Burlescombe (, ) is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in the
Mid Devon
Mid Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tiverton.
The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the borough of Tiverton and Crediton urban district ...
district of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
, England. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of
Holcombe Rogus
Holcombe Rogus is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. In 2001 the population of the parish was 503. The northern boundary of the parish forms part of the county boundary with Somerset and clockwise from the east it is bord ...
,
Culmstock
Culmstock is a village and civil parish in Mid Devon, England, centred 10 miles from Tiverton and 6 NE of Cullompton. It is laid out on both sides of the River Culm; the village is joined by a single old narrow stone bridge across the river. The ...
,
Uffculme
Uffculme (, ) is a village and civil parish located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England. Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway and the Bristol–Exeter railway line, near Cullompton, Uffculme is on the ...
,
Halberton
Halberton is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. The Grand Western Canal runs through the village. The village is situated between the historic market towns of Tiverton and Cullompton.
The large parish has an area of about and it i ...
and
Sampford Peverell. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 911. The village is about south west of
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
in Somerset. The ruins of the 12th century
Canonsleigh Abbey
Canonsleigh Abbey was an Canons regular#Canons Regular of Saint Augustine, Augustinian priory in the parish of Burlescombe, Devon.
History
It was founded in about 1170 by Walter de Claville, lord of the manor of Burlescombe, for the Canons regul ...
are nearby. Burlescombe is part of the
electoral ward
A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...
of Canonsleigh. The population of this ward was 3,218 at the
2011 Census.
History
The parish was formerly divided into four tithings and hamlets: the Town Tithing, Appledore, Westleigh and
Ayshford
Ayshford is a hamlet and historic manor in the parish of Burlescombe in the district of Mid-Devon, Devon, England. It was anciently the seat of the ''de Ayshford'' family.
Ayshford Chapel
Ayshford Chapel is a former private chapel in the ...
. In 1872 the
lord of the manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seig ...
was Edward Ayshford Sandford, Esq., in which year much of the parish belonged to the heirs of Sir William Follett, namely R. H. Clarke Esq, Henry Dunsford Esq., and other freeholders
[White's Directory, 1850]
/ref>
As part of the construction of the Grand Western Canal
The Grand Western Canal ran between Taunton in Somerset and Tiverton in Devon in the United Kingdom. The canal had its origins in various plans, going back to 1796, to link the Bristol Channel and the English Channel by a canal, bypassing Lands ...
in about 1810, several bridges and culverts were constructed at Burlescombe. Limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
of superior quality abounded in the locality and in the 19th century great quantities of it were sent off by canal and railway.
Burlescombe railway station was opened by the Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway (B&ER) was an English railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter. It was built on the broad gauge and its engineer was Isambard Kingdom Brunel. It opened in stages between 1841 and 1844. It was allied with ...
in 1867. A siding on the west side served the railway's nearby ballast quarry at Westleigh. Both the station and siding are now closed. The parish includes Tiverton Parkway railway station
Tiverton Parkway railway station is on the Bristol to Exeter line in Devon, England. The "Parkway" name signifies that the station is a distance from Tiverton town itself: it is actually located in the civil parish of Burlescombe, near Sampfo ...
, which was opened in 1986.
In 1872 the parish was entitled to send a boy to nearby Uffculme
Uffculme (, ) is a village and civil parish located in the Mid Devon district, of Devon, England. Situated in the Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway and the Bristol–Exeter railway line, near Cullompton, Uffculme is on the ...
Free School, founded in 1701 by Nicholas Ayshford who endowed it with £47 per annum. Today the trustees of the Ayshford Educational Foundation (Registered Number 306659) award grants to students aged over 18 in further and higher education who are residents of the parishes of Burlescombe, Holcombe Rogus or Uffculme.
Parish church
The parish church dedicated to St Mary is chiefly of the time of Henry VII (1485–1509) and was renovated in 1843.[Wilson, John Marius]
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1870-2
/ref> It contains a beautiful ancient rood-screen, and fine monuments of the Ayshford family. The parish church was renovated in 1843 when new carved oak pews and stained glass windows were added and the heraldic blazonry on the screen was re-painted.
