary Howard, aged 57); and a cook, housemaid and general servant (Elizabeth Webber aged 21; Anne Rogers, aged 14; and John Leach, aged 18).
1871: John and Alicia Battishill, now aged 67 and 68; their daughter Susanna; John’s older brother William Harrington Battishill, aged 68 and described as a widowed landowner (he owned several Spreyton farms); Elizabeth Yelland, described as a cousin; Frances E.J. Parker, a visitor aged 37; and three domestic servants: George Lethbridge aged 20; Elizabeth Webber now aged 31; and Elizabeth Middleweek aged 21.
1881: Alicia Battishill, widow aged 78, now head of the household; her 41-year-old unmarried daughter Susanna, still unmarried; her 78-year-old brother-in-law William Harrington Battishill, “retired farmer”; and two grandchildren, William C. and John H. Battishill, aged 7 and 4; and a grand-daughter D.C. Battishill. Elizabeth Yelland (aged 50) and Elizabeth Middleweek are still there, but now described as “boarders” (“retired housemaid” has been crossed out against Elizabeth Middleweek’s name; as she was only 31, she may have become incapacitated and was being kept on by the family out of charity). There is housemaid, Mary Sanders aged 23; Elizabeth Webber is still the cook; and there is a nurse Margaret Harris (presumably for the children). The property is described as “Bush House”, indicating that its farming days had been left well behind.
1891: Susanna Battishill, unmarried, age 51, is now head of the household. “living on her own means”. She has living with her three nieces and a nephew (Alice Rose aged 20, Mary aged 18, Frances aged 16, and William aged 17). These are presumably the children of her brother William John, who had become a solicitor and lived in Heavitree. There are two servants, a housemaid (Elizabeth Richards) and a general servant (Mary Hopkins), both in their teens.
1901: Susanna is still there, but now has as boarders her married niece Alice Rose and her three young children, together with a parlourmaid (M. Manning) and a 12-year-old nursemaid (Eva Webber).
1911: Susanna seems to have been staying in Exeter on census night, as the inhabitants are recorded as Mary Manning, housekeeper; and Victoria Hopkins, a 13-year-old schoolgirl.
Fields belonging to Bush in 1842
Documents relating to Bush in the public archives
Manorial rent roll of 1644. Mentions tenant of Bush. DRO ref: 158M/M42
Conveyance of 25.2.1646, whereby William Battishill of Spreyton conveys to Agnes Trend, widow of Chagford for £100 a half of Bobeer, Coffins, North Beer and Bush, the latter now or late in the occupation of [illegible] Hore. DRO ref: DD 34201.
Conveyance of 1683 between (1) Alexander Trend of Chagford, yeoman; (2) George Palmer of Lyons Inn Middlesex; and (3) William Asshe. Alexander Trend conveys to Palmer and Asshe a half of Bobeer, late in the possession Ann Cadlake but now in possession of Alexander Trend; a half of Coffins now or late in the possession of Alexander Trend; a half of Courtisbeer, late in the possession of John Hore but now in that of Alexander Trend; and a half of Bush now or late in the possession Alexander Trend. (This could be a mortgage arrangement). DRO ref: DD 34202.
Declaration of 20.4.1745 between (1) John Trend of Chagford, gent., and his wife Agnes; and (2) Henry Hooper, gent., and William Ellis, yeoman, both of Chagford. The parties agreed that the Trends would, in the Court of Common Pleas, levy and execute a fine unto Henry Hooper and William Ellis, upon:
and all John Trend’s other lands in the same parishes. The Spreyton properties comprised 4 messuages, 6 gardens, 2 orchards, 145 acres of land, 12 acres of meadow, 4 acres of wood, 155 acres of furze and heath and 145 acres of moor. The premises comprised in the fine to be for the use of John Trend and his heirs, except for the half of Coffins and Deerparks, for which the use of the fine was declared to Thomas Hore and his heirs. DRO: Lambert estate papers.
Final agreement of Easter in the 18th year of George II’s reign. John Trend gentleman and his wife Agnes, agree that lands in Bowbeer, North Beer, Coffins, Deerparks and Bush are to go to to Henry Hooper and William Ellis who have paid £200. DRO ref: DD 34204.
Indenture of 5.10.1757 between (1) Richard Hole of North Tawton and his wife Julianna; (2) Thomas Hole of North Tawton; and (3) John Battishill of Drewsteignton. The Holes affirm John Battishill’s right to a quarter of Horracombe conveyed by a lease and releae of 7 August in the previous year. The indenture also lists other properties of which Richard Hole is seized in fee simple, including in Manors of Lampford orLamford, Fursham and Spreyton; Spreyton Bargain, Spreyholt Wood and the Brendons; Risdons Tenement; New Mills, Middle or East Nethercott; Downhays; and Devertons orDiverdowns, all in Spreyton; Hole and Budbrooke in Drewsteignton; and Baker’s Down in Cheriton Bishop. Also listed as being in his ownership are three-quarters of Higher or Great Falkedon; and a quarter share each of Middle Falkedon; Spreyton Barton; Stockey; Bowbeer; Cann’s Falkedon; Lower Falkedon; Huddishill; Lees; Joints Tenement; Riders Beer; Parsons Begbeer; Bush; North Beer; Coffins and Spreyton Mills. DRO ref: 2914 A/PF 20
Conveyance (lease and release) of 1/2.2.1758. Rev Richard Hole conveys a quarter of Bush to Mark Cann the elder of Spreyton. It is part of Spreyton Manor, and was theretofore in the possession of Richard Brock and now in the possession of Richard Earlon as tenant of Richard Hole. Annual reserved rent of 2/6 to be paid at Michaelmas. DRO ref: DD 34206
Conveyance of 26.3.1760. Arthur Kelly of Kelly conveys a quarter of Bush to William Battishill, John Cann the younger; his brother George; and Mark Cann for £45. DRO ref: DD 34208
Lease of 3.5.1771 between (1) John Cann; his brother George Cann; and Mark Cann; and (2) George Cann the younger, son of Mark. It refers to the 1760 lease and release of a quarter of Bush by Arthur Kelly and grants to George Cann the younger the quarter of Bush, now in the possession of Mark Cann (who is seized of the other three-quarters), for 99 years at £3, with a covenant to keep the building in repair. DRO ref: DD 34209
Will of Mark Cann of Spreyton, dated 1775. Bequeaths (inter alia) · The use of Bush to his wife for 40 years, with the entry and passage adjoining it, including the chambers above; a little meadow adjoining the north-east of the house; one of the hogsties; and all convenient paths and passages to and from the said premises; · to his son George: all the corn and hay at North Beer and Bush at the time of his death, whether standing or growing in the ground or saved in barns or ricks; all his household goods at Bush and North Beer not otherwise bequeathed; the young horse that George usually rides and is called “George’s horse”; his best saddle and [illegible]; and all his implements and tools of husbandry; DRO. He may already have conveyed the freehold of Bush to his son George, as the 1771 lease refers to George being seized of the three-quarters of Bush not belonging to the charity. Alternatively, Bush may have been part of his residual estate that he bequeathed to his son Mark. The latter disappears from the records and may have died young, whereupon his property would have gone to George.
