The feudal barony of Bampton was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era, and had its caput at Bampton Castle within the manor of Bampton.Sanders, Contents, pp. ix-xi; the others being Bradninch, Great Torrington, Okehampton, Barnstaple, Berry Pomeroy, Totnes, Plympton
Descent
Domesday Book The Domesday Book of 1086 lists Baentone as one of the 27 Devon holdings of Walter of Douai, also known therein as Walscin.Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2, 23; 23:5 Walter was also feudal baron of Castle Cary in Somerset.Sanders, p.5, note 2 & p.27, Castle Cary At Bampton he established a castle,Risdon, p.64 the motte of which survives today. The manor was a very large holding of 76 households,Powell-Smith, Anna. "Bampton | Domesday Book". Retrieved on 11 January 2017. and previously to the Norman Conquest of England of 1066 had been held in demesne by King Edward the Confessor. As a manor in the royal demesne it had paid no tax. Walter had obtained it from William the Conqueror in exchange for the manors previously granted to him of Ermington and Blackawton.Thorn, part 2, 23:5 According to the Book of FeesThorn, part 2, 23:5, quoting "Fees, p.793 the member manors of the barony of Bampton included: Duvale, Hele (possibly Hele, Clayhanger),Thorn, part 2, 23:5, Hele possibly in Clayhanger Doddiscombe, Hockworthy, Havekareland (possibly Hawkerland, Colaton Raleigh), and Legh (Lea Barton, Hockworthy). Walter held the manor of Bampton in demesne, but nevertheless he had three tenants who held land somewhere within the manor, namely two men named Rademar, one of whom appears to have been a tenant of several of Walter's Somerset manors.Thorne, 23:5, quoting Domesday Book Somerset, chap.24 One may possibly have been Rademar the Clerk, Walter's brother.Thorne, 23:5, quoting Eyton, R.W., Domesday Studies, 2 vols., London & Bristol, 1880, vol.1, p.62 The third tenant was Gerard, thought to have been Walter's steward and his tenant at Bratton Seymour in Somerset. The descent from Walter of Douai was as follows:Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327, Oxford, 1960, p.5, Barony of Bampton Robert of Douai (son), who in 1136 rebelled against King Stephen, when his lands passed to his daughter and heiress Juliana. Juliana of Douai, who married as her first husband Fulk Paynel (died c. 1165)
Paynel The Duchess of Cleveland in her Battle Abbey Roll stated of the Paynel (alias Painell, Paganel, Pagnell, etc.) family: "The various accounts of it, either by Dugdale, or the county historians of places where they held lands, are so contradictory to each other, that to endeavour to reconcile them to any degree of correctness would require more consumption of time and expense in the investigation of public records, than would compensate any author for the undertaking."—Banks. I, for one, should be far from coveting such a task, even if I possessed the ability that it would require".Linton, Michael A.. "Battle Abbey Roll Volume 2 - TOC". Retrieved on 11 January 2017. The descent of Paynel, feudal barons of Bampton is as follows, according to Sanders (1960): Fulk Paynel (died c. 1165), husband of Juliana of Douai Fulk Paynel (died 1208), who in 1180 offered 1,000 marks in payment of feudal relief on his inheritance, but fled England in 1185, when the barony escheated to the crown until restored to Fulk in 1199, on payment of 1,000 marks.Sanders, p.5, note 3 William Paynel (died 1228), son and heir, paid 200 marks feudal relief for his inheritance. He married Alice Brewer, 4th daughter and co-heiress of William Brewer (died 1226), Sheriff of Devon, and widow of Reginald de Mohun (died 1213) feudal baron of Dunster,Sanders, p.114, Dunster, probable barony Somerset. William Paynel (died 1248), who left as his heir his sister Auda Paynell (died 1261), wife of John de Ballon (died 1275), feudal baron of Much Marcle in Herefordshire.Sanders, p.66, Much Marcle
Ballon The first members of this family to have come to England were Wynebald de Ballon (c. 1058 – c. 1126), and his brother Hamelin de Ballon (c. 1060 – c. 1090 or 1105/6), sons of Drogo (or Dru) de Ballon, lord of the castle of Ballon, 12 miles north of Le Mans, capital of the ancient province of Maine. From its strength the castle was known as "The Gateway to Maine". Ballon is today a French commune, in the department of Sarthe (72), in the modern region of Pays de la Loire. Maine was invaded and conquered by William Duke of Normandy in the early 1060s, just prior to his invasion of England. John de Ballon (died 1275), feudal baron of Much Marcle in Herefordshire. He was charged £100 in feudal relief for the lands of his brother-in-law William Paynel.Sanders, p.5, note 4 He died without children from Auda Paynel from whose death in 1261 until 1267 the barony passed to the wardship of Edmund of Lancaster (1245–1296), the second surviving son of King Henry III .