Monument to Roger Ayshford (d.1610)
In the church there is a mural monument to Roger Ayshford (d.1610). It bears the inscription: "''In mortem et memoriam Regery Aysheforde armigery epitaphium obiit ... die Januarii anno 1610 anno aetatis suee 76'' (An epitaph in death and memory of Roger Ayshford Esq. who died the ... day of January 1610 in the 76th year of his age) You that passe by this tombe stand still awhile; and with youre tongues and teares the tym begueil; to see soe good a man betr(ayed?) to dust; and not cause why save that hee was rightjust; the Church and churchmen was his cheife delight; to other thinges hee scarse hadd appetite; or if he had twas like himself twas rare; so zeallus all his recreativs weare; hee wisht and wanted tym which was wi(th?)stoode; not to lyve longe but to doe more good; whearin though death hath crost hym yet heell have; his vertueus life survyve his marble grave".
Sculpted opposite Roger is his wife Elizabeth Michell, daughter of Richard Michell (1524–1563) of Perry Court, in Wembdon
Wembdon is a semi-rural village near Bridgwater, in Somerset, England.
Wembdon is now home to an Anglican church, a small shop (combined with the post office), a pub and a small garage.
History
Wembdon was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 a ...
parish, near Cannington, Somerset. Richard died at the Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
, London, suggesting him to have been a lawyer; his heir was his son Tristram. His father was Sir Thomas Michell KB(1514–1539) who on 13 December 1539 at his home called Gurney Street (or Gurney Manor
Gurney Manor in Cannington, Somerset, England is a 13th-century manor house with an attached chapel wing. It is now supported by the Landmark Trust and is available as holiday accommodation. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building and ...
), Cannington, murdered his wife and her sister Eleanor, wife of George Sydenham of Chilworthy, near Ilminster, before committing suicide. Above her head are shown the arms of Michell: ''Per chevron gules and sable, a chevron between three swans argent'' The Michell family were lords of the manor of Wembdon.Victoria County History, Vol.6, 1992, Wembdon: Manors and other estates, pp. 325–330
/ref>
Monument to Elizabeth Ayshford (d.1635)
There is a mural monument to Elizabeth Wilmot (d.1635) Burlescombe Church. Text incised on slate tablet on monument: "To the memory of Elizabeth Ayshford wife of Arthur Ayshford eldest sonne of Henry Ayshford Esquier only daughter of the right honourable Charles Lord Wilmot Viscount of Atllone ''(i.e. Athlone, d.1644)'' late general of his majesties forces in the kingdome of Ireland now a privy counceller both of England Ireland. She dyed the 23th ''(sic)'' yeare of her age Anno D''(omi)''ni 1635 June 13.o"
Ayshford Court
Ayshford is recorded in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 as ''Aiseforda''. It is recorded even earlier in a charter dated 958.[Listed Buildings text]
/ref> The manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...
is now split into two residences. The main historic house was built by the Ashford/Ayshford family in about 1500 with major additions in the 16th and 17th centuries. The parlour wing was probably built by Roger Ayshford (d.1610) and the plasterwork was probably commissioned by Arthur Ayshford. The owners at the time of the listing of the building in 1966 possessed a transcript of a 1689 inventory which showed the great wealth of the Ayshford family at that time. Mention was made of a "painted chamber". Ayshford Court, with its chapel and farmbuildings form an attractive group of buildings.
Ayshford Chapel of Ease
On the former manor of the Ayshford family, next to the manor house which survives, stands a 15th-century chapel of ease. It consists of a rectangular aisle-less block containing a nave and chancel. It is considered to be large for a private chapel in Devon. The wagon-roof and carved oak chancel screen are 15th-century. The screen was re-painted in the 19th century, to which period the furniture, consisting of utilitarian oak pews and the black and red glazed floor tiles, also belongs. It contains several monuments to the Ayshford family.
References
External links
{{authority control
Villages in Devon