Lease of 5.3.1806 whereby George Cann leases to the Rev. Richard Holland a 1-acre parcel of land adjoining Spreyton Cross, and a part of Bush on which 2 cottages have been built. The lease is for 58 years at £2 per annum. DRO ref: DD34214
Charity Commissioners enquiry of 1823. This reported that John Cann, the last of the original four trustees, died 1807 and now John Cann of Fuidge (his nephew) was the only trustee. Geo Cann told the Commissioners that the other ¾ of the property belonged to his father Mark and the poor’s quarter was let to a tenant at a yearly rent equivalent to £12 for whole property, subject to deductions. Upon his 99-year lease of this quarter being granted, Mark Cann farmed the whole property himself, having pulled down the old house. He begun to build a new one but died before it was completed. George Cann finished it and had since resided in it. It cost about £200 to build the house, a barn and other buildings. The whole property consisted of 23 acres arable, rather more than 1 pasture, 22 acres moor usually covered in furze but capable of being brought occasionally into tillage, 1 acre leased in 1806 by George Cann to the Reverend Richard Holland for 58 yrs at £2, for the purpose of erecting 2 cottages, which had been built by Mr Holland for £100. The whole annual value was at present about £30, a considerable part arising from the building erected since 1771. The Charity Commissioners decided that it was not improbable that £3 was still a fair value for the quarter belonging to charity, but questioned whether trustee had authority to grant lease of such a length. They noted that it had been granted to a son who owned the other three-quarters. George Cann expressed himself willing to surrender the lease for a shorter (21-year) one of same value. The practice was for the £3 to be paid to John Cann of Fuidge at Easter or Lady Day at the parish meeting. There were three John Canns; the first two exercised an uncontrolled practice of distributing the £3, plus £1 from the Hore charity, to whom they chose, showing an account that it had been distributed. Since last John Cann’s death, the practice had been to make a list of persons both resident and settled in the parish whose names are not in the Overseers accounts as having received funds during the year, and apportion the money with the agreement of the Vestry. The Charity Commissioners suggested that the parson be a trustee. William Battishill, the grandson of one of the original trustees who had died in 1768, said that he had heard that there had been sums of money for the benefit of the poor that had been lost and that the residue of about £25, plus £20 added by the trustees, had been used to purchase the quarter of Bush. The latter now consisted of a farmhouse and some cottages built by Holland. George Cann had the estate adjoining of North Beer. George Cann was now about 80. The estate worth £20 a year. George Cann said that the previous house had been old and bad, and part of a field called High Crop Park had been rented to Holland for cottages. He thought the rent of the houses should be £16: his house £8, the 2 cottages £2 each. The land for the cottages was among best. His father the let the whole out at £12. National Archives: ref: CHAR 2/65.
Will of George Cann of Bush in Spreyton, gentleman, dated 1831 This lengthy will distributes his extensive property among his many nephews and nieces. He bequeaths his real estate as follows:
Grave in Spreyton churchyard of George and Suzanna Cann of Bush
8.7.1859: Charity Commissoners want to sell their quarter of Bush. The document notes that George Cann owns the remaining three quarters and the net annual value of the quarter is £13. Prepared to sell for £390. DRO ref: DD 34227
Lease and release of 25/26.12.1883. John Cann gentleman, eldest son and heir in law of John Cann deceased who was the son of Thomas Cann, who was the only surviving brother and heir at law of John Cann gentleman, who was a trustee in the lease and release of 25/26 March 1760 (whereby a quarter of Bush was to be used for such of the poor as had not constant pay of the parish), grants a 21-year lease to George Cann of Bush; George surrenders the 99-year lease he had been granted in 1771. DRO ref: DD 34216
English Heritage description of Bush
THE HOUSE
Postcard of Bush probably in the first half of the 20th century
SX 69 NE SPREYTON SPREYTON
THE STABLES TO THE NORTH-WEST
SX 69 NE SPREYTON SPREYTON
THE STABLES TO THE NORTH
1/282 Barn approximately 12 metres north
In the 1600s and early 1700s “Coffin” seems to have been the more usual form of the name. It then became “Coffins”. When George Lambert MP married in 1904 and brought his bride back to Coffins, she did not like the funereal associations of the name and thereafter it has usually been spelt “Cofyns” or “Coffyns”. The etymology is uncertain. But there is a large and ancient Devon family called Coffin, and it may be that a Coffin once lived there (there is or was for instance a Coffins in Sowton associated with the Coffin family). Coffins was part of the Manor of Spreyton that belonged to the Talbots in the Middle Ages.to the Kellys of Kelly in the late 1400s or early 1500s. It would have been rented out to bring income to the lord of the manor. When the Talbot family ran out of male heirs, ownership of Coffins, as of other parts of the manor, was split between three families, each of whom would have taken a share of the rental of the farm. By the 1600s, one half of Coffins belonged to the Trend family of Chagford (who had probably acquired it from the Kelly family of Kelly in West Devon who had married a Talbot heiress); one quarter to the Kelly family; and one quarter to the Wise family of Sydenham, who sold it to a Spreyton familty called Risdon in 1657. There was only a cob and thatch farmhouse, and the property would have been let out permanently to tenant farmers. From the mid-1600s onwards, Coffins was leased to the Hore family; William Hore is for instance recorded as paying rent for the property in a 1644 document in the Devon Record Office. The Hores no doubt had to sign separate leases with each of the part-owners (property arrangements in those days made plenty of work for the lawyers). There is a document showing that in 1655, a widow called Jane Hore paid John and Agnes Baron £60 for the residue of a lease on half the property for 99 years from the death of Raph Hore, determinable upon the lives of Jane Hore and her son Thomas. Raph Hore was probably an elderly relation, the only remaining life on the property, and the new 99-year lease was no doubt to ensure the property remained with the Hore family after his death. After Jane’s death, the leasehold passed to her son Thomas. By the mid 1700s, another Thomas Hore, probably the son or grandson of the previous one, still had the leasehold of the property. He appears to have become quite grand (in 1743 he was described as “Esquire”, ie one above “gentleman” and two above “yeoman”). He was recorded in the parish records as being the churchwarden for Coffins in 1712 and 1714 (landholders took it in turn to be churchwarden), so he probably lived there then. In about 1744 he moved to Nymph in South Tawton, and from then on the property had other tenants. In 1767, for instance, the tenant was Samuel Honeycombe. There are a number of memorials to the Hore family in Spreyton church, including one to Thomas Hore of Nymph who died in 1746. An earlier Thomas Hore, probably the son of Jane, was one of the churchwardens whose names were inscribed on one of the