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Whitechapel is an ancient former manor within the parish of Bishops Nympton, in north Devon. It was the earliest known residence of the locally influential Bassett family until 1603. The present manor house is Elizabethan, with later additions and alterations, and was classed as Grade I listed on 9 June 1952.

History

The 1086 Doomsday Book entry for the very large manor of Nimetone, with land for 52 ploughs, is listed as one of 24 holdings of the Bishop of Exeter, and was held by him in demesne. It does not mention Whitechapel or any sub-manors within Nimetone. The first record of Whitechapel as a member of the manor of Nymeton Episcopi (Latin for "Nympton of the Bishop") is in the records of Feudal Aids, where it is called in French La Chapele and in Latin Alba Capella ("White Chapel") Coulter (1993), although he found several early references to White Chapel, was unable to find any historical record describing the founding of the White Chapel, but discovered other licences granted by Bishop Brantingham in 1374 for a chapel at Grilstone, in the parish of Bishops Nympton, in which mass was to be said annually on St Nicholas's Day, and a further multiple licence granted in 1425 by Bishop Lacy to Sir William Champyon, vicar of Nymet Episcopi for divine service to be celebrated in the chapels within his parish of St Peter, St Nicholas, St Mary Magdalene and St Margaret. There exist next to the manor house remains seemingly of a gothic window below ground level within a low building, but the evidence is not certain that this relates to the White Chapel. Some sources indeed identify this gothic niche as a bee bole, yet it would seem unnecessarily close to the house as a place for the keeping of bees, for which many other sites were available within the large gardens, orchards and former estate.

Descent of the manor

Peverell

The Devon Historian Tristram Risdon (d.1640) in his work "The Survey of Devon" stated that Whitechapel was "the ancient inheritance of the Peverells". A branch of the great Norman family of Peverell, feudal barons of The Peak in Derbyshire, was seated in Devon at Sampford Peverell and held the additional Devon manors of Kerswell in the parish of Broadhembury and Aller in the parish of Cullompton. The latter two manors were among the ten held by Ralph Pagnell in the Domesday Book and soon afterwards passed to the Peverell family. The manors of Aller and Kerswell were granted by Matilda Peverell, the daughter of Pagan (or Payne) Peverel, a knight who fought in the First Crusade (1096–1099), to Montacute Priory in Somerset.Kerswell Priory, as the latter became known, became a cell for two Cluniac monks dependant from Montacute.

