Holcombe Burnell is a

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 ...

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 church of which is about 4 miles west of

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

City centre. There is no village clustered around the church, rather the nearest village within the parish is Longdown. Only 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 ...

and two cottages are situated next to the church. The former manor house next to the church is today known as Holcombe Burnell Barton having subsequently been used as a farmhouse. The manor was in the historical Hundred of Wonford.

Church of St John the Baptist

The church was dedicated originally to St Nicholas, mentioned in a charter dated 1150. In the 15th century the manor was acquired by a member of the Denys family of

Orleigh Orleigh Court is a late medieval manor house in the parish of Buckland Brewer about 4 miles (6.4 km) south-west of Bideford, North Devon, England. It is a two-storeyed building constructed from local slate stone and has a great hall with a hammer- ...

in Devon, and the church was then substantially reconstructed. The church was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

in the Victorian era in 1843–1844, to the plans of the Exeter architect John Hayward with Henry Lloyd of Bristol. The north aisle was added at that time. The church contains a rare

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 s ...

, situated on the north side of the

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 ...

. The

advowson Advowson () or patronage is the right in English law of a patron (avowee) to present to the diocesan bishop (or in some cases the ordinary if not the same person) a nominee for appointment to a vacant ecclesiastical benefice or church living, ...

of the church was acquired by the

Bishop of Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of Do ...

, which made it into a

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

for one of its canons. The advowson was acquired by the

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

in about 1850. The altar is an ancient Spanish chest in carved oak from Culver House, one of the principal residences in the parish. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

is 15th century. There existed formerly next to the manor house a private chapel, demolished in the 18th century, the only remains of which are some stone blocks made into a mounting block by the church gate.

Medieval manor

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 records the manor as held by Queen Matilda. Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

it had been a possession of

Brictric Brictric was a powerful Saxon thegn whose many English landholdings, mostly in the West Country, are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. Life According to the account by the ''Continuator of Wace'' and others, in his youth Brictric declined the ...

, a powerful

thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...

based in Gloucestershire. After the death of Queen Matilda the manor was granted by the king to

Tetbald FitzBerner Theobald FitzBerner ( fl. 1086), (Theobald son of Berner, ''Tetbaldus Filius Bernerius'') was an Anglo-Norman warrior and magnate, one of the Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book Domesday Book ...

, one of King William's knights. The manor derives its appellation "Burnell" from a corruption which has developed over the centuries of the name "Berner". From the 15th century the manor was held by a branch of the

Denys family The surname Denys was borne by at least three prominent mediaeval families seated in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon in southwest England between 1166 and 1641. It is not known if any relationship existed between these families. The surname '' ...

. Thomas Denys (died 1498) of Holcombe Burnell married Janera Loveday, daughter of Philip Loveday of Sneston in Suffolk, and their son was Sir

Thomas Denys Sir Thomas Denys ( – 18 February 1561) of Holcombe Burnell, near Exeter, Devon, was a prominent lawyer who served as Sheriff of Devon nine times between 1507/8 to 1553/4 and as MP for Devon. He acquired large estates in Devon at the Dissolut ...

(c. 1477 – 1561), a prominent lawyer who served as

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

and MP for

. He married twice, firstly to Anne, widow of Thomas Warley a Treasury official, and secondly to Elizabeth Donne, widow of Sir

Thomas Murfyn Thomas Murfyn (or Mirfyn, Merfyn, Murphin), (died 1523) was a Sheriff and Lord Mayor of London. Biography Thomas Murfyn was a native of Ely, Cambridgeshire, and son of George Murfyn. He was a member of the Worshipful Company of Skinners in the ...

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 ...

. Sir Thomas is notorious as having supervised the burning at the stake of the Protestant martyr Thomas Benet in Exeter in January 1531/2. His eldest son was Sir

Robert Dennis (died 1592) Sir Robert Dennis, JP (died 1592) of Holcombe Burnell in Devon, was a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1555 and served as Sheriff of Devon. Personal life Robert Dennis was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Denys (c. 1477 – 1561) of Holcomb ...

, MP for Devon in 1555 and Sheriff of Devon, who acquired

Bicton House Bicton House, or Bickton House, is a late 18th- or early 19th-century country house, which stands on the campus of Bicton College, Bicton, near Exmouth, East Devon. It is a Grade II* listed building. The park and gardens are Grade I listed i ...

. According to W. G. Hoskins, the Easter Sepulchre in the church is his tomb and monument. Sir Robert married Mary Blount, a first cousin of

Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...

. In March 1591 he founded the

Livery Dole Livery Dole in Exeter, Devon, is an ancient triangular site between what is today Heavitree Road and Magdalen Road, in the eastern suburbs of Exeter. It was most notoriously used as a place for executions, and has contained an almshouse and ch ...

Almshouses in Heavitree Road, Exeter.Worthy, Charles. History of the Suburbs of Exeter, 1892 Sir Robert's eldest son and heir, Sir Thomas Denys married Anne Paulet, daughter of

William Paulet, 3rd Marquess of Winchester William Paulet, 3rd Marquess of Winchester ( – 24 November 1598) was an English nobleman, the son of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester and his first wife, Elizabeth Willoughby. His maternal grandfather was Robert Willoughby, 2nd Baron ...

, and left two co-heiresses, Anne Denys who married Sir Henry Rolle (died 1616) of

Stevenstone Stevenstone is a former manor within the parish of St Giles in the Wood, near Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same r ...

, and Margaret Denys (died 1649) who married Sir Arthur Mainwaring of Ightfield, Shropshire. HolcombeBurnellBarton

Principal houses

The principal historic houses in the parish are: *Culver House – An early example of a neo-Tudor house, the house was built in 1836 by Richard Stephens on the site of an earlier building, to the design of the architect George H. Smith; altered by Edward Byrom in 1872–1875 to the plans of

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

. *Holcombe Burnell Barton – The former manor house, built by Sir Thomas Denys (died 1561), largely re-built in the early 17th century. *Perridge House – A

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

Regency house built by Josiah White to the plans of the architect George Byfield, in 1813, as the dated hopper-heads to the guttering record.

References

Sources

*Chalk, Peter J., A Brief History of the Church of Saint John the Baptist Holcombe Burnell, 2006 (Church leaflet) *Cherry, Bridget & Pevsner, Nikolaus, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 1991, pp. 485–6, Holcombe Burnell *Lysons, Samuel, Magna Britannia {{authority control Villages in Devon Civil parishes in Devon Former manors in Devon

Church of St John the Baptist

Medieval manor

Principal houses

See also

References

Sources