Spreyton bells in 1678. In the 18th century, many of the big manorial landlords of the past were selling off bits of their estates, and the Hores seem to have taken advantage of this to purchase as much of the freehold of Coffins as they could. In 1744 Thomas Hore purchased the freehold of a half share of Coffins and the Deerparks from John Trend of Chagford, for £130. And in 1755 Agnes Hore (probably the widow of Thomas) acquired the freehold of a further quarter share from Arthur Kelly of Kelly for £99. Thomas’s daughter, also Agnes, married into the Trist family of Totnes, and Coffins passed into their hands. In 1777, Hore Browse Trist (Agnes’s son) acquired the final quarter of the freehold from the Rev. Richard Hole, a rich cleric who had inherited the Risdons’ quarter share in the property. The Trists let the property to first John and then Christopher Coplestone. Hore Browse Trist died intestate in 1791 and his extensive estate (mostly in other parts of Devon) became the joint property of his three infant daughters. When they reached adulthood, they obtained an Act of Parliament to enable them to divide the properties between them, and Coffins was bestowed by this Act on Tryphena Trist. The property was then sold to George Cann of Falkedon, probably in two stages, the first half in the 1790s; and the second half in 1803 (for £600). George Cann was a bachelor, and in his will he bequeathed his property to his nephew George Lambert Gorwyn. But, probably because he made his will before the purchase of the second half of the freehold, Coffins passed by the law of intestacy to his brother John Cann of Fuidge, from whom George Lambert Gorwyn purchased it in 1808, again for £600. The various bits of the freehold continued to be subject to various conditions and reservations imposed by previous owners when they sold them on. Thus the hunting and fowling rights continued to belong to the heirs of Richard Hole. It is not clear if the Lambert Gorwyns purchased the hunting rights from the Holes at a later stage, or if they were just forgotten about. The new owner, George Lambert Gorwyn (1763-1837), lived at Falkedon, and also owned the neighbouring farms of Croft and Rugroad. He seems to have farmed the land at Coffins, while letting the house or using it to house his farm labourers. In 1812, according to parish records, Robert and Grace Sampson were living there. By 1814 Samuel Powlesland, a farm labourer, and his wife Mary were there. In 1820 two other families are recorded as living there: John Crotch, schoolmaster, and his wife Elizabeth and John Northam, another farm labourer, and his wife Grace. These people may not all have been living in the house; they may have been in a cottage or cottages that belonged to the property (there is reference, for instance, in a document to a “Ball Park Cottage” on the estate). George Lambert Gorwyn had an unsatisfactory son, also called George. George senior put him and his family into Coffins in the 1820s, presumably in place of the Crotches and Northams. Whether because of this, or because George junior was just thoroughly unpopular, the villagers turned him out of Coffins by force, dumping all his belongings at Spreyton Cross (from where the local blacksmith is alleged to have stolen his china). By the time of the 1841 census Samuel Powlesland is back at Coffins and another agricultural labourer, Joseph Pyke, was also living there with his family. Probably both men worked for the Lambert Gorwyns. When George Lambert Gorwyn senior died in 1837, he passed over his unsatisfactory son, and left Coffins – along with several other farms – to his grandson, yet another George Lambert Gorwyn (1818-1885). During the 1850s Coffins was rented to another member of the Powlesland clan, a farmer called Samuel with a wife called Miriam. By 1861 these Powleslands had left and, according to the census Coffins was occupied by two farm labourers called John Tucker and John Vanstone and their families. In 1863 there is a tender from a John Cole offering £150 a year for the “Coffins, Crosspark and Rugroad estates”. Nothing seems to have come of this, however, and shortly afterwards Coffins was let to another tenant farmer, John Hooper, who was a churchwarden at Spreyton in 1865. Hooper was described in 1861 as a farmer of 245 acres, so it seems likely that he was also leasing Rugroad or Croft from George. The third George Lambert Gorwyn quarrelled with all and sundry and seems to have been just as disliked as his father. He lived at Trayhill in Hittisleigh, but in about 1880 a man who had a grudge against him set fire to a woodrick at Trayhill and burnt the place down. George had to move elsewhere, and he chose Coffins, moving there in 1881 with his wife and two young children. He died only 4 years later, leaving his estate to his 19-year-old son George Lambert (the family had by this time dropped the Gorwyn). George Lambert (the future 1st Viscount Lambert, 1866-1958) was an exceptional man. He was a highly efficient farmer and he also entered politics at an extremely young age, becoming a Devon County Councillor at the age of 22; an MP by the age of 25; and a junior Minister at 38. He remained an MP until 1945, when he was made a peer. He lived all his life at Coffins (although he also acquired a house in London near Parliament). The house at Coffins was a traditional cob and thatch long-house, probably built originally in the late 15th or 16th century, although no doubt with subsequent alterations. In 1905, following his marriage, George Lambert completely revamped the house. He also had the garden landscaped and a tennis court built, turning what was a fairly basic farmhouse into a gentleman’s residence, suitable to put up guests like Winston Churchill (who once stayed the night and to his hosts’ embarrassment was caught short in the night only to discover that the servant had forgotten to put a chamber-pot in his room). George’s eldest son, again yet another George Lambert, replaced his father as the local MP in 1945. He remained the MP until 1958 when his father died and he inherited his father’s peerage. He also lived at Coffins with his family. He retired abroad and handed over the house and estate to his son, the last of an unbroken line of six George Lamberts to own the property. Tragically, young George died in a car accident, and the estate was sold in 1972. The acreage of Coffins today is a lot larger than it was in the past. In 1655, it was described as “1 messuage [ie house]; 1 kitchen; 1 stable; 1 barn; 1 curtilege and garden and orchard; 20 acres of land [ie arable land]; 14 acres of meadow; 20 acres of pasture; and 80 acres of furze and heath” – ie a total of 134 acres. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was about 176 acres. In the early 1900s, George Lambert MP purchased some neighbouring fields round Cramphay, and he also attached some fields to Coffins that previously formed part of the neighbouring farms of Spreytonwood, Stockhay and possibly Rugroad, so that by the 1950s its area was 226 acres. May 2009