Bassett

Risdon further related that Sir William Peverell had given the manor of Whitechapel as the dowry of his sister Lucea on her marriage to Sir Alan Basset, and it thus became a possession of the Basset family for many centuries. The adjacent manor of La Hayne, today the site of North Hayne and South Hayne farms, was also part of the dowry. Sir Alan Basset, according to Risdon, was the son of William Basset of Ipesden and Stoke Basset in Oxfordshire, who he states to have been descended from Osmund Basset, who lived in the reign of King Richard I (1189-1199). This ancestry may be incorrect as several different Bassett families existed in ancient times which modern historians have been unable to link to a common ancestor. It is however certain that the Basset family of Whitechapel were also seated from ancient times the manor of Tehidy in Cornwall, on the north coast about 2 miles north of Camborne. Risdon transcribed a deed dated 1383 (6 Richard II) which was a grant made at Tehidy by Sir William Basset of the reversion of the "rents and service" of White Chapel in the county of Devon after the decease of its then tenants John Blake and his wife Joan. The grantees, apparently Basset feoffees, were Thomas Champernowne, Otis Bodragon, Thomas Collin, James Gerveis and Thomas Cottesford, parson of "St Illigam" (Church of St Illogan, Tehidy). Prince stated that the Bassett family occupied Whitechapel as its principal seat until the time of Sir John Bassett moved to Umberleigh, a manor he inherited from his heiress wife Joan Beaumont. Joan was the daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont of Shirwell, Heanton Punchardon and Umberleigh, and the sister and co-heiress of Philip Beaumont. Her inheritance included Heanton Punchardon and Umberleigh, whilst Shirwell went to the Chichesters, from which family was her sister's husband. Certainly evidence of the Bassetts having then moved to Umberleigh is derived from the fact that Sir John Bassett's son by Joan Beaumont, Sir John Bassett (d.1528) was buried in a chest tomb in the Umberleigh Chapel next to the manor house of Umberleigh, which tomb was moved in about 1820 to the parish church of Atherington, where it is now situated. Sir John Bassett's eldest son and heir was John Bassett (d.1541) of Umberleigh, who married Frances Plantagenet, daughter and co-heiress of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount Lisle (d.1542), KG, an illegitimate son of King Edward IV, and an important figure at the court of King Henry VIII. Their son and heir was Sir Arthur Bassett (1541-1586), MP, of Umberleigh, whose small chest tomb is now also situated in Atherington Church. He married Eleanor Chichester (d.1585), a daughter of Sir John Chichester (d.1569) of Raleigh. He gave the ancient Bassett manor of Tehidy in Cornwall to his uncle George Bassett (d.5/11/1589), who was buried in Illogan Church, the parish church of Tehidy, and founded there his own prominent dynasty which included Francis Basset, 1st Baron de Dunstanville and Basset (1757-1835). Sir Arthur Bassett's son was Sir Robert Bassett (1573-1641), MP, of Umberleigh, who sold Whitechapel, according to Prince together with "no less than thirty mannors of land". His Plantagenet blood had prompted him to join the two hundred or so other pretenders who made personal claims to the throne of England following the death of the last of the Tudors Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603) and the start of the reign of the first Stuart king James I (1603-1625), and this move which had no chance of success was viewed with great displeasure by the new king, from whose realm Bassett suddenly fled into France, "to save his head" according to Prince. He was however soon pardoned, but with the imposition of a very heavy fine, and returned to England where he sold Whitechapel and the thirty other manors to pay the fine. The Bassett family remained at Heanton Court and Umberleigh until 1802 when the male line died out, but continued at Watermouth Castle and Umberleigh successively in the Davie-Bassett family and Williams-Davie-Bassett family, descended from the female line, until the early 20th. century.

Amory

The Amory family ( or d'Amory, Emery, Amery, etc.) had been resident within the parish of Bishops Nympton from as early as 1524 and acquired Whitechapel following its sale by Sir Robert Bassett, and held it until 1666. It was during this time held together with the estates of Reeds, Hammetts, West Berwill (or Berryfield), all in the parish of Bishops Nympton, and with other estates in Mariansleigh, King's Nympton and Roseash. There was another apparently related family of this name in Gloucestershire, which bore the same armorials as recorded in the respective heraldic visitations to Gloucestershire in 1592 and to Devon in 1620. The arms for both were: Barry nebulé of six argent and gules, over all a bend azure. Meredith quotes early references to the family thus: In 1524 William Amere and John Amere were assessed to the subsidy at Bishop's Nymet, Devon. On October 6, 1567 Hugh Amerye married Peternell Peirs at Bishop's Nymet. On February 4, 1567-8 Thomas, son of Hugh Amerye, was baptized at Bishop's Nymet.

George Amory (d.1598)

In 1570 George Amorye (d.1598), the eldest son of John Damerie of South Molton, married Margery Ayer at Bishop's Nymet. This latter George is the first member of the family whose progeny can be traced with certainty. The will of George Amorie or Amerie of Bishop's Nymet in the County of Devon, yeoman, is at the National Archives, and was written and proved in 1598. It lists bequests to "my son John Amerie," his executor and residuary legatee, to two other sons, Anthonie and William, and to two married daughters, naming several children of John, of William, and of each daughter, but no child of Anthonie. George Amory's wife Margery was of the Ayre or Eyre family of Atherington. He had a younger brother Robert Damorie, who married Prudence (d.1593), the widow of Sir John Pollard of Combe Martin, apparently the son of Sir Richard Pollard (2nd son of Sir Lewis Pollard (c.1465-1526), of Grilstone in the parish of Bishops Nympton, later of King's Nympton, Justice of the Common Pleas), who had been granted the manor of Combe Martin by King Henry VIII. By Margery Eyre he had three sons and at least two daughters: His eldest son and heir was John I Amory (d.1615), his eldest son, and his younger sons were:

