Washfield is a village, parish and former manor in

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 ...

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, situated about 2 miles north-west of Tiverton. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. It was within the jurisdiction of the historic West Budleigh Hundred. In 2001 the parish had a population of 362.

History

Washfield 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 two separate manors, now referred to as Little Washfield and Great Washfield. Washfield is situated close to

Tiverton Castle Tiverton Castle is the remains of a medieval castle dismantled after the English Civil War and thereafter converted in the 17th century into a country house. It occupies a defensive position above the banks of the River Exe at Tiverton, Devo ...

, one of the most important mediaeval strongholds in Devon, and principal seat of the

Earls of Devon Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the Redvers family (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.), and later by the Courtenay family. ...

, feudal barons of Plympton.

Great Washfield

Great Washfield was held by Ralph de Pomeroy, one of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is listed in Domesday Book as the 39th of his 58 Devonshire manors, and was held by him in

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. ...

Little Washfield

The tenant in chief of Little Washfield as listed in the

of 1086 was the Norman magnate Ralph de Paynell,

Sheriff of Yorkshire The High Sheriff, Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferr ...

, one of

. It is listed as the ninth of his ten Devonshire manors held in-chief. His tenant at Washfield was Gerard, himself a tenant-in-chief of two manors within Tiverton Hundred, who also held from him the nearby manor of Little Tiverton ("Great" Tiverton having been a royal manor since Saxon times). Gerard's own two manors later passed to the feudal barons of Plympton, lords of

, which castle was given by King Henry I to Richard de Redvers, Earl of Devon. The eldest son of Ralph de Paynell was Ralph FitzPayne of Dart, who at the time of the Domesday Book held the manors of Dart and Worth, the latter in the parish of Washfield, from the overlord William of Poilley ( 21,6&14). Ralph FitzPayne died without male progeny when his younger brother Reginaldus inherited his manor of Worth and making it his seat adopted the surname "de Worth". His descendants in a direct male line, later known as Worth, remained seated at Worth until 1880 on the death without male progeny of Reginald Worth. This makes the Worth family one of the longest lived and longest seated on its original seat in the history of Devon. It thus compares in these aspects to the continuing families of Fulford and Kelly. Another ancient gentry family situated within the parish of Washfield was Barby.Arms of "Barby of Washfield": ''Argent, a chevron between three garbs or'' Vivian, p.42

Sources

*Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985 * Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895

References

{{authority control Villages in Mid Devon District Civil parishes in Devon