Photo's Courtesy of Sophia Lambert DEEDS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO COFFINS IN THE DEVON RECORD OFFICE Agreement of 1655 made in Court, whereby John and Agnes Baron acknowledge Jane Hore’s right to one half of Coffin for 99 years from the decease of Raph Hore, determinable upon the deaths of Jane Hore and her son Thomas. She pays £60 and a peppercorn rent. The property is described as 1 messuage; 1 kitchen; 1 stable; 1 barn; 1 curtilage and garden and orchard; 20 acres of land; 14 acres of meadow; 20 acres of pasture; and 80 acres of furze and heath in Deerparks, otherwise Dureparks, Coffin and Spreyton. DRO: Lambert estate papers. List of rents due in the manor of Spreyton in 1664. DRO ref: 158M/M42 Lease of 29.9.1743 of one fourth of Coffins and the fields known as the Deerparks otherwise Dureparks, granted by Arthur Kelly of Kelly in Devon Esq. to Thomas Hore of Spreyton, Esq. for 99 years, determinable on the lives of Mark Cann, son of John Cann of Spreyton, gent., and Thomas Trist, son of Browse Trist of Totnes Esq. The lease starts from the death of Thomas Hore, now the only life on the premises. There is an upfront payment of £29 and an annual rent of 10s and a heriot of £1. Thomas agrees to grind corn from the premises at Horracombe Mills, and to do suite and service at the courts of Arthur Kelly within the Manor of Spreyton. One copy signed Arthur Kelly; one signed Thos Hore. Witnesses: Susanna Kelly and James Tymewell. The one signed by Thos Hore is inscribed on reverse “Manor of Spreyton, fourth part, counterpart”. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Lease and release of 18 and 19.2.1744 whereby for £130 John Trend of Chagford, Gent., and his wife Agnes convey to Thomas Hore of Nymph in South Tawton half of Coffins and the Deerparks, formerly in the tenure of Thomas Hore and then of Jane Hore but now of John Trend or his tenant. JT covenants that he owns the premises, notwithstanding any actions of his late father Alexander Trend; late grandfather Alexander Trend or late great-grandmother Agnes Trend (the high and chief rents and services only excepted and foreprized). John and Agnes Trend undertake to levy a fine of the premises in Thomas Hore’s favour. Signed John Trend and Agnes Trend. Witnesses: John Luxmoore and Jno. Luxmoore junior. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Lease and release of 25/26.4.1777 whereby Richard Hole of Exeter, clerk, conveys to Hore Browse Trist of South Tawton, Esq., for £300 one fourth of the messuage and tenement of Coffins in Spreyton, now and late in the tenure of Thomas Hooper, blacksmith and Samuel Honeychurch as tenants to Richard Hole (the royalty and waste and hunting and fowling reserved to RH) by a lease of 8.10.1757 for 21 years at £5 rent. An annual rent of 3d. is payable to Richard Hole and his heirs in perpetuity. RH covenants his title to the property regardless of any act by him; Mary Risdon, widow late of Crediton; or by Nathaniel Risdon, her late son; or by any of his ancestors. RH undertakes to produce as requested the following deeds: · Lease and release of 3/4.2.1657 From Edward Wise to Nathaniel Risdon the Elder, great-grandfather of Nathaniel Risdon, who made the settlement in 1737 hereinafter abstracted of ¼ of the Manor of Spreyton with a covenant for the said Edward Wise and Arabella his wife to make further assurance; · Hilary Term 1657: a fine between Nathaniel Risdon and Edward Wise and Arabella, deforciants of divers lands, among others the Manor of Spreyton; · Lease and release of 17/18.9.1678 by Nathaniel Risdon to Philip Furse and Wm Knapman (on the marriage of NR junior with Margaret Furse, daughter of John Furse) of ¼ of the Manor of Spreyton to the use of NR for life and then to trustees; · Michaelmas 1707: exemplification of a recovery between Philip Furse the younger and Robert Incledon, among divers manors and lands ¼ of the Manor of Spreyton, Richard Risdon vouchee; · Indenture of 16.3.1713 between (1)Richard Risdon, gent., (2) Robert Incledon and (3) Philip Furze the younger, reciting the above recovery and declaring that the uses should be to Richard Risdon and his heirs forever; · Michaelmas Term 1738: indenture of a fine between Thomas Comyns and Peter Turker, plaintiffs and Nathaniel Risdon deforciant of divers lands including ¼ of Coffins and Deerparks; · 5.10.1757: indenture between (10 Richard Hole clerk and his wife Juliana; (2) Thomas Hole clerk; and (3) John Battishill reciting that Richard Hole was seized in fee of divers manors and other lands including ¼ of the Manor of Spreyton and Coffins; Richard and Juliana covenant with Thomas to levy a fine; Michaelmas Term 31 Geo II: fine between Thomas, plaintiff, and Richard and Juliana, deforciants, of ¼ of the Manor of Spreyton and lands in Coffins. Signed Richd Hole and H. B. Trist. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Lease and release of 28/29.9.1796 between (1) Hore Browse Trist of Totnes, Esq., only son and heir at law of Nicholas Trist Esq., formerly of Totnes but since resident in Wanchack on the river Mississipi in the province of Louisiana in America, now deceased, who was one of the sons of Hore Browse Trist Esq.,of Bowden House in Totnes by his wife Agnes who was the only daughter and heiress of Thomas Hore Esq. of east Nymet als Nymph in South Tawton; (2) George Cann of Falkingdon als Falkaton in Spreyton, gent.; and George Cann of Hillerdon in Bow, gent. Hore Browse Trist, by virtue of Thos Hore’s will of 15.5.1746; and also by a lease and release of 2/3 May 1796 between (1) Hore Browse Trist; (2) Timothy Rowland Bevan of St Michael Bassishaw, City of London, gent.; and (3) John Taylor, gent of Totnes; and also by a recovery in the Trinity term last past, is seized in fee of half the messuages etc called Coffins and half of the fields called the Deerparks or Dureparks, formerly in the occupation of John Trend, deceased, then of Thomas Hore, the great-grandfather of Hore Browse Trist, then of Hore Browse Trist, deceased uncle of Hore Browse Trist, lately of Browse Trist, another uncle of Hore Browse But now of Hore Browse Trist party hereto, subject to a lease of 2 years granted on 25 March last by Hore Browse Trist to Christopher Copplestone; and the high and chief rents. George Cann, at a public survey held for the sale of the said premises, agreed to buy them for £650. HBT accordingly conveys them to him and undertakes to produce on demand: · probate copy of Thomas Hore’s will, proved on 12.5.1746 at the Archdeaconry of Exeter; · certain documents, affidavits, etc proving the legitimacy of Nicholas Trist’s marriage with Elizabeth House of Philadelphia and the birth and identity of their son HBT. There are 7 sets of documents attested as follows: o by Wm Webb Esq., a notary public, dated 6.8. and 3.11.1784; o by Elisha Picken, a JP, and Thomas Seymour, Mayor of Hartford in Connecticut, dated 21.5.1787; o by James Duane Esq., Mayor of the city of New York, dated 18.8.1787; o by Thomas Wr. Koan, Chief Justice of the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania, dated 26/27.9.1787; o by Clement Biddle Esq., a notary and tabellion public, dated 31.7 and 1.8.1788; o this set is a duplicate of the previous one, attested by James Duane but dated 13.11.1788; o by John Pyke, a commissioner duly appointed to take affidavits at the court of Common Pleas at Westminster, dated 7.9.1796; · the lease/release of 2/3 May 1796; · the recovery of Trinity Term 36 geo III. It was agreed that all would be enrolled in the High Court of Chancery. