Edge, Branscombe

Edge Barton, south front
Edge Barton, viewed from south-east
Edge Barton, viewed from east. The top of the circular staircase tower is visible in the corner of the north and west wings (right)
Edge Barton, setting
Ancient graffitis featuring sailing boats, inscribed on stone window splay in an upper floor room, Edge Barton[1]
Remains of late C13-early C14 rose window, Edge Barton. In upper gable wall between two rooms in south wing. The tracery contains 4 cusped trefoils. The wall is thought to have formed the west wall of a late C13-early C14 chapel[2]

Edge (anciently Egge[3]) is an historic manor in the parish of Branscombe, Devon. The surviving manor house known as Edge Barton Manor is a grade II* listed building,[4] situated on the steep south-facing side of a wooded valley or combe.

Description

Edge Barton, Branscombe, view from south-west; right: 1888 drawing

The manor house is of the "U-Shaped" variety. A short section survives of the original moat.[5] A circular staircase is contained in the angle of the north wing, to give access to the second floor newly created by the addition of a ceiling to the great hall.

A stone splay of an upstairs window shows ancient graffiti incised drawings of sailing ships, thought to represent ships of the Spanish Armada becalmed near Branscombe between Start Point and Portland Bill on 1 August 1588. The logbook of the "San Martin", flagship of Captain-General Alonso Perez de Guzman, Duke of Medina Sidonia, records 130 ships of the Spanish Armada having been becalmed between Start Point and Portland Bill on Monday the 1st of August, 1588

Chapel

A chapel was attached to the manor house from at least 1290, possibly built by Bishop Walter Branscombe. It occupied the present south wing, where a large rose window containing 4 cusped trefoils and measuring 6 ft 6 inches in diameter, originally set within the gable of the west wall of the chapel, survives on what is now an internal wall, hidden behind a later chimney stack in the attic.[6] Lysons (1822) described it as being in poor repair and desecrated. An ancient stone piscina also survives, reset into a wall in the hall.

Descent

de Branscombe

Edge first appears in records 1218 in connection with the Branscombe family, which took their name from the manor and held it until the late 14th century. According to Hoskins (1959) [7] a member of this family was Walter Branscombe, (circa 1220–1280) (alias Bronscombe, Branescombe, Bronescombe, Bronescomb, etc.), Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280. Richard de Branscombe of Edge was elected in 1299 as one of the first Freemen of the City of Exeter. Adam Branscombe was twice MP for Devon in 1340 and 1348, and was probably related to Thomas Branscombe, MP for Plymouth Erle in 1393.[8] Both MP's were probably related to Richard Branscombe, three times Sheriff of Devon during the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377), in 1359-61, 1367-8 and in 1375.[9] The arms of "Branscombe" were stated by Pole (d.1635)[10] as Gules, a chevron vairy between three martlets or, which is however different to the arms he gave for Bishop "Brounscombe" of Exeter: Or on a chevron sable three caterfoiles or two keys in chief a sword in base argent. Even stripping out the keys and sword, elements of the arms of the See of Exeter, the arms of the two families were therefore different according to Pole.

Wadham

Arms of Wadham: Gules, a chevron between three roses argent

In about 1377 the estate of Edge was acquire by the de Wadham family, which originated at the manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone,[11] in North Devon. Wadeham was a manor recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held in-chief from King William the Conqueror by the Saxon thane Ulf, who had held it since before the Norman Conquest of 1066.[12] Such continuing holdings by Saxons after the Conquest are very rare, and Ulf in 1086 is still described as one of "The King's Thanes", so clearly was serving the new Norman king satisfactorily. Samuel Lysons (1822) suggested that the de Wadham family may have been direct descendants of Ulf.[13] The Wadhams held Edge Barton for at least nine generations, until on the death of Nicholas Wadham (1531/2-1609), founder of Wadham College, Oxford, it passed to his nephew a member of the Wyndham family of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset. The descent of the Wadham family of Edge is given by Pole as follows:[14]

Sir John I Wadham

Sir John I Wadham, who according to Pole dwelled at Edge in the latter end of the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377)

Sir John II Wadham (d.1412)

