Filleigh
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Filleigh is a small village,
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 ...
and former manor in
North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...
, on the southern edge of
Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath. ...
, west of
South Molton South Molton is a town in Devon, England. It is part of the North Devon local government district. The town is on the River Mole. According to the 2001 census the civil parish of South Molton had a population of 4,093, increasing to 5,108 at the ...
. The village centre's street was, until the 1980s opening of the North Devon Link Road, the main highway between the North Devon administrative centre of
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
and South Molton, leading westwards to Taunton. Much of the village's land is contained within grade I listed park and garden, Castle Hill, which straddles both sides of the Link Road providing a glimpse of some of it.


History


Manor


De Filleigh

The manor was held in the 14th century by a family which took its name from the manor, de Filleigh. The family also held lands within the neighbouring settlements of East Buckland, Bray and Charles.


Denzell

On default of male heirs, the manor passed by marriage to the Denzell (or Densyll etc.) family. This family originated from Denzell manor in
St Mawgan St Mawgan or St Mawgan in Pydar ( kw, Lanherne) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of this parish at the 2011 census was 1,307. The village is situated four miles nor ...
parish, near
St Columb Major St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay ...
, near
Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
, Cornwall. The senior line became extinct in the male line on the death of
John Denzel John Denzel (died 1535) held large estates in Cornwall and became serjeant-at-law and Attorney-General to the Queen Consort, Elizabeth of York. He had at least two daughters who became his co-heiresses, of whom Ann married Sir William Holles (1 ...
(died 1535),
sergeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...
and
Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
to the Queen Consort,
Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. Elizabeth married Henry after his victory at the Battle of Bosworth Field, which ma ...
. He held large estates in
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
and left two daughters as his co-heiresses, Ann who married Sir William Holles (1509–1591), later
Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional powe ...
, and another daughter who married into the Roskymer family. It was a
cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...
of this family which had acquired the de Filleigh lands by marriage. The arms of Denzell were: ''Sable, a mullet in chief and a crescent in base argent''. These arms can be seen sculpted on a bench-end, c. 1510, in
Weare Giffard Weare Giffard is a small village, civil parish and former manor in the Torridge district, in north Devon. The church and manor house are situated 2 1/2 miles NW of Great Torrington in Devon. Most of the houses within the parish are situated ...
Church, where exist others adorned with Fortescue arms and those of other heiresses who brought possessions to the Fortescue family. The Denzell arms are also shown in the second
quarter A quarter is one-fourth, , 25% or 0.25. Quarter or quarters may refer to: Places * Quarter (urban subdivision), a section or area, usually of a town Placenames * Quarter, South Lanarkshire, a settlement in Scotland * Le Quartier, a settlement ...
of the arms of Richard Fortescue (died 1570) on his
monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...
es in Filleigh Church.


Fortescue

In 1454 Sir Martin Fortescue (died 1472), second son of Sir John Fortescue (1395–1485), Chief Justice, of Ebrington Manor in Gloucestershire, married Elizabeth Densyll (d.1508), a daughter and co-heiress of Richard Densyll of Filleigh, and thereby the manor became a possession of the Fortescue family, together with substantial other Densyll manors including Weare Giffard, Buckland Filleigh, Combe and Tamerton. Elizabeth Denzell survived her first husband and remarried to Sir Richard de Pomeroy (1442–1496), KB,
feudal baron A feudal baron is a vassal holding a heritable fief called a ''barony'', comprising a specific portion of land, granted by an overlord in return for allegiance and service. Following the end of European feudalism, feudal baronies have largely been ...
of
Berry Pomeroy Berry Pomeroy is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England, east of the town of Totnes. The parish is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of Ipplepen, Marldon, Torbay (unitary authority), Stoke Gabri ...
, Devon,
Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...
in 1473. The
Easter Sepulchre An Easter Sepulchre is a feature of British church interior architecture. Description The Easter Sepulchre is an arched recess generally in the north wall of the chancel, in which from Good Friday to Easter day were deposited the crucifix and sa ...
monument to Sir Richard Pomeroy and Elizabeth Denzell survives in
St Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy St Mary's Church of Berry Pomeroy is an Anglican parish church in Berry Pomeroy, with a full length, forty-two foot wide, rood screen which has been described as one of the most perfect in Devon. It is listed on the Heritage at Risk Register. T ...
, with sculpted armorials, but is missing all its original monumental brasses, robbed before 1701, as described by the biographer Rev. John Prince (1643–1723), for many years vicar of Berry Pomeroy: ''"As for any monuments raised over the graves or sepulchres of the dead relating to this family there is only one remaining, now robbed of its former splendour. It is an
altar-tomb A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a deceased person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms ranging from a simple commemorative plaque or mural tablet affixed to a wall, to a large ...
under an arch in the north wall of the chancel raised near breast-high covered with a fair table of green marble which was sometime inlay'd with a coat of arms and a motto under of gilded brass or copper. On a rough marble stone about six-foot long and three deep fastened in the wall over the tomb and under the canopy were inlaid in like manner the effigies of four several persons in large proportion with labels proceeding out of their mouths. Also four smaller figures between as many escotcheons, (sic) all of gilded brass or copper. Which are long since become the prey of some greedy or childish hand. At the east end of this monument is Pomerai impailed with Denzil, at the west end single, which shew it was raised to the memory of Sir Richard Pomeroy and his lady, who was the daughter and heir of Denzil. The arch is finely fretted and flowered"''. The arms of Denzell ''A mullet in chief and a crescent in base'' impaled by Pomeroy, are sculpted in stone, but without any tinctures or colouring, under the east end of the arched alcove containing this monument and provide valuable confirmation of the form of the Denzell arms. The Filleigh Estate, comprising 5,500 acres (22 km2), together with Castle Hill mansion are still today privately owned by descendants of the Fortescue family.


