Swimbridge
| Swinbridge | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 St James, Swimbridge | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS619300 |
| Location: | 51°3’10"N, 3°58’13"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | EX32 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | North Devon |
Swimbridge is a village in the north of Devon, standing some four miles south-east of Barnstaple. Historically, the name of the village was spelled 'Swymbridge'.
This village was the home of the Rev. John Russell, who first bred the Jack Russell Terrier, a breed bearing his name.
Name
The manor is called Birige in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was held in-chief from the King by an English priest named Sawin (or Saewin), whose uncle Brictferth had held it before the Norman Conquest of 1066. The honour of being a tenant-in-chief in feudal times was generally restricted to great warriors and close followers of the king, but Sawin was given this land in alms by Queen Matilda,[1] wife of William the Conqueror. It was probably part of the royal manor of South Molton, and that Sawin was one of the priests at South Molton.[2] It thenceforward became known as "Sawain's Birige" which eventually transformed into "Swimbridge".
The etymology guessed at by Tristram Risdon (d.1640) was that Swimbridge was "so termed happily of the water's full flowing to the bridge there, for seated it is somewhat low by the lakeside, the hills overlooking it in every quarter".[3]
Church
The parish church is the Church of St James, and its tower, built around 1300, has been described as a treasure house due to its fine carvings and memorials.
According to Risdon, John Mules of Ernesborough built the north aisle of Swimbridge Church, and gave his estate of Furse for the maintenance of it.[4] This is known as St Bridget's Chapel,[5] or the "North Chancel Chapel".[6]
In his will dated 1422 John D'Abernon requested to be buried in the "newly built aisle".[6] This manorial chapel served to seat the household of the Mules family. It is now mostly occupied by the large Victorian organ and the remaining space serves as a vestry. It includes an interesting squint in the form of the corner of a wall being removed and held up with a column, which would allow the family to view the priest elevating the host at the high altar, the holiest point of the Roman Catholic mass. The surviving roof bosses of the North Chancel Chapel display various arms of Moels, repainted in 1727 as a date shows.[6] Pevsner states Swimbridge Church itself to have been "mostly rebuilt in the 15th and 16th centuries".[6]
Jack Russell Terrier
The parish was the home of the Rev. John "Jack" Russell, Vicar of Swimbridge and Rector of Black Torrington, who first bred the Jack Russell Terrier. Russell is said to have brought his first terrier, Trump, whilst he was studying at Oxford University and then bred from her to eventually originate the Jack Russell strain of terrier. John Russell died in 1883 and was buried in the graveyard of St. James's Church; the village pub is named after him and in 2018 displays one of his terriers on the pub sign.
Railway
From 1873 to 1966, Swimbridge had a station on the Devon and Somerset Railway, which became part of the Great Western Railway and which ran from Taunton to Barnstaple. The alignment of the railway line through Swimbridge station is now part of the North Devon Link Road.
History
Leather tanning was a major local industry until 1965.
The lord of the manor of Swimbridge until the 20th century was the Duke of Bedford, of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire and of Endsleigh Cottage in Devon, whose ancestor John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (c.1485–1555) was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Devon by King Henry VIII and obtained large grants of land in that county following the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Thus there is no manor house in Swimbridge as the lord was non-resident. The location of the court house where manorial business was transacted may have been Ernesborough.[7]
Dennington in the parish was a seat of the Chichester family.
Hearsdon, within the parish of Swimbridge, was anciently a "mansion"[8] and a seat of the Chichester family.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Swimbridge) |
References
- ↑ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 1, Chapter 13
- ↑ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 2 (Notes), Chapter 13
- ↑ Risdon, Tristram: 'A Survey of Devon' (1632), 1810 edition, p 323
- ↑ Risdon, p.324
- ↑ Rogers, William Henry Hamilton: 'The Antient Sepulchral Effigies and Monumental and Memorial Sculpture of Devon' (1877) pp.299–301
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon, 1952; 1989 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8page 771
- ↑ Risdon, Tristram: 'A Survey of Devon' (1632), 1810 edition, p 323
- ↑ Hoskins, W.G.: 'A New Survey of England: Devon (1959; first published 1954), p.483
- Dalling, Mervyn C.: 'Our Village History' - swimbridge.com
