Kentisbeare is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Mid Devon Mid Devon is a local government district in 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, t ...

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 ...

, England. Its nearest town is Cullompton. It has a population of 1,000.

Descent of the manor

In the 17th century the manor of Kentisbeare was owned by Sir

John Wyndham John Wyndham Parkes Lucas Beynon Harris (; 10 July 1903 – 11 March 1969) was an English science fiction writer best known for his works published under the pen name John Wyndham, although he also used other combinations of his name ...

(1558–1645) of Orchard Wyndham, Somerset. In 1810 it was owned by his descendant Hon. Percy Charles Wyndham (1757-1833), MP, 2nd son of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont, who also owned the manor of Blackborough where in 1838 George Wyndham, 4th Earl of Egremont (d.1845) built a palatial villa, known as Blackborough House. The 4th Earl built Kentisbeare House in 1841, to the designs of J. T. Knowles, for his relative the rector of Kentisbeare.

Historic estates

Wood

The estate of Wood was held by the Whiting family between the reigns of King Edward III (1327-1377) and King Henry VIII (1509-1547). The last in the male line was John Whitinge (d.1529), a member of the Merchant Venturers, whose elaborately panelled chest tomb survives in Kentisbeare Church, in the chapel at the east end of the south aisle, which he built. The two

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved church monument, sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional church monument, monuments and effigy, effigies carve ...

es which were originally affixed to the monument are now lost, but his armorials survive sculpted on the wooden screen. John Whiting left four daughters and co-heiresses: *Whiting daughter, married to a FitzJames. *Agnes Whiting, 2nd daughter, who married Henry I Walrond (d.1550), of Bradfield,

Uffculme Uffculme (, ) is a village and civil parish located in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. Situated in the Blackdown Hills National Landscape, Blackdown Hills on the B3440, close to the M5 motorway and the Bristol–Exeter line, Bristol– ...

. Wood passed to the Walrond family, and appears to have been used as a secondary residence and dower house as several members of the family were subsequently buried in Kentisbeare Church. *Whiting daughter married to an Ashford. *Whiting daughter married to a Keynes. In 1810 Wood belonged to Samuel Southwood, Esq.Risdon, 1810 additions, p.372

Betty Limpany

In 1799, Betty Limpany was executed in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

for burning down the house of her master, William Leech of Kentisbeare.

Sources

*Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp. 768–770, pedigree of Walrond * Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1810 edition, p. 89, Kentisbeare

References