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Lease and release of 25 and 26.3.1803 whereby Tryphena Trist of Totnes, spinster, conveys a half part of Coffins to George Cann Esq. of Falkingdon for £600. The conveyance mentions that this half share of the property belonged to Browse Trist formerly of Totnes, Clerk, who died intestate on 13.12.1791 leaving 3 infant daughters, Elizabeth Ayshford Trist, Susanna Hore Trist and Tryphena Trist. Susanna died in May 1793, still an infant and intestate. Elizabeth married (while still a minor) Lewis John Marie Haussoullier. There was then a case before the High Court of Chancery on 22.6.1797 between Lewis and Elizabeth, Gillory Pigott and John Taylor (trustees of Elizabeth’s marriage settlement) as complainants and Agnes Hore Champernowne and Tryphena as defendants. Following this and various other legal proceedings, the inheritance of the two remaining daughters was divided between them, the half share of Coffins among other properties being allotted to Tryphena. Tryphena reached the age of 21 on 5.7.1802 and agreed on 2.7.1802 with Geo. Cann to sell him the half of Coffins. The premises are described as consisting of a farmhouse, garden and outbuildings (1 acre); and the fields of Bewton (3 acres), Cross Park (2 acres), Cross Park Orchard (2), Thorne Park (8), Great Meadow (6), Little Meadow (1), Powesland’s Garden (2 roods), the Moor (5), Ellen’s Close (12), Gallows Stile (8), Long Close (6), Furze Park (11), Slade (8), Church Park (6), Lower Moor (10), New Park (18), Ball Hill (22) and another Ball Hill (7), Lower Deer Park (8), Adjoining Lower Deer Park (10), Higher Deer Park (16), and Adjoining Higher Deer Park (3 acres). Royalty and waste and liberty of hunting and fowling on a quarter of the premises are reserved to Richard Hole, the said quarter having been conveyed to Hore Browse Trist (deceased), the brother of Tryphena’s father by deeds of lease and release of 25 and 26.4.1777, at that time being in the tenure of Thomas Cooper and/or Samuel Honeycombe, tenants to Richard Hole. There is also a yearly reserved rent of £3 payable to Richard Hole and his heirs. Counterparts signed by Tryphena Trist. Witnesses John Taylor jun. and Wm. Kinsman. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Lease and release of 29 and 30.1.1808. The lease is the standard 1-year one for 5s and a barley corn rent to prepare for the release of a half part of the messuages and lands called Coffins by John Cann of Fuidge, nephew of John Cann of Fuidge deceased, to George Lambert Gorwyn of Falkedon, gentleman, against a payment of £600. The release recites that John Cann the uncle inherited as heir at law the half part of Coffins from his brother George Cann of Falkedon, a bachelor who died intestate as to this property (and John Cann being his eldest brother and heir-at law). John Cann the uncle left it to John Cann the nephew by a codicil dated 15.4.1805, annexed to his will of 13.3.1798. John Cann then contracted to sell it to GLG. Coffins is described as late in the possession of George Cann and now in the possession of GLG. The conveyance is subject to the royalty and waste and liberty of hunting and fowling rights of Richard Hole, Clerk, late of the City of Exeter upon the one fourth part of the property that was granted to one Hore Trist Browse Esq., deceased, the eldest brother of Browse Trist, Clerk, by indenture of lease and release dated 25 and 26 April 1777 and late in the tenure of Thomas Hooper and/or Samuel Honeycombe as tenants to Richard Hole. JC undertakes that the property is indemnified against the Dower and Thirds in Common Law of Rebecca, wife of JC if she should survive himThe fields of Coffins are listed [perches excluded]: farmhouse together with court, curtileges and outbuildings 1.5 acres; Bewdon 3.5 acres; Crosspark 2 acres; Crosspark Orchard 2 acres; Thorne Park 8.75 acres; Great Meadow 6.25 acres; Little Meadow 1.5 acres; Powlesland Garden 0.5 acres; The Moor 5 acres; Ellens Close 12 acres; Gallows Stile 8.75 acres; Long close 6.5 acres; Furze Park 11.75 acres; Slade 10.5 acres; Church Park 6.2 acres; Lower Moor 10.5 acres; New Park 18.75 acres; Ball Hill 22.5 acres; Ball [?] 7.25 acres; Lower Deerpark 8.75 acres; Adjoining Lower Deerpark 10.25 acres; Higher Deerpark 16.75 acres; Adjoining Higher Deerpark 8.75 acres. Signed John Cann. Witnesses: ?JR Southmead and Jno. Harvey. DRO: Lambert estate papers. 1848-51: plans and accounts mainly relating to the building of a new linhay and to the drainage and surveying of various fields at Coffins. There is also an apparently unrealised plan for altering the building. [10 items] DRO: Lambert estate papers. Lease of 26.6.1863: indenture between (1) George Lambert Gorwyn of Cullompton, gent.; (2) John Hooper of Spreyton, yeoman; and (3) Rowland Hooper of Coldridge, yeoman, whereby GLG leases to JH for 10 years a messuage and farm called Coffins and Cross Park field, in all about 187 acres; and all those lands of 60 acres, part of Rugroad, with the cottages and farm buildings in Spreyton now in the occupation of Samuel Powlesland and Samuel Powlesland the younger, except for the coppices, underwood, browse, frith and furze in the coppices; all the stones now in heaps; the trees and sticks likely to become timber, and mineral and game rights. The tenant was required not to take more than two crops of corn or grain running, and to sow at least 20 acres of turnips per annum. He was forbidden to plough meadow or old pastureland without consent (and had to pay £20 extra rent for every acre so ploughed), and in the last five years to plough or till Bowdown, Crosspark, Little Bramblefield, Homer Moor, Yonder Moor, Western Allens Field, Gallows Stile Moor, Deer Park Moor or Homerslade on Coffins or the Deer Park on Rugroad. He was also forbidden in that period to dispose of or carry off “any Reed; unthrashed corn, pulse or grain; hay; straw; haulm, dung, manure, ashes, soil or compost” but to use it for the improvement of the premises. In the last year of the tenancy after November, he was also required not to graze the pasture with anything except sheep after November. He was forbidden to “pin any moles or vermin against the walls of the premises” , nor keep any dogs (except sheepdogs) or pigeons, turkeys or gallinae. In the last three years he was required to “leave 20 acres of arable land out of tillage … upon which the lessor…may enter and prepare for wheat; also will properly harrow and brush in the grass seeds to be sown with the spring corn in the last year of the said term, which seeds are to be provided by the said lessor … upon ten days notice that the same are required; and will not depasture the young grass after 29 September in the last year”. DRO: Lambert estate papers. List of fields and acreages, probably late 19th century. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Undated bill, probably late 19th century, for works on Ball Hill cottage (presumably a now demolished cottage that was part of Coffins as there is a Ball Hill field at Coffins). DRO: Lambert estate papers. 1904-5 correspondence about alterations to house and gardens at Coffins, mainly from the Exeter architects Harbottle & Reed. [27 items + 10 drawings in 2 envelopes] DRO: Lambert estate papers. Copy of note of 21.7.1913 from GL to W. Isaac, The Barton, Spreyton, about an alteration to the hedge by the side of the garden at Coffins on the Cramphay field bordering Bewdown, taking about ¼ acre of Isaac’s land, and Isaac’s reply agreeing. DRO: Lambert estate papers. Copy of schedule attached to a lease of 28.11.1957 whereby the Rt. Hon. Viscount Lambert leased Coffins (226 acres) to his son the Hon George Lambert MP for £150 a year. DRO: Lambert estate papers. 1969 valuation of the house at Coffins (£14,000), and covering letter of 17.3.1970 from Rawlence and Squarey, surveyors, to 2nd Viscount Lambert, together with a copy of a letter from Rawlence and Squarey about the property involved in trust arrangements between Viscount Lambert and his son (3 documents). DRO: Lambert estate papers.
