Sherford History
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SHERFORD HISTORY 1. The Origins of Sherford The late Group Captain Benny Goodman’s fascinating book ‘One Thousand Years of Sherford’ dates the first mention of Sherford Manor as 1018. At that time it was known as ‘Scire-Ford’ (meaning ‘Clear Ford’ in Anglo-Saxon), and in that year King Canute gave his royal estate of Cadelintone (Chillington) to his sister-in-law, Gytha, which included Sherford, on the occasion of her marriage to the powerful Saxon Earl Godwin. Their daughter, Edith, married Edward the Confessor and became Queen of England. The second of their five sons became King Harold, who succeeded Edward the Confessor. Their eldest son died during a Crusade in 1052 and all the other four were killed at the Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror founded the Abbey at Battle to celebrate his triumph, and this Abbey was dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. The Conqueror established St. Nicholas’ Priory in Exeter, attached to St. Olave’s Church (which still exists near the Cathedral), as a subsidiary to the Abbey at Battle, and the Manor of Sherford was, in turn, under the control of the Priory, to which it paid a quarterly rental up until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, when it was demolished in September 1536. In fact the Sherfordian contribution to the coffers of the Priory, which derived its income from 40 different sources, amounted to no less than 18% of the total. William’s action was dictated by his personal dislike of Harold, whom he always considered a usurper. He alleged that Edward the Confessor, who was his cousin, had nominated him, Duke William, as his successor in 1052. In the Domesday Book, King Harold is always referred to only as an Earl. Countess Gytha set up a Resistance to the Conqueror, based in Exeter, but in 1067 William marched to the city and laid siege to it. After 18 days, she was allowed to flee, never to return. 2. St. Martin’s Church In 1457 a Commission was appointed to dedicate Sherford Church to St. Martin of Tours, no doubt in deference to the Abbey at Battle. But there certainly was a church here in Saxon times. The ancient piscina in the chancel is evidence of its Saxon origin, since they were fitted into churches from 600 AD, to rinse vessels used for Mass, and Sherford is included in a list of pre-Conquest churches in the book entitled “Devon and its Churches” by J.M. Slater. The church is also built on the south side of a hill (because evil spirits blew in from the north), is surrounded by trees and is near water. We found a very similarly sited 12th century church, also dedicated to St. Martin of Tours, at Vitrac in the Valley of the Dordogne in France, like Sherford on a promontory, in a valley and near water. There are records of a church in Sherford in the tax returns (to Pope Nicholas) in 1288, and a document of 1291 mentions Stokenham Church with its chapelries of Sherford and Chivelstone (another particularly lovely old church of the same period which the U3A Group have already visited). The allegation on the signpost in Frogmore that Sherford Church is 13th century therefore is certainly true insofar as the existence of a church on the site, and it is possible that in the present building there are some 13th century remains, but we cannot be sure on that point. What is certain is that the church is a particularly lovely example of early English architecture, and, fortunately, has not been over-restored by Victorians. 1 Notable features are, firstly, the original carved and painted rood screen. I am not going to elaborate on this, because you will get a far more detailed and informed talk about this rood screen, and indeed all about rood screens from Peter Hadley. The altar rail and glazed tiles date from 1895. The pitch pine pews were made in the 19th Century by Thomas Mitchell of Brook House, which is just opposite the Village Hall. Electricity was brought to the church in 1958 by a bequest from a Miss Kenturah Fairweather, one of the last tenants of Malston Barton, one of the three manors of Sherford, which will form the second part of my talk. Before I conclude the first part of my talk, there is an interesting anecdote in connection with the church. In 1598 a certain Richard Marsh, a man described in the rolls as a ‘common poacher’, lived at Hill Farm, the second old house on the right hand side as you proceed up the village. In that year, his wife gave birth to a daughter, baptised as Eulalia. As a young girl she became so ill that she was pronounced ‘dead’ and her body was taken to the church, presumably in a coffin, for burial. But, during the funeral service, she revived, got married at the age of 21, emigrated to America and lived to the grand old age of 91. The Rood Screen by Peter Hadley Peter Hadley described the efforts made to arrange for and fund the restoration of the Rood Screen. It required much time and dedication from all concerned. Some of the funding was raised locally by Dick Lloyd and others. Some came from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Here is a note from a letter he sent to Celia Strong for the Local History Group: “Recent studies undertaken for us by polychromy expert, Eddie Sinclair and timber restoration consultant, Hugh Harrison have revealed the rood screen partition, between chancel and nave, to be an important medieval work of art. On timber panels between ornately carved spandrels are fine early 16th Century Flemish-influenced paintings in the renaissance style, unique to Devon, lying under layers of varnish and over-painting.” 2 This picture shows work in progress by Eddie Sinclair: 3. The Manor of Sherford The chief Manor was situated at Homefield, which lies at the entrance to the village coming up from Frogmore, but nothing is left of the mediaeval building. The other manors were: a) Keynedon Barton, situated half way between Frogmore and Sherford, is now a farm and a lovely old building. I had the privilege of visiting Keynedon with an architecture and local history group last year. It was the seat of the Hals Family from 1412 until 1684. The picture, taken during that visit, shows the entrance with Dick Lloyd (left of centre). 3 If you take a look at the sketch which I am now handing round, this gives an idea of what the place looked like in its heyday. The original buildings had a scattered Anglo-Norman plan, with a long hall range and an attached two-storey chamber block. The Long Hall lies to the rear of the main house and is now used for livestock. The chamber block lies on the RHS of the sketch. In 1409 a chapel was added in between the two. 4 In the late 15th and 16th centuries considerable reconstruction was done to the house by the Hals Family. What can still be seen today from the road is the lovely stone porch, and, opposite the entrance drive is a ruined building which was built as a mediaeval gazebo overlooking a deer park. As can be seen from the sketch, if one has the privilege of going round the present house and buildings, there are many more traces of the past to be seen. b) Stancombe which lies to the north of the village. A green lane leads to it, the entrance to which is halfway up the main road or street just past Hill Farm on the RHS, or it can be accessed by driving up through the village and turning first right at the top of the hill. When we came to Sherford in 1967, it was still a farm, but since turned into a holiday let complex. It retains many of the old buildings and is a most attractive place. c) Malston Barton, which lies off the back road to Kingsbridge, and which has, in my view, the most interesting history, which we will come to later in this talk, but of the old buildings there is not now a great deal to be seen. All these manors are mentioned in the Domesday Book. In the church, to the left of the altar, on the south side, is the chapel of the Reynell Family of Malston, and on the north side, the chapel of the Halses of Keynedon. The first Lord of the Manor of Sherford was Baron Judhel of Totnes, a favourite of William the Conqueror, who granted him no less than 107 manors in all. Each holder of each manor had to pay tribute in the form of supplying armed and mounted knights for military service, either in England or abroad. William the Conqueror had 5000 knights at his disposal through the manorial system. The obligation of providing soldiery gradually changed to making money payments, which might be said to be the origin of the Tax System. The money was then used for hiring mercenary troops. Sherford Manor was administered by a bailiff and Walter Lawry, the bailiff prior to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, lived at our current residence, Brook Cottage in the early 16th Century. We will show it to you at the end of the visit. It is on the left of this old picture. 5 We think it possible that the cottage was specifically built as the residence for the bailiff at that time.