Dunsland
| Dunsland | |
|
National Trust | |
|---|---|
 Parkland at Dunsland | |
| Grid reference: | SS40880508 |
| Location: | 50°49’24"N, 4°15’38"W |
| Information | |
Dunsland is a historic manor and former house in the parish of Bradford (or Cookbury) near Holsworthy in Devon. It was successively home to the Arscott, Bickford, Coham and Dickinson families and, although the ownership records are incomplete, it is very likely that the estate passed in an unbroken line from the time of the Norman Conquest until 1947.[1]
The house was destroyed by fire in 1967, just after extensive restoration by the National Trust.
History
A manor named Donesland in Devon appears in the Domesday Book, and is believed to refer to Dunsland. Before the Norman Conquest it was held by Wulfric, but in 1086 it was held by Cadio from Baldwin the Sheriff.[2]
The 17th-century Devon historian Tristram Risdon stated that "Dunsland now Dunskind", in the parish of Bradford, was held by Richard Cadiho in 1242 or 1243,[3] and remained held by the Cadiho family for eight generations. Risdon further stated that the last in the male line to live here was Robert Cadiho who left his lands to his daughter Thomazin. She was said to be the wife of John Daubernon, described as "warden of the stannary, and of the fees of the duchy of Cornwall" and who was "chosen one of the knights for the shire" in 1356 or 1357.[4]
Risdon states that the manor then passed to the Batten family and then via Philippa, the daughter and heir of Humphrey Batten, to the Arscot family of which, at the time he was writing, the owner was Arthur Arscot.[5]
In his work The Visitations of the County of Devon of 1895, J. L. Vivian set out a pedigree chart for the Arscotts of Dunsland. It starts with a John de Dunsland, passes through the Cade and Dabarnon families to the Battyn family, of which Humphry Battyn (died 15 November 1522) was the last.[6] Vivian states that Humphry Battyn left his lands to his daughter Philippa and her husband John Arscott (died 1 May 1563) who was a lawyer of the Inner Temple, the son and heir of John Arscott (died 1541) of Arscott by his wife Margerie Floyer.[6]
The estate in time descended to Augusta Coham, who married Major Harvey Dickinson of the British Indian Madras Army. Her son Arscott Harvey Dickinson, said to have been the 29th owner in direct succession, sold the estate in 1947, having been unsuccessful in his struggle to keep the mansion house in good repair.
The house with part of its estate was purchased at auction by a London speculator Mr de Savoury, who was interested in the timber in the woodlands. It was then bought by Philip Tilden, an architect who attempted to restore the house, a job that remained incomplete on his death in 1954.[7] His widow sold the property with 92 acres to the National Trust in the same year.[8]
The National Trust spent an enormous sum on restoring the house and let it to tenant guardians.[9]
During the night of 17 November 1967 the house was destroyed by fire, with the walls left standing in such a precarious state that the decision was taken to demolish the whole structure and to fill up the basement with the rubble and level the site.[10] Today, the land is still owned by the National Trust and it is maintained as a park with some features of the old estate still visible.[11]
Points of interest
The Dunsland estate features numerous points of interest, including:
- The gate pillars to Dunsland House (SS41600520) were listed on 26 January 1989.[12] The pillars are made of stone ashlar, used in decreasing size towards the top. It is thought the pillars date from the 17th century remodelling of the house
- Cadihos Well (SS41100530) is a well of mediæval origin well. Records show Dunsland to have been held by Baldwin by Cadiho in 1086 and it remained in the Cadiho family until 1428 when the male line died out. The well is shown in the British and Irish Archaeological Bibliography to be of mediæval origin (1066-1540).
- The remains of the moat and fish stock pond (SS41050530) where fish were stocked for the table. The site, south west of Bramble Wood most likely show the site of the mediæval manor house that was once at Dunsland before the early Tudor rebuilding on a new site.
- Although the main house was destroyed by fire, the kitchen garden, wall and engine house remain. (SS02900510)
- Coach House (SS40850510): Along with the old stable, the coach house also remains following the devastating fire that swept through Dunsland in 1967.
- An ancient duck decoy pond {SS40800545).
- Chestnut Avenue (SS40750505)): The grounds of Dunsland House are home to several 700 year old sweet chestnut trees.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Dunsland) |
References
- ↑ Lauder, p.31.
- ↑ Thorn, Caroline and Frank (1985). Domesday Book 9 Devon Parts 1 & 2. Chichester: Phillimore. p. 16,16. ISBN 0-85033-492-6.
- ↑ Risdon, p.250 (regnal date 27 Henry III)
- ↑ Risdon, p.251 (regnal date 30 Edward III)
- ↑ Risdon, p.251
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Vivian, p.16
- ↑ Lauder, pp.36, 38
- ↑ Lauder, pp.29, 38
- ↑ Lauder, p.29
- ↑ Lauder, pp.29–31
- ↑ 'A walk around lost mansion Dunsland with National Trust ranger Justin Seedhouse': North Devon Journal 21 March 2013
- ↑ National Heritage List 91576: Gate Pillars, Dunsland House
- Baring-Gould, Sabine: 'Devonshire Characters and Strange Events': John Arscott, of Tetcott (The Bodley Head, 1908)
- Hoskins, W. G. (1972). A New Survey of England: Devon (New ed.). London: Collins. ISBN 0-7153-5577-5.
- Lauder, Rosemary (2005). "Dunsland". Vanished Houses of North Devon (revised ed.). Bideford: North Devon Books. pp. 29–38. ISBN 0-9528645-2-5.
- Risdon, Tristram (before 1640), Survey of Devon, (1811 edition: p 250)
- Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon, Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620. 2 vols, Exeter, 1895.
Books
- Lauder, Anne (1981). Dunsland House – A Valediction. Barnstaple: Aycliffe Press Ltd..
