Weare Giffard Hall

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Weare Giffard Hall, the mansion of Weare Giffard, from the front gate.
Weare Giffard Church and Wear Giffard Hall, view from the southwest across the River Torridge .

Weare Giffard Hall is a manor house about half a mile west of the village of Weare Giffard , about 4 km northwest of Great Torrington market in the English county of Devon . The mansion and adjoining church are on a slope north of the wide, flat valley floor of the River Torridge . Both the manor house and the church are to be listed as historical buildings of the first degree.

Origin of name

Devonian historian Tristram Risdon († 1640) assumed that the name “Weare” was derived from “fish weir”. Such weirs used to be installed in rivers to catch fish. The construction of a fish weir generally required a permit from the feudal lord, as this naturally affected the catches of other residents further down the river. There are many disputes about fish weirs in medieval sources.

Landlords

Giffard

Coat of arms of the Giffards: black, three diamonds , connected with an ermine bar . This coat of arms can be seen in the church of Chittlehampton on the monument of John Giffard († 1622) from Brightley . The coat of arms came back in the 19th century as the coat of arms of Hardinge Giffard (1853-1921), Lord Chancellor , who rose in 1885 as Baron Halsbury of Halsbury into the nobility and in 1898 was made Earl of Halsbury .

One of the first landlords in the 13th century was Sir Walter Giffard , from whom the second part of the manorial estate came from (see House Fougères ). He lived in the reign of King Henry III. (1216-1272). He left a daughter, Emma , who was married three times:

  • first with Hugh Widworthy , with no offspring.
  • second, with Sir William Trewin ; her son William Trewin took the name De Wear as his father's name.
  • third, with Sir Robert Dynham , with no offspring.

Stone portraits of an early member of the Giffard family and his wife can be seen in the parish church; Today they are housed in arched niches in the north wall of the nave. They are supposed to represent Sir Walter Giffard and his wife, Lady Alice de St George , whose son was also called `` Walter '', but there are no longer any name inscriptions or heraldic books that could provide a clue to their identity. These stone portraits were originally placed in the north transept, from which they were removed in the 19th century to make room for a new organ.

De Wear

Bream with the image of Richard Fortescue († 1570) in Filleigh Church. The coat of arms of the Trewins from Weare Giffard can be seen in the 4th crossing of the escutcheon on the right: silver on a green ribbon between six red trefoil crosses, three golden crook heads Bream with the image of Richard Fortescue († 1570) in Filleigh Church. The coat of arms of the Trewins from Weare Giffard can be seen in the 4th crossing of the escutcheon on the right: silver on a green ribbon between six red trefoil crosses, three golden crook heads
Bream with the image of Richard Fortescue († 1570) in Filleigh Church . The coat of arms of the Trewins from Weare Giffard can be seen in the 4th crossing of the escutcheon on the right: silver on a green ribbon between six red trefoil crosses, three golden crook heads

The Trewins (or Treawyns, etc.), aka De Weare , are believed to have used fish as heraldic detail reminiscent of the manor fish weir , and such details can be found on the spandrels of the western arch of the western porch of Weare Giffard Hall. The coat of arms of William Trewin alias De Weare († 1421) can be seen in the fourth crossing of the escutcheon on the bronze plate in the church of Filleigh , on which Richard Fortescue († 1570) is depicted: silver on a green ribbon between six red trefoil crosses three golden crook heads .

The last male descendant of the De Wear family was William de Wear , who died around 1421 and left a daughter as sole heir who married Richard Denzell . This came from a branch line of the Denzell family from St Mawgan in Cornwall .

Denzell

Heraldic shield of the Denzells: Black, a silver star above and a silver sickle below
Heraldic pew cheek, around 1510, in the church of Weare Giffard with the coat of arms of the Denzell family

The main line of the Denzell family died out in the male line with the death of John Denzel , Serjeant-at-Law and Attorney-General to the Queen, Elizabeth of York in 1535. He owned large estates in Cornwall and left two daughters as joint heirs, Ann , who married Sir William Holles (1509–1591), later Lord Mayor of London , and another daughter who married into the Roskymer family. Weare Giffard Hall acquired a branch of this family by marrying the heiress of De Wears .

Richard Denzell had a son who was also called Richard through his wife, the De-Wear heir, but had no male descendants himself, only a daughter named Elizabeth as the sole heir. The coat of arms of the Denzells was: black, a silver star above and a silver sickle below . This coat of arms can be found on the cheek of a pew from around 1510 in the church of Weare Giffard and also in a stone memorial to Sir Richard de Pomeroy (1442–1496) in the church of Berry Pomeroy . Sir Richard de Pomeroy (1442–1496), knighted by King Henry VII and Sheriff of Devon in 1473 , married Elizabeth Densell († 1508), daughter and co- heir of Richard Densell from Weare Giffard and Filleigh and widow of Martin Fortescue († 1472) from Wimpstone . The coat of arms of the Denzells can be seen in the 2nd crossing of the coat of arms of Richard Fortescue (around 1517–1570) on his bronze plate in the church of Filleigh .