Sir John II Wadham (d.1412) (son), Justice of the Common Pleas (1389-1398) (said by Pole, apparently in error, to have been Justice of the King's Bench), MP for Exeter in 1399 and for Devon in 1401.[15] He was one of Prince's Worthies of Devon.[16] Although Pole (followed by Prince (d.1723))[17] stated him to be the son of Sir John Wadham above, his modern History of Parliament biographer,[18] unaware of Pole as Prince's source, suggested he was the son of Gilbert Wadham, who in 1383 quitclaimed to him a rent in Wadham, which deed was witnessed by Sir John's close friend Sir William Hankford (c.1350 – 1423) of Annery in Devon, Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 1413 until 1423. He acquired much land in Devon, Somerset, Dorset and Gloucestershire, which were valued at £82 per annum in an incomplete survey of 1412 and valued at about £115 in his inquisition post mortem in 1412. His Devon landholdings included the manors of Silverton and half the manor of Harberton (both purchased, in 1386 and 1390 respectively, from Cecily Turberville, sister and heiress of John de Beauchamp, 3rd Baron Beauchamp of Hatch) (1329-1361)) and Lustleigh and he acquired over 300 acres of land in Branscombe and elsewhere. Silverton, like Edge, descended to the Wyndham family and Silverton Park (alias Egremont House), a large neo-Classical mansion, was built there in 1839–45 by George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (1786-1845) and demolished in 1901. His landholdings in Somerset were even more extensive than those in Devon and mostly consisted of properties forfeited by Sir John Cary (d.1395), Chief Baron of the Exchequer. These lands included Hardington Mandeville, a moiety of Chilton Cantelo, and premises in Trent (now in Dorset) he purchased jointly with Hankford in 1389. These large landholdings in Somerset appear to have moved his principal interest away from Devon and the manor of Edge, and towards the end of his life he made his principal residence at Merryifield, Ilton, near Ilminster, Somerset, which he had purchased from Cecily Turberville.[19] At Merryfield he built a substantial fortified manor house, demolished after 1618, of which only the rectangular moat survives today in the middle of agricultural land south of RAF Merryfield aerodrome.[20] He married twice, firstly to Joan Wrothesley and secondly to Jane Hankford (d.1448)[21] a daughter of Sir William Hankford (c.1350-1423) of Annery in the parish of Monkleigh in Devon, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, who survived him and remarried secondly to Sir Robert Cary (d. circa 1431), eldest son and heir of Sir John Cary (d.1395), Chief Baron of the Exchequer and twice Member of Parliament for Devon[22]

William Wadham (d.1452)

William Wadham (d.1452) (son), of Merryfield, Sheriff of Devon in 1442,[23] whose monumental brass (said by Rogers (1888) to depict him with his mother[24]) survives in St Mary's Church, Ilminster, Somerset. He married Margaret Chiseldon, a daughter and co-heiress of John Chiseldon of Holcombe Rogus in Devon.[25]

Sir John III Wadham

Sir John III Wadham, eldest son and heir, who married Elizabeth Popham, a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Stephen Popham (c.1386-1444) of Popham, Hampshire, five times MP for Hampshire (of which Popham family another branch was seated at Huntworth, Somerset. (see John Popham (Lord Chief Justice) (c. 1531–1607), Speaker of the House of Commons and Lord Chief Justice of England). From this marriage the Wadhams inherited Merryfield, which they made their principal seat.[26]

Sir John IV Wadham

Sir John IV Wadham, son and heir, who married Elizabeth Stucley, a daughter of Sir Hugh Stucley (1496-1559) of Affeton, Devon, Sheriff of Devon in 1545.[27]

Sir Nicholas I Wadham

Sir Nicholas I Wadham, son and heir, who married four times. By his wife Joan Hill, daughter of Robert Hill of Halsway, he had issue Lawrence Wadham, who died without progeny, and John Wadham (died 1578), his eventual heir.

John V Wadham (died 1578)

Mural monument to Joan Tregarthin (died 1583) widow successively of John Kelloway and John V Wadham (died 1578) of Merifield, Ilton, Somerset and Edge, Branscombe. North transept, Branscombe Church, Devon

John V Wadham (died 1578), 2nd son and eventual heir, who is chiefly remembered for having been the father of Nicholas Wadham (1531/2-1609), co-founder Wadham College, Oxford and for the surviving mural monument to his wife in Branscombe Church on which appears his effigy and armorials. He married Joan Tregarthin (died 1583), a daughter and co-heiress of John Tregarthin of Cornwall and widow of John Kelloway of Cullompton,[28] Devon.

Nicholas II Wadham (1531/2-1609)

Wyndham/Fox-Strangways

Arms of Wyndham: Azure, a chevron between three lion's heads erased or

Following the death of Dorothy Wadham, Edge passed into the families of the sisters and co-heiresses of Sir Nicholas Wadham (d.1609), namely the the Wyndham family, later Earls of Egremont of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset and Petworth House in Sussex, and the Fox-Strangways, later Earls of Ilchester, who retained ownership until 1933 and in the interval let Edge to a series of tenant farmers.[33] The Wyndhams of Orchard Wyndham still retain ownership of the Wadham's Merryfield estate and the manor of Ilton today (2015).

