Knowstone
| Knowstone | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 St Peter's Church, Knowstone | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS826230 |
| Location: | 50°59’42"N, 3°40’24"W |
| Data | |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | North Devon |
Knowstone is a village in the north of Devon, halfway between Tiverton and South Molton, within the South Molton Hundred. A hamlet, East Knowstone, stands 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.[1]
The village lies on the route of the Two Moors Way and Celtic Way Exmoor Option.
History
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Knowstone has four entries:
- Chenuestan, held by Rolf from the overlord Walter of Douai, feudal baron of Bampton, Devon and of Castle Cary, Somerset, formerly held by Algar (1/2 a hide, 7 ploughs);[2]
- Chenuestan, held by Rolf from the overlord Walter of Douai, formerly held by Leofwin (3 furlongs, 4 ploughs);[3]
- Chenudestane, held from the king by Algar, who held it before 1066 also, listed in the section covering the King's thanes (1 virgate, 3ploughs)[4] This holding was thought by O.J. Reichel (1894) to represent the later named "Shapcote", but he provided no evidence for his opinion.[5]
- 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).[6]
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 original home of the Wadhams, who took their name from the manor (the most prominent of whom was Nicholas Wadham (1531/2– 1609), who with his wife Dorothy Wadham was the co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford.
Tristram Risdon 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".[7] The inheritance passed through several families until it came to the Grey family, which forfeited all its lands to the crown on the execution of the Duke of Suffolk and his daughter Lady Jane Grey. From the crown the manor was purchased by Robert Pollard of King's Nympton, and according to Risdon, Robert Pollard made it his family's home for many generations,[7] though by 1653 it had passed to the ownership of the Courtenay family of Molland.
Parish church
The parish church is St Peter's. The tower is said to have been built by Elizabeth Lynn (d.1700), the wife of Philip Shapcott Esq., one of Their Majesties Justices of the Peace for the County of Devon. It was in situ by 1691.[8]
Ever since the churches of both Molland and Knowstone had been given to Hartland Abbey by William de Bottreaux, which grant was confirmed by King Richard I in 1190,[9] the two churches and parishes were under the care of a single priest. Two mural monuments exist in the parish church, one in memory of Rev. John Culme (d.1691), on the south wall of the chancel, the other to the young Philip Shapcote (d.1690):
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Knowstone) |
References
- ↑ Prince, John: 'Worthies of Devon'
- ↑ Morris, John, (ed.), Domesday Book, vol.9, Devon, vol 1, Chichester, 1985, chapter 23, entry 10
- ↑ Morris, John, (ed.), Domesday Book, vol.9, Devon, vol 1, Chichester, 1985, chapter 23, entry 11
- ↑ Morris, John, (ed.), Domesday Book, vol.9, Devon, vol 1, Chichester, 1985, chapter 52, entry 41
- ↑ Reichel, O.J., Some Suggestions to Aid in Identifying the Place Names in Devonshire Domesday, published in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, 26 (1894), pp.133–169; Quoted by Morris, John, (ed.), Domesday Book, vol.9, Devon, vol 2, Chichester, 1985, chapter 52, entry 41
- ↑ Morris, John, (ed.), Domesday Book, vol.9, Devon, vol 1, Chichester, 1985, chapter 52, entry no.40
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Risdon, Tristram: 'A Survey of Devon' (1632), 1810 edition, p 303
- ↑ Shapcott family website
- ↑ Chope, R. Pearse, Devon Notes & Queries, vol.2, Jan. 1902 – Oct 1903, p.168 (author of definitive history of Hartland Abbey)