Fortescue

Coat of arms of the Fortescues: blue, a silver ribbon in a bow cut, flanked by two gold ribbons . Talking motto : Forte Scutum Salus Ducum (German: "A strong shield is the rescue of the leader")

1454 married Sir Martin Fortescue († 1472), second son of Sir John Fortescue (1395-1485), Supreme Judge, from Ebrington in Gloucestershire Elizabeth Densyll , the daughter and heiress of "Richard Densyll" from Weare Giffard and Filleigh. So the manor and the manor came into the possession of the Fortescue family, along with a number of other Densylls manors, such as East Buckland , Bray (both near Filleigh), Buckland Filleigh , Combe and Tamerton . The 22 km² property in Filleigh, including the Castle Hill mansion , is still in private hands and belongs to the descendants of the Fortescue family. The last Earl Fortescue to own Castle Hill was Hugh Fortescue, 4th Earl Fortescue (1888-1958), who died in June 1958 at the age of 70. Since he had no surviving male offspring, his younger brother, Denzil Fortescue, 6th Earl Fortescue , inherited the Earldom. But the 5th Earl bequeathed his Castle Hill headquarters to his older daughter, Lady Margaret Fortescue (* 1923) and Weare Giffard Hall to his younger daughter, Lady Elizabeth Fortescue (* 1926), who sold the mansion in 1960. Lady Margaret had married Bernard van Cutsem in 1948 and had children. Her daughter Eleanor, Countess of Arran , (* 1949), who married Arthur Gore, 9th Earl of Arran , (* 1938) on September 28, 1974 , now lives in Castle Hill . Lady Elizabeth married Major William Lloyd (John) Baxendale , Coldstream Guards , of Hailwell House in Sussex in 1946 and had descendants:

  • David Hugh (born 1952)
  • Peter Anthony (* 1955)
  • Lucinda Margaret (* 1958)

Lady Elizabeth Baxendale sold the mansion in 1960.

Mansion

Weare Giffard Hall was described by Sabine Baring-Gould as follows:

“When you approach the house, we have the square entrance tower on the left and enter the entrance hall through a modern Gothic vestibule. Above the fireplace are two oak carvings depicting the Adoration of the Magi and Resurrection . The walls of the hall are covered with picture knitting. The best view of the mansion's roof is from the gallery. The north wall is adorned with three full-length portraits in the style of Sir Peter Lely and some Elizabethan medallions. On the south wall there are three coat of arms reliefs: the royal coat of arms from 1599, on the right that of the Bedfords and on the left the de Bourchiers, Earl of Bath . The walls are paneled with richly carved oak up to a height of 3 meters. There are several rooms here with interesting open chimneys. "

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Tristram Risdon: The Chronological Description or Survey of the County of Devon . London 1811. p. 278.
  2. ↑ a b Welcome to Weare Giffard . Weare Giffard Parish Council. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  3. ^ B. Cherry, Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon . London 2004. Chapter: Weare Giffard . P. 892.
  4. ^ William Pole, Sir John-William de la Pole (editor): Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon . London 1791. Chapter: Trewin of Weare Giffard . P. 505.
  5. ^ Daniel Lysons, Samuel Lysons: Magna Britannia, Cornwall . Volume 3. 1814. Parishes: Maker-Merther . Pp. 212-227. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  6. ^ Daniel Lysons, Samuel Lysons: Magna Britannia, Coenwall . Volume 3. 1814. General history: Extinct gentry families . P. 118. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
  7. ↑ described different with poles ( Densill of Filley ): Sable, a molet betwixt the horns of a crescent argent .
  8. ^ William Pole, Sir John-William de la Pole (editor): Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon . London 1791. Chapter: Trewin of Weare Giffard . P. 480.
  9. ^ Easter grave in the north wall of the choir.
  10. ↑ a b Debrett's Peerage . 1968. p. 461.
  11. ^ Rosemary Lauder: Devon Families . Tiverton 2002. Fortescue . P. 80.
  12. ^ Sabine Baring-Gould: Devon .

literature

  • E. Ashworth: The Ancient Manor House of Weare Giffard . 1858.
  • Country Life Magazine, January 2, 1915.

Web links

Commons : Weare Giffard  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Coordinates: 50 ° 58 ′ 0 ″  N , 4 ° 11 ′ 0 ″  W.