Church of St Paul


Old Church

The old mediaeval church was demolished by Lord Clinton in about 1730, as being situated adjacent to the old manor house which was to be re-modelled into the Palladian mansion, it interfered with the ambitious related landscaping plans. The only surviving fabric from the old church comprises the two
monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved sepulchral memorial, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional monuments and effigies carved in stone or wood. Made of hard latten or sheet brass, let into the paveme ...
es which formerly adorned the now lost tomb-monument of Richard Fortescue (died 1570), great-grandson of Sir Martin Fortescue. These brasses, in damaged and incomplete condition perhaps indicating their having been carelessly wrenched off the former monument, are now framed and affixed to the north wall of the nave of the new church.


New Church

The present parish church of St Paul was built in 1732 on a new site 1/2-mile west of the new Palladian mansion of Castle Hill which was then being built by Lord Clinton. It was designed to be an "eye-catcher", visible from the terrace of Castle Hill. It was re-modelled in 1876–1877 to the plans of Clark of Newmarket, Gilbert Scott having been consulted on the plan in 1864, in a neo-Norman style, and resulted in the addition of a south aisle, now the "Fortescue Chapel", and
chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...
in the form of an
apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
. The Fortescue Chapel contains several mural monuments to members of that family.


Fortescue monuments

On the west wall of the south aisle chapel is a mural monument inscribed thus:
"To the memory of Lucy Fortescue daughter of Matthew Ford Aylmer of the Kingdom of Ireland and widow of Hugh Fortescue of Filleigh in the county of Devon, Esq. She retired for the latter part of her life to her jointure house at Ebrington in Gloucestershire where she passed her time in the continual exercise of all the social virtues which can enoble a private life: Hospitality, Charity, Unbounded Benevolence; and died as she had lived with calm resignation and humble but confident hopes in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ her Redeemer; on the seventeenth day of February 1767 and in the 80th year of her age. To his most dear and most honoured parent, Matthew Lord Fortescue raised this stone".


Castle Hill

Castle Hill is a privately owned
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
built in 1730 by Hugh Fortescue, 14th Baron Clinton (1696–1751), who was created in 1751
Baron Fortescue Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...
of Castle Hill and Earl of Clinton. The house is occasionally opened to the public, whilst its surrounding garden and parklands are open to public access during spring and summer months. The Castle Hill estate borders the village. Much of the land is included in the estate covering a substantial area. Its grade I status in terms of landscape is due to its diversity. Included are a series of ornamental drives through garden and woodland, mature and replanted woodland as well as follies, some of impressive façade size.


Railway

In 1873, the
Devon and Somerset Railway The Devon and Somerset Railway (D&SR) was a cross-country line that connected Barnstaple in Devon, England, to the network of the Bristol and Exeter Railway (B&ER) near Taunton. It was opened in stages between 1871 and 1873 and closed in 1966. ...
opened a line from
Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by the ...
to
Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...
, including a station at Filleigh. This became part of the
Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
in 1901, and closed in 1966.


Lynmouth Flood

Storms and severe flooding in August 1952 lead to the Lynmouth Flood disaster. At the same time, three
Boy Scout A Scout (in some countries a Boy Scout, Girl Scout, or Pathfinder) is a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split ...
s died while camping beside the
River Bray The River Bray is a small river in North Devon, England. It is a tributary of the River Mole, which in turn is a tributary of the River Taw.Ordnance Survey of Great Britain It rises in Exmoor, near the border with Somerset. Geology Generally, t ...
close to the village.


References


External links

{{authority control Villages in Devon Exmoor Former manors in Devon