Langdon

Edge was at some time occupied by the Langdons of Chard in Somerset. Edge was described in the eighteenth-century as 'derelict'.

Richards

It was occupied in the early twentieth century by Mr. Richards of Sidmouth, who was born in Branscombe.

Masters

It was purchased in 1933 by Captain Frank Masters, an architect, when in a decayed state with the former chapel being used as a dairy. He began extensive renovations in 1935, but did not live to complete the work.

Blackburn

The renovations begun by Masters were completed by Robert Blackburn, an aeronautical engineer.

Robinson

Dorothy Wadham's bedroom, Edge Barton, in which stayed overnight in June 2010 the Warden of Wadham College

In 1996 Edge was acquired by retired businessman (Michael) Silvan(us) Robinson CBE, and his wife June,[34] the present owners in 2015. Before 1988 he was President of the Shell International Trading Company,[35] a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, responsible for the trading and management of the company's products and for shipments of the company's crude oil, gas, and other cargoes.[36] He was awarded CBE in the 1988 New Year Honours. The Robinsons soon created a link with Wadham College and every year invite a group of postgraduates to Edge for a week-long reading party. In June 2010, to mark the 400th anniversary of the College's foundation, they entertained at Edge Sir Neil Chalmers, Warden of Wadham College, and a number of Fellows of the College. Mr Robinson remarked: "We have struck up quite a friendship with the Warden and he has kindly invited us to the Dorothy Wadham Dinner which they have once a year, and when we heard it was the 400th anniversary this year we thought it would be nice to recreate this link and invite a party here". The visit included a walk around the village, and inspection of the Wadham monument in the parish church. A formal dinner in honour of the warden was given at Edge on Saturday night, at which were served Branscombe specialities of crab, lamb and meringues with Devon cream. The Warden and his wife stayed the night at Edge in Dorothy Wadham's bedroom. On the Sunday the College Chaplain preached at the morning service in Branscombe Church and the visitors were then entertained by about 50 local residents at Edge Barton at a bring-and-share buffet lunch. Mr Robinson remarked: "Dororthy Wadham is quite a cult figure at the College and our visitors were delighted to see where's she'd come from".[37]

Further reading

Sources

References

  1. ↑ See:
  2. ↑ See listed building text
  3. ↑ Pole, p.141
  4. ↑ http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-88678-edge-barton-manor-branscombe-devon
  5. ↑ Listed building text
  6. ↑ Listed building text; www.branscombe.net
  7. ↑ Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), pp.344-5
  8. ↑
  9. ↑ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, Appendix, List of Sheriffs
  10. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.473
  11. ↑ Hoskins, p.422
  12. ↑ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 52,40
  13. ↑ Lysons, Magna Britannia, Vol.6, Devon
  14. ↑ Pole, p.141
  15. ↑
  16. ↑ Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, biography of Wadham, Sir John, Knight, pp.748-752
  17. ↑ Prince, p.748
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ HoP biography
  20. ↑ Merryfield House, The Gatehouse record
  21. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.150, pedigree of Cary
  22. ↑ Vivian, p.150
  23. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, List of Sheriffs, regnal date 20 Henry VI; Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, Memorials of the West, Historical and Descriptive, Collected on the Borderland of Somerset, Dorset and Devon, Exeter, 1888, pp.147-173, The Founder and Foundress of Wadham, p.156;
  24. ↑ Rogers, 1888, p.161
  25. ↑ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp.178,189,208
  26. ↑ Rogers, William Henry Hamilton, Memorials of the West, Historical and Descriptive, Collected on the Borderland of Somerset, Dorset and Devon, Exeter, 1888, pp.147-173, The Founder and Foundress of Wadham, pp.156, 161
  27. ↑ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitation of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.721, pedigree of Stucley of Affeton
  28. ↑ Prince, p.749
  29. ↑ STRANGWAYS, Sir Giles II (1528-62), of Melbury Sampford, Dorset.
  30. ↑ Burke, John, The Royal Families of England, pedigree CCII, Earl of Dunraven
  31. ↑
  32. ↑
  33. ↑ Listed building text: "It was occupied by tenant farmers 1618-1933"
  34. ↑ Sidmouth Herald Newspaper, 12 June 2010, erroneously stating Mrs Robinson's name as "Dawn"
  35. ↑ See 1988 New Year Honours list
  36. ↑ See
  37. ↑ Sidmouth Herald Newspaper, 12 June 2010 & 1 July 2010