Knowstone 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 authorit ...

situated in the

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 Lyn ...

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. Devo ...

, England, halfway between the

Mid Devon Mid Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based in Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton. The district was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the boroug ...

town of

Tiverton, Devon Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587. History Early history The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-fo ...

and the North Devon town 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

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of East Knowstone lies due east of the village. Knowstone was the birthplace of Admiral Sir John Berry (1635–1691), second son of Rev. Daniel Berry (1609–1654), vicar of Knowstone ''cum'' Molland. An elaborate mural monument erected by Sir John in 1684 to the memory of his parents survives in Molland Church. The village lies on the route of the

Two Moors Way The Two Moors Way is a long-distance trail mostly in Devon, UK, first established in 1976. It links Dartmoor and Exmoor and has been extended to become a Devon Coast-to-Coast trail. History The Two Moors Way was the brainchild of Joe Turner ...

and

Celtic Way The Celtic Way is a long-distance walk from West Wales, through South Wales and into Wessex and the West of England in the United Kingdom. The route is and visits more than one hundred pre-historic sites through its route. The route The ro ...

Exmoor Option.

History

Knowstone appears to have included several separate manors at the time of 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 ...

in 1086. It was within the jurisdiction of South Molton Hundred.

Historic estates

The parish of Knowstone included three notable historic estates: *Beaple, the home of the de Beaupel family, also of Landkey. *Shapcott, the original home of the Shapcott family; *

Wadham, Knowstone The manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone in north Devon and the nearby manors of Chenudestane and Chenuestan (more anciently known as Cnudstone and Cnuston with the possible meaning "Canutestone") are listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 ...

the original home of the Wadhams, who took their name from the manor, later of

Edge, Branscombe Edge, (originally, ''Egge''), is an ancient and historic house in the parish of Branscombe, Devon, England and is today known as Edge Barton Manor. The surviving house is grade II* listed and sits on the steep, south-facing side of a wooded valle ...

Devon, and then

Merryfield, Ilton Merryfield (''alias'' Merrifield, Murefeld, Merefeld, Muryfield, Merifield, Wadham's Castle, etc.) is a historic estate in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset, England. It was the principal seat of the Wadham family, and was called ...

Somerset, the most prominent of whom was Nicholas Wadham (1531/2– 1609), who with his wife

Dorothy Wadham Dorothy Wadham (; ''née'' Petre) (1534/1535 – 16 May 1618) was the foundress of Wadham College, Oxford. She has the distinction of being the first woman who was not a member of the Royal Family or titled aristocracy to found a college at Ox ...

was the co-founder of

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy ...

Domesday Book

In the

of 1086 Knowstone has four entries: *''Chenuestan'', held by Rolf from the overlord

Walter of Douai Walter of Douai ( Old Norman: ''Wautier de Douai'') (born c.1046, died: c.1107) was a Norman knight, probably at the Battle of Hastings, and a major landowner in South West England after the Norman Conquest, being feudal baron of Bampton in Devo ...

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 Bampton, Devon and of

Castle Cary Castle Cary () is a market town and civil parish in south Somerset, England, north west of Wincanton and south of Shepton Mallet, at the foot of Lodge Hill and on the River Cary, a tributary of the Parrett. History The word Cary derives fr ...

, Somerset, formerly held by Algar (1/2 a hide, 7 ploughs); *''Chenuestan'', held by Rolf from the overlord

, formerly held by Leofwin (3 furlongs, 4 ploughs); *''Chenudestane'', held from the king by Algar, who held it before 1066 also, listed in the section covering the King's

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 taluk ...

s (1 virgate, 3ploughs) This holding was thought by O.J. Reichel (1894) to represent the later named "Shapcote", but he provided no evidence for his opinion. *''Wadeham''; A fourth separate entry exists for the apparently separate manor of Wadham, held from the king by his thane Ulf both before and after 1066 (1 virgate, 3 ploughs).

Mediaeval period

Beaple

Tristram Risdon Tristram Risdon (c. 1580 – 1640) was an English antiquarian and topographer, and the author of ''Survey of the County of Devon''. He was able to devote most of his life to writing this work. After he completed it in about 1632 it circulated ar ...

writing in about 1630 stated that in the time of King Henry II (1154–1189) the lord of the manor of "Knowston" was Ailmer de Brett, who granted it to Richard Beaple "whose posterity made this place their dwelling, of which family were divers knights".Risdon, T., Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, p.303 In the

Book of Fees The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs'), being a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, but f ...

it is recorded that Richard Beupel held "Cnuston" from the

feudal barony 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 ...

whose ''

caput Latin words and phrases {{Short pages monitor