• Anthony Amory (d.1620), (2nd son) parson of Aisholt on the Quantock Hills in Somerset from 1577, which date appears somewhat too early according to Meredith. He had a son Richard Amory (d.1571), whose death was recorded in the Bishops Nympton parish register. The registers of the Bishops of Wells in a list of Somerset incumbents compiled about 1730, mention " Anton Amerie " having been instituted on October 2, 1577 into the rectory of Aisholt or Asholt which position he kept until his death in 1620. The parish registers of Asholt before 1645 are lost, but a copy of one year (1606) remains among the reports to the Bishop which are kept at Wells Cathedral. It is in particularly neat writing and is signed, in the same hand, " Anthonie Amorie psonn ." Collinson stated having seen set into the floor of the chancel in Asholt Church a stone inscribed: "Anthony Amory, decessid July 20, 1620, parson here 42 yeeres ; who gave to the poor 30 s(hillings) for ever, whereof 15 s. to Aysholt & 15 s. to Bishop's Nymet in Devonshire where he was borne". Meredith reported that in 1895 the stone, a large fragment of a thick gray slab, was situated outside and was leaning against the north wall of the tower. It showed half, diagonally, of the above inscription, although the part bearing the parson's name was gone.
• William Amory, (younger son) who married a daughter of the Leigh family of Ridge, Sutton Downes, Prestbury, Cheshire.

John I Amory (d.1615)

John I Amory (d.1615), (eldest son and heir) who married in 1587 Emmot Thomas, daughter of John Thomas of Bishops Nympton, and had as his eldest son and heir John II Amory (d.1652).

John II Amory (d.1652)

John II Amory "of Chappell" (d.1652) (eldest son). Thomas Westcote (c.1567–c.1637) gives the descent from the latter thus: John Amory of Whitechapel married Prudence Roberts (d.1645), daughter of John (or Richard) Roberts of Combe Martyn, of which latter family Westcote's mother was herself a member.

John III Amory (b.1615)

John III Amory (b.1615) (eldest son ) married Grace, of unrecorded family, and had a daughter Rebecca who died young in 1638. He died without surviving issue, having however survived his father and administered his will. He left as heir his younger brother William Amory (d.1666), of Whitechapel.

William Amory (b.1626/7)

William Amory (b.1626/7)(brother) married in 1652 at Bishops Nympton Cissel Molford, daughter of John Molford. Surviving records of the family include a reference to the will of Mary Amory, widow, dated 1687, and the will dated 1667 of William Amory of Grilstone in the parish of Bishops Nympton, He left as his co-heiresses his two surviving daughters:

• Frances Amory, his 2nd daughter, who brought the Amory lands including Whitechapel to her husband, Edward Gibbon (d.1707), whose monumental tablet exists in Bishops Nympton Church.
• Prudence Amory, 3rd daughter, who married firstly Gabriel Barnes. Their daughter was Frances Barnes who sold the advowson of Berrynarbor to Humphrey Sydenham in 1709. She married secondly Samuel Cudmore.

Gibbens, Lear, Short

However, the estate was not apparently in the sole possession of the Amory family from the early 1600s, as Westcote, writing in about 1630, stated "Whitechapel (is) now divided among divers. In the farmhouse is the remainder of the tribe of Amory seated". His editor added later "Extinct about the year 1670". After 1666 it was in disputed ownership between the families of Amory, Gibbens and Lear of Lindridge House. In 1732 Sir John Lear and Thomas Comyns leased the following lands for one year to James Wolston and Comyns: Manor or reputed manor of Collaton Shiphay with Rawstone in Bishops Nympton, also White chaple in Bishops Nympton and messuage called Gotham in Bishops Kerswell, Great Goose Ham in Teigngrace, Heathfield in Ilsington, lands in Ashburton, Tallor, Christow, Manors of Bishopsteignton and Radway, Lindridge, Combe etc. in Bishops Teignton, Radway and West Teignmouth. From 1734 to 1777 Whitechapel was held by the Short family.

