Pickwell is a small settlement with a converted manor house in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Georgeham Georgeham is a village and civil parish near Croyde, in North Devon. The appropriate electoral ward is termed Georgeham and Mortehoe with total population at the 2011 census of 3,748. Georgeham is a historic village lying close to some of ...

, in the

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

district, in the county of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, England. Pickwell lies between the village of

and the coast above

Woolacombe Woolacombe () is a seaside resort on the coast of North Devon, England, which lies at the mouth of a valley (or "combe") in the parish of Mortehoe. The beach is long, sandy, gently sloping and faces the Atlantic Ocean near the western limit of ...

and

Putsborough Putsborough is a hamlet in Georgeham Civil Parish on the west-facing coast of North Devon, England. It is about north of the village of Croyde and west-northwest of the village of Georgeham. north of the hamlet is Putsborough Sands, which ...

beach, close to the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...

. It gives its name to the Pickwell Down Sandstones Formation which are red and brown sandstones with shales which extend from the hills of Pickwell Down and Woolacombe Down overlooking Morte Bay east-southeastwards to Muddiford and

Bratton Fleming Bratton Fleming is a large village, civil parish and former manor in Devon, England, about north-east of Barnstaple and near the western edge of Exmoor. The parish includes the hamlets of Knightacott and Stowford. The population of the parish ...

History

Pickwell was known as ''pediccheswella'' 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. The manor was owned by John Harris who was the member of parliament for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

in the mid 19th century. During the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

Pickwell was owned by the Hole family who paid for much of the restoration of St George's church in Georgeham. The church contains a "Pickwell chapel" which dates from 1762 and is separated from the body of the church by an ornate screen.

Manor house

The manor house still contains some of the structure which built in the late medieval period, however it was largely rebuilt between 1902 and 1905 for Sir Montague Style of the

Style baronets There have been three baronetcies created for persons with the surname Style, one in the Baronetage of Ireland and two in the Baronetage of England. Two of the creations were in favour of the same person. As of 2014 one creation is extant. The ...

. It is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The main range of the house, which is in a

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James's reign, the ...

, is L-shaped and consists of two storeys. The central gable has an oculus. To the rear of the range is a 15th-century doorway with a moulded surround. In the grounds is a

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

built to resemble a chapel. The manor house has now been converted into self-catering holiday apartments and a wedding venue. Several of the surrounding farm buildings are also available for rent.

References

{{authority control Villages in Devon North Devon