Manor and Parish of Spreyton
Combe means “valley” and the farm no doubt takes its name from its location on the river Yeo (which forms its north-western boundary). It is one of the earliest properties in Spreyton to be mentioned in the records. In 1332, Alexander atte Combe is listed as one of four people in Spreyton required to pay the “lay subsidy” or tax raised that year by Edward III to finance “great and arduous affairs in Ireland and elsewhere”. The lay subsidy was levied at a 15% rate on all people with moveable goods worth 10s or over, quite a high threshold at the time, so only the most prosperous were caught by it (household and farm equipment was excluded, so effectively the goods counted were animals and crops). Alexander, like his neighbours at Begbeer and a farm that no longer exists called Crosse, paid 8d; only the Talbots (who were Lords of the Manor of Spreyton) paid more. So it was clearly one of the most important farms in Spreyton at that period, and Alexander was no doubt a “freeholder”, i.e. with rights tantamount to ownership of his property albeit whilst owing various dues to the Lord of the Manor of Spreyton – at that time the Talbot family.
The current house is Grade II* listed (i.e. of more than particular interest). . It was built in the early 16th century, a time of prosperity for Devon farmers, and is a typical Devon longhouse, originally with the living-rooms at the higher end, then a corridor from front to back, and then at the other end a shippon for the animals. It obviously replaced an earlier dwelling, probably a hall-house open to the roof from end to end, divided by low partitions and heated by an open hearth fire – some smoke-blackened timbers from that period are still part of the building. As so often with these farmhouses, a kitchen/dairy wing was added probably in the following century, which was a time when farmer’s wives were beginning to require more spacious and convenient kitchen arrangements. So the building is now L-shaped. The inglenook fireplace that must originally have been in the kitchen annex has disappeared, and unfortunately the interior of the house was badly messed about in the 1960s (Combe was missed out when the original listing of Spreyton buildings was done and was not protected). But enough original features remain, including good woodwork, for the authorities subsequently to have given the house its Grade II* listing, one of only two in Spreyton (the other is Spreyton Barton).
Originally, there was a full range of outbuildings – linhay, barn, cider-house with pound, etc – mostly built of cob and thatch and probably also dating back to the 16th or 17th century. Unfortunately, sometime in the 1960s or 1970s, when the property had ceased to be a farm, the then owner demolished all but one of the outbuildings (a linhay which has now been converted into a dwelling), otherwise they might also be listed as of historical or architectural interest. At one time there was also at least one cottage, as the 1797 marriage of William Brock of Combe provides for his wife to occupy a 'dwelling-house on the estate, formerly a malt-house’ if he should predecease her.
Also in the 1960s or 1970s, the outside of the house was remodelled, and the front door is now on the back – i.e. the side which originally looked onto the farm buildings. Modern windows were also installed on that side.
Like so many Devon farms, Combe is some distance from the road. There appear always to have been two ways leading to the farm, one from Combe Lane and one from Heath Lane. But the former was originally a back way, whereas now it is the main way into the property. The change was probably made at the time that the land was sold off in the 1960s. The avenue of trees along the old way in can still be seen. There is a story of a secret tunnel between Combe and the neighbouring farm of North Beer. However, this sounds extremely unlikely. Not only is there no reason for such a tunnel, but the ground is heavy clay, very hard to work.
So far nothing has been traced in the archives to show who lived at Combe after Alexander atte Coombe, or who built the present house or added the kitchen wing. Combe was part of the Manor of Spreyton, which appears to have passed briefly in the 16th century to the Courtenay family of Powderham Castle, descendants of the Earls of Devon and major landowners in the county. The Courtenays appear to have disposed of their interest in the rest of the Spreyton Manor properties, but they kept hold of Combe for some reason. A deed of 1672 indicates that in that year Sir William Courtenay of Powderham Castle conveyed the “messuage” (dwelling) of Coombe to James Courtenay of Powderham, Hugh Stafford of Pines and Edmund Pollexfen of Plymouth (Stafford and Pollexfen would have been trustees and this conveyance was no doubt some sort of family arrangement, perhaps part of a marriage settlement). The tenant at the time of the conveyance was William Man – the Mans being a big Spreyton family in the 17th century. Contemporary Courtenay rent rolls in the Devon Record Office show William Man of Spreyton (the Courtenays’ only tenant in the village) paying rent of £2 per annum. By 1681, According to the records of the Overseers of the Poor, Thomas Dyer had replaced William Man as the tenant, but Dyer disappears from the lists after only a few years, so there must have been yet another change of tenant after that (in 1696, the churchwardens record that Frances Dyer, widow, was “buried in Woollen”).
As regards the ownership of Coombe, it seems to have passed to Richard Hole, a rich cleric from North Tawton, who probably purchased it from the Courtenays in the late 17th or early 18th century. Hole owned much other property in Spreyton and nearby and no doubt acquired Combe to consolidate his holdings. By the mid 18th century, however, the big estates were being broken up and the individual farms being sold off to yeoman farmers who actually worked the land themselves. Richard Hole sold several of his farms around this time, including Combe, giving 2,000-year lease of the property (effectively a freehold interest) in 1758 to a Mark Cann – probably the Mark Cann who owned Bush. Another name associated with Combe around this time is that of Elisha Powlesland. He took apprentices to work at Combe in both 1742 and 1771. He must have been the tenant when Mark Cann purchased the property, and there are some indications in the documents that he then purchased the freehold (or rather the remainder of the 2000-year lease. The Powleslands also had the nearby farm of Powlesland in South Tawton, and it is not clear in which farmhouse Elisha lived.