Sanger

In 1777 about 1800 the manor of Whitechapel was in Chancery and was sold at public auction by order of the Lord Chancellor. This was presumably in order that the sale proceeds could be distributed according to a court judgement made in settlement of the claims of the various claimant families. The purchaser was John Sanger of nearby South Molton, who later boasted that the purchase had financed itself, he having cut down and sold enough timber on the estate to cover the purchase price. He resided at Whitechapel until his death on February 14, 1806. He left a widow Frances, who died on September 9, 1819 aged 62, and three children:

• Edward Melton Sanger (14/1/1791-16/9/1843) of Haddon House, Kings Brompton, Somerset, who was disinherited by his father for having married without his permission. He married Anne (of unknown family) (24/4/1791-29/3/1869). He had by her two daughters:
  • Anne Melton Sanger (d.30/6/1883), who died aged 62
  • Jane Elizabeth Sanger (d.22/1/1888) who died aged 64.
• John Sanger, gent., of Whitechapel, died on August 4, 1854 aged 68. He had become his father's heir following the disinheritance of his elder brother Edward. Two court cases occurred between the brothers at the Devon assizes in 1822 and 1823. By his will he gave his servants Alexander and Mary Fisher much property absolutely and influence over other property. The Fishers established as trustees the following: James Pearce, Joshua Bawden, John Pease, William Flexman and J. Riccard. They left little to the Sanger family descendants, excepting the Whitechapel estate which was bequeathed to John Sanger senior's nephew Edward, but on the proviso that he should have entered a profession. The Fishers held Whitechapel between 1834 to 1866, apparently as trustees.
• Mary Sanger, who married William Tucker and inherited from her father the estates of Reeds and Hammetts. They had four children:
  • Edward Tucker
  • William Tucker
  • John Sanger Tucker
  • Mary Tucker, who married into the Denziloe and Coppinger families.

In 1862 Whitechapel, or part thereof, was in the possession of William Adams, Yeoman, to whom was leased certain lands in Stockleigh English by John Froude Bellew Esq., of Stockleigh Court.

Glossop

As mentioned in his book The Blackmore Country (1911), Frederick Snell reported that in 1911 Whitechapel was owned by "Captain Glossop" and added that "the place is now in thoroughly good hands but it has naturally suffered from having been so long a farmhouse the occupiers of which were profoundly indifferent to its contents and history. The present owner, Captain Glossop, when I met him, was bringing taste and energy to bear on the old mansion, although portions of it were beyond repair". He was a member of the Glossop family listed in Burke's Landed Gentry as of "Silver Hall", which was in Isleworth, Middlesex. The family descended from Francis Glossop (d.1764) of Upper Haddon, Derbyshire, whose grandson was Francis Glossop of Isleworth (d.1835). The eldest son of the latter was Rev. Henry Glossop (1780-1869), of Silver Hall, Isleworth, vicar of Isleworth Church from 1822 to 1855, whose eldest son and heir was Francis Henry Newland Glossop (1815-1886), DL for Middlesex, was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1838 and married on February 12, 1850 Ann Fish Pownall. Their eldest son was Rev. George Henry Pownall Glossop (1858-1925), of Silver Hall, Honorary Canon and Rural Dean of St Albans. He married in 1886 Frances Mary Gape of St Michael's Manor, Fishpool Street, St Albans, and sold Silver Hall in 1888. Their eldest son and heir was Francis George Glossop (b.1887), listed in Burkes Landed Gentry 1937 as of West Down, (on Garliford Lane one mile south of Whitechapel mansion), South Molton, then a retired Commander, Royal Navy, JP (1921), DL (1932), OBE (1962), who had served in World War I, as a Lieutenant commanding the Destroyer HMS Hydra at the Battle of Jutland, had been mentioned in despatches and had been awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus of the Russian Empire. He married in 1915 Elinor Mackay Cadell and had two sons and two daughters. In 1937 he resided at West Down, one mile south of Whitechapel, South Molton. He later resided at Gransden, Barnstaple. In 1922 the Glossop family erected the "Glossop Memorial" in Isleworth, a drinking fountain and lampost. The family were connected with the founding of the Old Vic theatre in London.

