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.Prince, John, Worthies of Devon, 1710 The core of the present manor house is late 16th or early 17th century, with later additions and alterations, and was classed as Grade I listed on 9 June 1952.Whitechapel Manor, Bishop's Nympton, British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 15 November 2016

History The 1086 Domesday 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.Thorn, part 1, 2,21 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")Feudal Aids, Vol.1, p.343, quoted in Morris, Part 2, 2,21; Also, Calendars of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol.4, no.245 Coulter, writing in 1993, although he found several early references to Whitechapel, was unable to find any historical record describing the founding of the Whitechapel, 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.Coulter

Next to the manor house there are remains seemingly of a gothic window below ground level within a low building, but the evidence is not certain that this relates to the Whitechapel. Some sources indeed identify this as a bee bole. Archaeological survey in the early 2000s ascertained this to be a garden feature or 'folly', likely made up of architectural remnants discovered in or around the manor house.

Descent of the manor

Peverell The Devon Historian Tristram Risdon (died 1640) in his work "The Survey of Devon" stated that Whitechapel was "the ancient inheritance of the Peverells".Risdon, p.310 A branch of the great Norman family of Peverell, feudal barons of The Peak in Derbyshire, was seated in Devon at Sampford PeverellGentleman's Magazine, vol.68, p.765 and held the additional Devon manors of Kerswell in the parish of Broadhembury and Aller in the parish of Cullompton.Thorn, part 2, 32,2 & 3. 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),Oliver, George, Historic Collections Relating to the Monasteries in Devon 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.Cleveland, Duchess of (Catherine Powlett), The Battle Abbey Roll with some Account of the Norman Lineages, 3 vols., London, 1889 , Ancestry of Basset 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 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.Prince, biography of Col. Arthur Basset, p.51-2 Joan was the daughter of Sir Thomas Beaumont (1401-1450) of Shirwell, Heanton Punchardon and Umberleigh,Prince, p.52 and the sister and heiress of Philip Beaumont (1432-1473), a Member of Parliament for a constituency in Devon and Sheriff of Devon in 1469. Her inheritance included Heanton Punchardon and Umberleigh,Vivian, p.46 whilst Shirwell went to the Chichesters,Risdon, p.330 of Raleigh, Pilton, from which family was her sister's husband. A chest tomb monument with monumental brasses survives in Atherington Church, next to Umberleigh and formerly in the Umberleigh Chapel, of Sir John Bassett (died 1528), the son and heir of Sir John Bassett by Joan Beaumont.Certain monuments originally in the Umberleigh Chapel next to the manor house of Umberleigh, were moved in about 1820 to Atherington Church (See Colwell); Pevsner, p.139 states this tomb with brasses to have made such move in 1818 (Pevsner, p.139) His inquisition post mortem states that he held Whitechapel not as a tenant-in-chief but from an overlord, namely Henry, Duke of Somerset (1519–1536), by service unknown, worth 100 shillings per annum.Byrne, Muriel St. Clare, (ed.) The Lisle Letters, 6 vols, University of Chicago Press, Chicago & London, 1981, vol.1, Appendix 22, p.409 Sir John Bassett's eldest son and heir was John Bassett (died 1541) of Umberleigh, who married Frances Plantagenet, daughter and co-heiress of Arthur Plantagenet, 1st Viscount LisleVivian, p.47 (died 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.Atherington Church leaflet; surviving inscription clearly identifies him He married Eleanor Chichester (died 1585), a daughter of Sir John Chichester (died 1569) of Raleigh. He gave the ancient Bassett manor of Tehidy in Cornwall to his uncle George Bassett (died 1580),George Bassett "died 5 November 1589" per Burke, p.114; however Vivian, p.47 states death as "in London 1580"; as widow remarried and died on 25 November 1589 (per Vivian). who was buried in Illogan Church, the parish church of Tehidy, who 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 in 16031603 per introductory history to catalogue B264, National Archives 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,Vivian, p.48 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

According to Meredith, the Amory family (or d'Amory, Emery, Amery, etc.) had been resident within the parish of Bishop's Nympton from as early as 1524.Meredith quotes three early references to the family: "1524. William Amere and John Amere are assessed to the subsidy at Bishop's Nymet, Devon. (p.312); "1567, October 6th, Hugh Amerye married Peternell Peirs at Bishop's Nymet." and "1567–68, February 4th, Thomas, son of Hugh Amerye, is baptized at Bishop's Nymet." (p.314) The family acquired Whitechapel following its sale by Sir Robert Bassett, and held it until about 1660.National Archives, North Devon Record Office, South Molton Records B264, Whitechapel Estate and the families associated with it 1609–1990 The catalogue entry starts with a summary history of the manor. 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 Rose Ash. There was another family of this name in Gloucestershire,Meredith, p.268 which bore the same armorials as recorded in the respective heraldic visitations to GloucestershireMaclean, Sir John & Heane, W.C., (Eds.) The Visitation of the County of Gloucester taken in the year 1623 by Henry Chitty and John Phillipot as deputies to William Camden, Clarenceux King of Arms, with pedigrees from the Heralds' Visitations of 1569 and 1582-3 and sundry miscellaneous pedigrees, London, 1885 in 1592 and to DevonVivian, p.15: "Amory of Chapell" in 1620. The arms for both were: Barry nebulé of six argent and gules, over all a bend azure.

George Amorye (died 1598), the eldest son of John Damerie of South Molton,Eldest son per Vivian, p.15 "Amory of Chapell" is the first member of the family whose descendants can be traced with certainty. He married Margery Ayer, of the Ayre or Eyre family of Atherington, at Bishop's Nymet in 1570. His will, now in the National Archives, 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.Meredith, 1901 George also had a younger brother Robert Damorie, who married Prudence (died 1593), the widow of Sir John Pollard of Combe Martin.

By Margery Eyre, George had three sons and at least two daughters:Meredith, 1901, quoting from ""Mr Somerby's copy of the Bishops Nymet register", & in agreement with Heraldic Visitation, p.15 His eldest son and heir was John Amory (died 1615), and he also had two younger sons: Anthony (died 1620) who was the parson of Aisholt on the Quantock Hills in Somerset; and William who married a daughter of the Leigh family of Ridge, Sutton Downes, Prestbury, Cheshire.