According to the land tax records, by 1780 the property had been acquired by John Brock, thus ushering in one of the more stable periods in the farm’s history, as the Brocks were to stay there for over a hundred years. The Brocks were a large family, well represented in several neighbouring parishes, and it is not clear where this particular John Brock came from, or even if he actually lived at Combe in the early years. But his successor William Brock (presumably either his son or his nephew) seems to have lived at Combe from the time of his marriage in 1797, as his children were all christened in Spreyton church. William Brock stayed there until his death in 1839. He is buried in Spreyton churchyard and his gravestone survives. He also left a detailed will providing for the various members of his family. He bequeathed Combe to his eldest son, another William. But William had left home some years before (probably on his marriage) for another farm, and it appears that the youngest son, John, was the only one at home at the time of his father’s death. The testator presumably did not want to see John turfed out of Combe immediately, so he provided for John to have a year’s lease of Combe (in fact he stayed there at least three years with his widowed mother).
William Brock junior died in 1862, and in turn left the farm to his son George. The latter was the last of the Brock family to farm Combe. By 1891 he had moved away from Spreyton. Combe was let, first to Thomas Howard and then to Stephen Haggadon. George died in 1916 and is also buried in Spreyton churchyard, so he clearly kept his links with the parish. He bequeathed Combe to his son Seward Brock with instructions to sell it to pay the legacies in his will, and in 1918 Combe was sold to Gilbert Osborn from the neighbouring parish of Bow. He remained there until 1939, when he retired to Clyst Honiton. He retained ownership of the farm, however, and it was again let, to James Ponsford. Osborn’s daughter finally sold the farm in 1967, the same year that electricity was brought to Combe (most of the rest of Spreyton had been electrified in 1955).
The farm of Combe was probably always a large one. It is listed as having 171 acres of land in the 1842 tithe apportionment (50 acres of reasonable land was normally considered enough to live on), and needed a number of farm workers to keep it going (as well as female servants to help the farmer’s wife with her various tasks – making butter and cheese, etc). As can be seen from the census, some of these workers, especially the younger ones who were apprentices, lived in the house with the family. Combe Moor cottages were part of the Combe estate, and also accommodated up to four families. As the census shows William and George Brock farming 200 acres, they presumably were also renting other land nearby.
In the 20th century, Combe suffered the fate of so many farms in the area, with its successive owners gradually selling off the land until now all that is left of the estate is the house and eight acres immediately round it. Gilbert Osborn, during his tenure, actually added to his land by purchasing in 1920 a narrow slip of land just the other side of the farm’s boundary (and Spreyton parish boundary) on the river Yeo (between the river and Itton Lane). The land was a sliver cut from the South Tawton farm of Justment. But in 1926 he sold a large chunk of the land and the further cottage at Combe Moore, reducing the acreage of the farm to some 130 acres. When the Osborns sold the farm in 1967, the new owner sold most of the rest of the fields to neighbouring farmers, leaving only some eight acres round the house.
Although Combe was not one of the farms held directly by the Lord of the Manor of Spreyton, its owner did owe an annual rent of 6s.6d. to the Lord of the Manor, in common with a number of other farms similarly placed. These rents mostly dated back to medieval times, although sometimes in the 17th and 18th centuries when landowners sold farms on leases of 1,000 or 2,000 years, they also wrote into the deed a right to a perpetual rent. The right to these rents could itself be bought and sold, and the right to the rent from Combe passed in 1804 to the Lambert Gorwyn family of Spreyton. Most landowners had given up collecting these tiny rents by the 19th century, but the singularly unpleasant George Lambert Gorwyn of Coffins (1818-1885) insisted on collecting the rents due to him until the end of his life. The rent for Combe seems at some point to have been forgotten about for a few years, and when in the 1850s George Lambert Gorwyn tried to collect it, William Brock refused to pay up. There followed long legal proceedings, which certainly cost George Lambert Gorwyn far more than he could ever have ever received by way of rent, but in the end he appears to have won the case, as the documents indicate that he did later continue to collect his 6s.6d. from the occupants of Combe.
OCCUPANTS OF COMBE AS SHOWN IN THE CENSUS
1841: John Brock, farmer, aged 29; his mother Jane Brock aged 67 (born in Chagford), of independent means; George Brock, aged 5; William Knapman (age 25), Robert Olding (21), George Turner(14) and George Ingerson (12), agricultural labourers (the last was probably an apprentice); and Elizabeth Hooper, age 15, servant.
1851: William Brock age 53, farmer of 200 acres employing 7 labourers; his wife Mary Ann (née Dunning) age 50; unmarried children Agnes (aged 20); George (aged 18); William (age 15); and Richard (age 7); Jane Dunning Brock age 5, a visitor to the household; a “general servant” aged 30 (Sarah Troneman?) age 30; and five “farm servants” (i.e. farm workers): George Mansfield(?) aged 21; John Baker aged 18; George White aged 17; James Mudge aged 16; and John Puddicombe aged 15.
1861: William Brock, age 63, farmer of 200 acres employing 3 labourers, 2 boys and 2 women; his wife Mary Ann, age 61; his unmarried son George, age 28; Eliza Wonnacott, house servant age 16; William Curson, farm servant age 14; and George Long, farm servant age 12. Three older farm labourers were living with their families at Combe Moore cottages.
1891: Thomas Howard, aged 47, farmer; his wife Mary and children William, Mary, Thomas, Susan and Samuel; William Lang, aged 63, boarder living on his own means; Thomas Howard’s niece Bessie Bristow; and farm servants William Reynolds, aged 30, and John Martin aged 23.
1901: [appears to have been omitted from the census]
1911: Stephen Haggadon, farmer aged 46, born in Baratton Clovelly; his wife Ann aged 46; a daughter; a boarder and a servant.
Courtenay rent rolls of 1647-90 show they were receiving rent from William Man in Spreyton of £2 per annum. DRO ref: 1588M Tavistock 4.
Lease of 21.2.1672 (part of a “lease and release” conveying the freehold) by which Sir William Courtenay of Powderham Castle leased the “messuage” of Coombe in Spreton, now or late in the tenure of William Man, to James Courtenay of Powderham, Hugh Stafford of Pines and Edmund Pollexfen of Plymouth. The release is missing. DRO ref: D1508/Moger/437
Lease and release of 5 and 6 March 1758: Arthur Kelly of Kelly conveys to John Cann the younger, gentleman, for £30 all his ¼ of Manor and Lordship of Spreyton and all the high and chief rents:
Kelly undertakes to produce an indenture of 17.10 Anne 3 between Arthur Kelly on the one hand and William Hancock of Hendra and William Harris of Hayne. From Abstract of Title of Rebecca Cann to ¼ Manor of Spreyton and of Manor of Fursham in Drwest and Hitt. DRO: ref: Z3/Box 14
Case Gorwyn v. Brock 1852-4 over rent due out of Coombe
(1) Writ of summons for 1.5.1852 addressed to William Brock, late of Westwood (Crediton) and now of Coombe, Spreyton, for an action of debt brought by George Lambert Gorwyn.