Lloyd

By 1926 Whitechapel was owned by Albert William Lloyd (1871-1952), </ref> whose great-great grand-father Sampson II Lloyd (1699-1779) and great-uncle Sampson III Lloyd had co-founded Lloyds Bank in 1765. Sampson II Lloyd was an ironmaster from Dolobran in Montgomeryshire and lived at Owen's Farm in Sparkbrook (now the historic building known as "Lloyd's Farmhouse", Farm Park, Sampson Road, Sparkhill). Together with his brother Charles Lloyd, Sampson II Lloyd bought the Town Mill iron-forge in Burton-upon-Trent and traded in iron. His eldest son with whom he co-founded "Taylors & Lloyds Bank" in 1765 was Sampson III Lloyd, whose son was Samuel Lloyd. Sampson II Lloyd's second son was Samuel I Lloyd (1768-1849), banker, whose son was Samuel II "Quaker" Lloyd (1795-1862), who founded the iron founder Lloyds Foster & Co. which owned the "old Park Works" foundry and colliery in Wednesbury. The firm however lost a fortune supplying materials for Blackfriars Bridge in London. In 1818 he moved residence to The Hollies, (opposite St Paul's Church), Wood Green, Wednesbury to supervise his mining estate. He took over Bills & Mills ironworks and renamed it "Darlastan Iron Company" and built Kings Hill Ironworks. His eldest son by his wife Mary Honeychurch (1795-1865) was Samuel III Lloyd (1827-1918), who had 24 children by his wife Jane Elizabeth Janson (1839-1895), one of whom was Albert William Lloyd (1871-1952) of Whitechapel. Samuel III Lloyd's second son was Francis Henry Lloyd who founded the great steelworks firm of F.H. Lloyd, Britain's largest foundry, which survived until its dramatic collapse in 1982, at James Bridge. Albert Lloyd married in 1909 in Bedford Caroline Emma Baylay (1878-25/4/1962), the daughter of Charles Allan Baylay. In 1926 "Mrs Lloyd of Whitechapel Manor" established the Bishops Nympton branch of the Womens' Institute. Their son was John Owen Lloyd (1914-1938), who however pre-deceased both his parents having died in a point-to-point horse race in Dulverton. Mrs Lloyd remained at Whitechapel during her widowhood and died there on April 25, 1962. The heir of Whitechapel thus became Mrs Lloyd's nephew "Colonel Baylay" who sold Whitechapel. The estate was split into various lots, one being the manor house with about 14 acres of land, and another being the cottages and farm buildings with Whitechapel Moor, covering about 300 acres.

Shapland

In 1984 John Shapland, whose family was long established in Devon, with his wife Patricia purchased Whitechapel manor house with 14 acres, then in a derelict state, and converted in into a small and exclusive luxury hotel which opened in 1987. The cottages and land were purchased by a third party, Richard Burgess. The speciality of the hotel was its food, prepared by top-class chefs such as Thierry Lepretre-Granet. Many of the guests were clients of the nearby Castle Hill pheasant shoot, and frequently the hotel was hired by private parties. One notable such guest was ex-King Constantine of Greece, and the hotel was on one occasion hired by Cilla Black and her TV crew whilst filming locally the show "Surprise, Surprise".

Burgess of Whitechapel Barton

The farmhouse known as Whitechapel Barton, adjacent to the manor house, with 250 acres of woodland and 250 acres of farmland together with two cottages, now known as Cartwheel Cottage and Groom's Cottage, were purchased in 1971 by Richard and Valerie Burgess. The estate is now run as holiday cottages for short-term lets. In about 1994 they sold off 300 acres of Whitechapel Moor to the Irish developer John Moore of Georgeham near Barnstaple, managing director of Georgeham Building Ltd. a constructor of nursing homes, who applied for planning permission to build a £25 million leisure park on the site, including 54 holiday homes and 200 timeshare cottages, a sports centre motel, country club and golf course. The site was to have been operated by Centre Parcs. The scheme attracted considerable local opposition, including from the Shaplands of Whitechapel Manor Hotel, the council of Exmoor National Park and the Exmoor Society, which warned of the threatened "suburbanisation of rural England". However the leader of North Devon District council, Keith Prowse, with his majority Liberal Democrat colleagues, supported the scheme vigorously. The scheme was refused planning permission after a long opposition campaign.

