
Fardel is a historic
manor in the parish of
Cornwood
Cornwood is a village and civil parish in the South Hams in Devon, England. The parish has a population of 988. The village is part of the electoral ward called ''Cornwood'' and Sparkwell. The ward population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2 ...
, in the
South Hams
South Hams is a non-metropolitan district, local government district on the south coast of Devon, England. Its council is based in the town of Totnes, although the largest town is Ivybridge. The district also contains the towns of Dartmouth, ...
district 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 ...
. It was successively the seat of the
Raleigh
Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
and
Hele families. The surviving
Grade I listed
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 ...
medieval
manor house
A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
is situated about half-way between Cornwood and
Ivybridge
Ivybridge is a town and civil parish in the South Hams, in Devon, England. It lies about east of Plymouth. It is at the southern extremity of Dartmoor, a National Park of England and Wales and lies along the A38 "Devon Expressway" road. The ...
, just outside the
Dartmoor National Park
Dartmoor is an highland (geography), upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National parks of England and Wales, National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers ...
on its south-western border.
Manor house
The manor house comprises a complex group of buildings of widely varying dates consisting of a double-courtyard mansion with a third courtyard of farm buildings to the west. There is a separate
Grade II* listed
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, H ...
chapel known to have been licensed by the
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024.
From the first bishop until the sixteent ...
in 1422
[ or 1432.] There is a walled garden with a fish pond.[Devon Gardens Trust]
/ref>
Descent
It is listed 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 ...
of 1086 as ''Ferdendelle'', the 67th of the 79 Devonshire holdings of Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, first Earl of Cornwall of 2nd creation (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at t ...
,[Cornwood Online Parish Clerk Pages]
/ref> half-brother of King William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
and one of that king's Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief
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 we ...
. ''Ferdendelle'' possibly signifies "fourth part", that is a quarter of some larger estate.[ The Count's tenant was Reginald I de Vautort][Thorn, Part 2 (Notes), 15:67] (died about 1123), of Trematon Castle
Trematon Castle () is situated near Saltash in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was the '' caput'' of the feudal barony of Trematon. It is similar in style to the later Restormel Castle, with a 12th-century keep. Trematon Castle overlooks ...
in Cornwall, the first feudal baron of Trematon, who held 57 manors from the Count. The Anglo-Saxon tenant before the Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
of 1066 was a certain ''Dunn'', as recorded in the Domesday Book. ''Ferthedel'' is the form in which it is later listed in the Book of Fees
The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs') which is a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, bu ...
(c.1302), held from the feudal barony of Trematon
The Feudal barony of Trematon (or Honour of Trematon) was one of the three feudal baronies in Cornwall which existed during the mediaeval era. Its ''caput'' was at Trematon Castle, Cornwall. In 1166 it comprised 60 knight's fees, thus about 60 se ...
.
FitzJoell
It subsequently descended to the FitzJoell family. In 1242 it was the dwelling of Waren FitzJoell, the last in the male line, who left a daughter and heiress Ellen FitzJoell, who married William Newton, to whose descendants the manor passed.[Pole, p.321]
Newton
William Newton, having inherited Fardel on his marriage to the heiress Ellen FitzJoell, lived at Fardel during the reign of King Edward I (1272-1307), but died without male issue, leaving a daughter and sole heiress Jone Newton, who in 1303[ married Sir John Raleigh of Smalerigge in the parish of ]Axminster
Axminster is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the eastern border of the county of Devon in England. It is from the county town of Exeter. The town is built on a hill overlooking the River Axe, Devon, River Axe which ...
, Devon, whose descendants made Fardel their seat.
Raleigh
Sir John Raleigh, who married the heiress Jone Newton, was the son and heir of Sir Hugh Raleigh of Smalerigge. This branch of the Raleigh family was more anciently seated at Nettlecombe Raleigh in Somerset, but was probably originally a junior branch of the de Raleigh family, lords of the manor of Raleigh
Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
in the parish of Pilton in North Devon.
Later members of the family resident there included Members of Parliament Adam Ralegh (c.1480–1545 or later)[ Adam Ralegh in History of Parliament]
/ref> and Carew Raleigh
:''This article concerns Sir Walter Raleigh's brother. For his namesake and nephew, Sir Walter's son, see Carew Raleigh (1605–1666)''
Sir Carew Raleigh or Ralegh (ca. 1550ca. 1625) was an English naval commander and politician who sat in the ...
(ca. 1550 – ca. 1625).[Carew Raleigh in History of Parliament ]
/ref>
Hele
Carew Raleigh
:''This article concerns Sir Walter Raleigh's brother. For his namesake and nephew, Sir Walter's son, see Carew Raleigh (1605–1666)''
Sir Carew Raleigh or Ralegh (ca. 1550ca. 1625) was an English naval commander and politician who sat in the ...
(c.1550-c.1625) sold the manor of Fardel to Walter Hele,[ father of Elize Hele (1560–1635) of
Parke in the parish of ]Bovey Tracey
Bovey Tracey () is a town and civil parish in Devon, England. It is located on the edge of Dartmoor, which gives rise to the slogan used on the town's boundary signs: ''The Gateway to the Moor''. It is often known locally as ''Bovey''. About so ...
, Devon, a lawyer and philanthropist (whose monument with recumbent effigy survives in Bovey Tracey Church), in whose family it remained until 1740.
Later owners
After 1740 there were several owners, one of whom was Sir Robert Palk
Sir Robert Palk, 1st Baronet (December 1717 – 29 April 1798) of Haldon House in the parish of Kenn, in Devon, England, was an officer of the British East India Company who served as Governor of the Madras Presidency. In England he served a ...
(1717–1798) of Haldon House
Haldon House (pronounced: "Hol-don") on the eastern side of the Haldon Hills in the parishes of Dunchideock and Kenn, Devon, Kenn, near Exeter in Devon, England, was a large Georgian country house largely demolished in the 1920s. The surviving n ...
in the parish of Kenn, in Devon. In 1850 it was in use as a farmhouse, occupied by Arthur Trowbridge Horton.White's Devonshire Directory, 1850
/ref>
Fardel Stone
In the mid-nineteenth century a large stone, which had been used as part of a footbridge over a stream at Fardel, was recognised as bearing an Ogham inscription
Roughly 400 inscriptions in the ogham alphabet are known from stone monuments scattered around the Irish Sea, the bulk of them dating to the fifth and sixth centuries. The language of these inscriptions is predominantly Primitive Irish, but a ...
. The inscription, in Goidelic
The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...
(Primitive Irish
Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish (), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, and the ancestor of all languages within this family.
This phase of the language is known only from fragments, mostly persona ...
), reads "SVAQQUCI MAQI QICI", meaning "he stone
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...
of Safaqqucus, son of Qicus". In 1861 the stone was presented to the British Museum, where it remains.[Celtic Inscribed Stones Project at UCL]
/ref> In Latin it reads "FANNONI MAQUT RINI
"Fannon son of Utrin" - the letter count is the same suggesting that they could be equivalent.
References
{{coord, 50.4003, -3.9543, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Grade I listed houses in Devon
Grade II* listed buildings in Devon
Former manors in Devon