(2) Instructions to Counsel (Walter Oke Edge of Temple). Plaintiff George Lambert claims 8 years arrears (1843-51) of a conventionary rent of 3s.3d. a year out Coombe, which the defendant (Brock) holds for the residue of a 2,000 year term. Richard Hole was seized in fee of Coombe (among other premises) and by an indenture of 13 October 1758 he demised it to Mark Cann for 2,000 years, under the several rents in the schedule, including the 3s.3d for Coombe. By a deed of 28 and 29.9.1800 (which recites the last deed), Hole’s representatives conveyed the reversion in fee and the chief rent to John Lambert Gorwyn, and JLG sold them on by deeds of 14 and 15.10.1800 to George Cann, who bequeathed them to GLG, who bequeathed them to the plaintiff. The defendant succeeded to the estate on the death of his father, and is anyway in possession as owner. No proof of payment of the rent to GLG the grandfather, but on 5.2.1838 the defendant’s father paid 1 ¾ years’ rent, amounting to 5s.6d due Michaelmas 1837. In 1839, John Brock, brother of the plaintiff, then living with his father, paid 2 years rent. In 1844, the defendant settled an account for 4 years rent to Michaelmas 1843. Since then, no payment made. A case failed in the County Court because the defendant claimed the title was in question. Claimant now wants to go to a higher court. Another deed in the plaintiff’s possession relating to other conventionary rents under the same title, indicates that it is likely that the demise contained a covenant by the devisee to pay the conventionary rent. Counsel’s Opinion dated 16.12.1852 is written on the bottom.
(3) Further Opinion of 11.2.1853 by same Counsel. The instructions show that the rent in question is a freehold rent, not a reserved rent upon covenant, so he is doubtful if an action for recovery; the only remedy being distress. He recognises that an action might be begun as a way of persuading the defendant to pay, but comments ‘that the sum at stake is so small that expense upon mere speculation is a thing to be avoided’.
(4) Instruction to Counsel 20.10.1854 in the case of Gorwyn v. Brock. Counsel has already advised that it is a rent in gross but it is probably a conventionary rent; can the claimant get the defendant to produce the deed with the covenant. Counsel’s Opinion (at the bottom, dated 1854) says that a judge could order this.
(5) Draft of letter, possibly to do this case, complaining that the recipient has resorted to the statute of limitations in order not to pay the chief conventionary rent of the property he holds. The writer says he will draw this defence to the attention of all his friends and he will withdraw his summons and not appear at Court. 5 documents. George Lambert Gorwyn apparently did pursue and win the case, as he later collected rent from Coombe. DRO: Lambert Estate Papers.
Lease of 3.5.1902 whereby George Brock, yeoman of Langford, Bow leases Coombe Farm in Spreyton to Stephen Haggadon of Coombe Farm on a yearly rent from 25.3.1902 for £125, plus £10 for every acre of meadow, orchard or old pasture land broken up by the tenant contrary to the covenant in the lease. The farm comprises 174 acres. The lessor reserves timber and quarrying rights, including “particularly such of sand and stones in the stream as may be required by the lessor, the lessee not being allowed to break the veins or bars across the stream”, with liberty for the lessor to enter the property to “dig, search for and carry away such of the said sand and stone as he may require”. “All game and rabbits and ground game are subject to the provisions of the Ground Game Act 1880, and liberty for the lessor, his friends, servants and agents and others whom he may permit to hunt, shoot and sport over the said devised premises”. He must “till Ten acres of clover ley land” in the last year then in course for wheat. Potatoes, mangold, enter the premises after “the first day of November to enter thereupon and gutter and water the watered meadows on the said premises, which shall not afterwards be stocked with any cattle except sheep”. Husbandy practices are also specified. Any vacancies in the orchard must be replaced with “young thriving trees”, and the tenant must not depasture the orchard “with any cattle except sheep, horses and pigs, the pigs to be properly ringed”. Interior of the premises was the responsibility of the tenant, but landlord was responsible for the walls, doors, floors and the timber work, iron and slate of the roofs. The tenant must constantly reside at the premises. There are references to cottages and gardens belonging to the estate. The tenant has liberty to use the threshing machine, chaff cutter and cider pound on the premises.
Conveyance of 30.9.1918 between (1) Seward Brock of Yondacott in Shobrooke; (2) Caroline Brock, widow of Whipton Barton near Exeter; and (3) John Gilbert Osborn of Langford, Bow. George Brock, late of Langford, was possessed of the freehold of Combe Farm in Spreyton (containing about 174 acres) at the time of his death on 17.9.1916. In his will dated 19.6.1914 he appointed his son Seward Brock as his executor and bequeathed to him his real estate, subject to an annuity of £50 payable out of the estate to George’s widow Caroline. The will was proved on 3.11.1916. Seward now conveys Combe to J.G. Osborn for £3,425. Caroline is a party to the deed, as she has agreed to release the state from the requirement to pay the annuity. A schedule of fields and a map are appended to the conveyance. (Document in private hands.)
Conveyance of 9.1.1920 whereby Ernest May of De Bathe, North Tawton conveys to John Gilbert Osborn of Combe Farm, farmer, 8 ½ acres of land, part of Justment Farm in South Tawton, for the sum of £140. The conveyance also refers to various earlier deeds:
The deed also shows a map of the land conveyed, which is a narrow strip between the River Yeo and Itton Moor Lane, OS Nos. 1015 (3.016); 1070 (.589); 1071 (1.034); 1072 (1.579); and 1074 (2.296) (Document in private hands.)
Declaration of 18.3.1967. Frank Gerrard of Heath Manor Farm declared that field No 56 (on the Ordnance Survey map) was in the map attached to the 1918 conveyance but omitted by mistake from the schedule. It had as long as he could remember been part of Coombe farmed by the Osborns. He also declared that the front access to the farm was by way of a track situate on the south-west side of the north-east boundary fence of the said field numbered 56 on the OS Map and then on the south-west side of the north-eastern fence of the field numbered 45 on the OS map. (Document in private hands)
Declaration of 5.11.1985. Frank Gerrard of Heath Manor Farm, Coombe Lane, declared that the land with the Ordnance Survey number No 18, 0.732 acres in extent, was included in the plan of the 1918 conveyance but omitted by mistake from the schedule. (Document in private hands)
FIELDS BELONGING TO COMBE IN 1842 (AT THE TIME OF THE TITHE APPORTONMENT SURVEY) and in 1918
*Numbers in brackets refer to acreages at the time of the 1918 conveyance. Quite a few hedges have disappeared and not all the fields on the two lists have been reconciled.
ENGLISH HERITAGE DESCRIPTION OF COMBE
SX 69 NE SPREYTON COMBE LANE
Combe seen from what was originally the front of the house.
Combe seen from what was originally the back of the house with the kitchen extension. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