Rampling

In about 1997 Whitechapel manor house together with 14 acres was sold by the Shaplands to Timothy Robin Rampling, a businessman with interests in the office machinery and photocopier sector, by whom it is owned today in 2012. He continued to run the hotel for about five years but then closed it and now the house is a family home.

Sources

• National Archives, North Devon Record Office, South Molton Records B264, Whitechapel Estate and the families associated with it 1609-1990
• Meredith, Gertrude Euphemia, The Descendants of Hugh Amory 1605-1805, London, 1901

External links

• Whitechapel Cottages - Self catering holiday accommodation on the edge of Exmoor
• Listed building text, Whitechapel Manor

References

1. Prince, John, Worthies of Devon, 1710
2. Morris, John, (Ed.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Part 1, chap.2, entry 21
3. Feudal Aids , Vol.1, p.343, quoted in Morris, Part 2, 2,21; Also, Calendars of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol.4, no.245
4. Coulter, James, The Ancient Chapels of North Devon, Barnstaple, 1993, p.24
5. Coulter, p.24
6. Risdon, Tristram, The Survey of Devon, c. 1630, 1810 edition, p.310
7. Gentleman's Magazine, vol.68, p.765
8. Morris, John, (Ed.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Part 2, chap.32, entries 2&3
9. Oliver, George, Historic Collections Relating to the Monasteries in Devon
10. Morris, John, (Ed.), Domesday Book, Vol.9, Devon, Chichester, 1985, Part 2, chap.32, entries 2&3
11. Gentleman's Magazine, vol.68, p.765
12. Risdon, Tristram, The Survey of Devon, c. 1630, 1810 edition, p.310
13. Risdon, Tristram, The Survey of Devon, c. 1630, 1810 edition, p.310
14. Heralds' Visitations of Devon (1895) p.15
15. National Archives, South Molton Records B264, Whitechapel Estate 1609-1990, North Devon Record Office, introductory background history
16. Eldest son per Heraldic Visitation of Devon, Vivian (ed.), 1895, p.15 "Amory of Chapell"
17. Meredith, 1901
18. Visit of Devon, p.15
19. Meredith, 1901, quoting from ""Mr Somerby's copy of the Bishops Nymet register", & in agreement with Heraldic Visitation, p.15
20. Collinson, History of Somersetshire, vol. 1, p. 238
21. Meredith, p.270
22. Now The Ridge, Bridge End Drive, Prestbury, Macclesfield
23. Visit of Devon, p.15
24. Westcote, Thomas, A View of Devonshire
25. Visit of Devon, p.15
26. Index to lost probate records of the diocese of Exeter
27. Society of Genealogists: family of d'Amory
28. Visit of Devon, p.15
29. National Archives,Devon Record Office, Comyns family of Wood, Bishopsteignton, 1039 M/T 36 1732
30. National Archives B264
31. Date of sale 1777 per National Archives B264 introductory text, but "at the beginning of the last (i.e. 19th.) century" according to Snell, p.210
32. Snell, Frederick John, The Blackmore Country, 1911, p.210
33. National Archives B264
34. Sanger family monumental tablets in Bishops Nympton Church
35. Devon Record Office 1926 B/BL/L/2/1 1862
36. Snell, p.210
37. Burke's Peerage & Gentry
38. The Old Vic Theatre: A History
39. http://www.geneagraphie.com/getperson.php?personID=I9554&tree=1
40. Parker, Bev, A History of Wednesbury
41. Black Country Bugle, Quaker lloyd, a nineteenth century travel journal, published May 4, 2006
42. National Archives, Birmingham City Archives, MS 3375, The Lloyd estates in Birmingham and Wednesbury
43. Parish Church guidebook
44. Independent Newspaper, 19 January 1994: Architecture: article by Peter Dunn."How to muck-up Heaven: Why put a theme park in the midst of the real thing? Peter Dunn looks at plans for a leisure village in idyl;lic North Devon"

51°01′53″N 3°46′57″W / 51.0313°N 3.7826°W / 51.0313; -3.7826

• Country houses in Devon
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