Portledge Manor is an English

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 ...

in the parish of Alwington, southwest of

Bideford Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, South West England. It is the main town of the Torridge District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district. Toponymy In ancient records Bi ...

, Devon. It and the land surrounding it belonged to the Coffin family, a noble family of Norman origin, for almost 1000 years.

History

The house sits on the edge of

Bideford Bay Bideford Bay, also known as Barnstaple Bay and often shown on maps as Barnstaple or Bideford Bay, is a large area of water on the northwest coast of Devon in South West England, at the southwestern end of the Bristol Channel where it joins the Ce ...

, looking out over the

Bristol Channel The Bristol Channel (, literal translation: "Severn Sea") is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales (from Pembrokeshire to the Vale of Glamorgan) and South West England (from Devon to North Somerset). It extends ...

. The parish of Alwington and the surrounding area was given to the family by

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 ...

, as part of a reward for loyalty and service during 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 ...

. Most of the current house dates from the 17th century, but parts of it have stood since the reign of King Henry III, circa 1234. The 13th-century arch of the chapel still stands and the Brew House remains from when

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

were grown on the estate. The Great Hall's minstrel gallery was moved in the late 19th century to Alwington Church, a 15th-century church containing many monuments to the Pine-Coffin family. The dining-room retains a ceiling plastered with the family's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. The courtyard was roofed in and made into a new hall in the middle of the 18th century. There are many pieces of fine furniture, ancestral heirlooms, carved stone coats of arms, Spanish armour, and guns from the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

. There is also a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell to ...

and a Spanish courtyard. The estate's archive, a historical record going back over 700 years, was sold to the Devon Council for almost £50,000. The family owned most of the surrounding villages, but the last of these were sold at auction in 1981. The estate itself was sold in 1998, after nine centuries in the Coffin family's hands. This was due to a dispute with Inland Revenue. It is now the home of Michael Cannon,

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

entrepreneur and former owner of Fuddrucker's restaurant chain.

References

* {{cite book , title=Devon , last=Baring-Gould , first=Sabine , publisher=Methuen & Co. , place=London , year=1907 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iY8TAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA72

External links

Article about AlwingtonPicture of Portledge, looking north, at FrancisFrith.com
Country houses in Devon Manor houses in England Grade II* listed buildings in Devon

History

See also

References

External links