Cogan
John de Cogan (died 1302), to whom Edmund of Lancaster surrendered the barony in 1267, was the son of William Cogan,Wikipedia article on Miles de Cogan who was a grandson of Fulk Paynel (died 1208), being the son of Fulk's daughter Christiana by her husband Miles de CoganSanders, p.5, note 4, quoting Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, III, p.357 (died 1182). Miles de Cogan was according to the antiquary Sir William Pole (died 1635) the great soldier and undertaker of the Irish Conquest.Lysons, Magna Britannia: volume 6: Devonshire (1822), pp. 27–47, Bampton John de Cogan was recorded as holding his lands at Bampton by the feudal tenure per baroniam ("by barony") by the service of 1 knight's fee and performed the service in 1277 Risdon stated that at Bampton the Cogans "had...a very stately house and kept great entertainment when they lived here, and having greater possessions in Ireland for the most part dwelt there". Thomas de Cogan (died 1315), son and heir Richard de Cogan (1299–1368)Sanders, p.5: he came of age (21) in 1320 On 17 March 1336 Richard Cogan obtained a royal licence to crenellate his mansion-house at Baumton, and to enclose his wood of Uffculme and 300 acres of land for a deer-park.Lysons, 1822, quoting Charter Rolls 10 Edw. III The house is believed by Lysons (1822) to have been near the castle keep, but no remains of the buildings survive.Lysons, 1822 It was the residence of the Cogans and their successors, down to the time of the Bourchiers. He married Mary Montagu, a daughter of William Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu (c. 1285 – 1319) John Cogan (died 1382), who died as a minor in the wardship of the king, was the son of Sir William Cogan (died 1382Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol.6, p.317, Baron Harington) by his second wife Isabel Loring, the elder daughter and co-heiress of Sir Nele Loring (c. 1320 – 1386), KG, of Knowstone and Landkey in Devon and of Chalgrave, Bedfordshire,Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, vol. V, p.502 a founding member of the Order of the Garter. John's heiress was his sister Elizabeth Cogan, the wife of Fulk FitzWarin, 5th Baron FitzWarin (1362–1391), who from his mother Margaret Audley, 3rd daughter and co-heiress of James Audley, 2nd Baron Audley (died 1386),Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, vol. V, p.500-1 feudal baron of Barnstaple, was the heir to the manor of Tawstock which had become the later seat of the feudal barons of Barnstaple,Strong, H.W., History & Description of Tawstock Church, Barnstaple, 1889, p.8 and where the Bourchiers later made their principal seat.
FitzWarin
The FitzWarin family were powerful Marcher Lords seated at Whittington Castle in Shropshire and at Alveston in Gloucestershire. The title Baron FitzWarin was created by writ of summons for Fulk FitzWarine in 1295. The descent of the barony of Bampton in the FitzWarin family is as follows:Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, vol. V, pp495-512, Baron FitzWarin, pp. 495–512 Fulk FitzWarin, 5th Baron FitzWarin (1362–1391), husband of Elizabeth Cogan, heiress of Bampton. Fulk FitzWarin, 6th Baron FitzWarin (1389–1407), son. Fulk FitzWarin, 7th Baron FitzWarin (1406–1420), son, died aged 14 when his heir became his sister Elizabeth FitzWarin. Elizabeth FitzWarin, 8th Baroness FitzWarin (c. 1404 – c. 1427), sister, married Richard Hankford, son and heir of Richard Hankford (dvp 1419), son of Sir William Hankford (c. 1350 – 1423),Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, vol. V, pp495-512, Baron FitzWarin, pp. 504–5 of Annery, Devon, Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Upon her death the barony must have been in abeyance between her daughters Thomasine Hankford (1423–1453) and Elizabeth Hankford (c. 1424 – 1433) until the death of the latter in 1433.
Hankford
Sir Richard Hankford (c. 1397 – 1431) (grandson and heir of Sir William Hankford (died 1422) of Annery, Devon, Lord Chief Justice of England) married as his first wife Elizabeth FitzWarin, 8th Baroness FitzWarin (c. 1404 – c. 1427). Upon her death the barony must have been in abeyance between her daughters Thomasine Hankford (1423–1453), born and baptised at Tawstock,Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol.V, p.507 and Elizabeth Hankford (c. 1424 – 1433) until the death of the latter in 1433, when Thomasine became 9th Baroness.
Bourchier
The Bourchier family, the Devon branch of which, seated at Tawstock Court, was later created Earls of Bath, retained the manor of Bampton until at least the time of Risdon (died 1640) who states in his Survey of Devon that "the Earl of Bath is lord of this manor". The descent of Bampton was as follows: William Bourchier, 9th Baron FitzWarin (1407–1470), husband of Thomasine Hankeford, 9th Baroness FitzWarin (1423–1453).Risdon, p.276; Vivian, p.106, pedigree of Bourchier He was the 2nd son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (1386–1420) by his wife Anne of Gloucester (1383–1438), eldest daughter of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355–1397) (by his wife Eleanor de Bohun), youngest child of King Edward III. He was summoned to Parliament as Lord FitzWarin in right of his wife and is thus deemed to have become 9th Baron FitzWarin. William Bourchier had three distinguished brothers: Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (1404 – 4 April 1483), eldest brother; John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners (1415–1474), younger brother; and Thomas Bourchier, (c. 1404 – 1486), Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal, youngest brother. His sister Eleanor Bourchier, (c. 1417 – 1474) married John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk. Thomasine was buried in Bampton Church,Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol.V, p.508; given incorrectly as "Braunton" in Vivian, p.106, pedigree of Bourchier and the surviving fragments of a tomb chest there re-set into the north wall of the chancel and displaying in a row within quatrefoils Bourchier Knots alternating with water bougets of the Bourchier arms is said by Pevsner to be that of Thomasine Hankford (died 1453), wife of William Bourchier (1407–1470) William Bourchier died before 12 December 1469Cokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, Vol.V, p.508 and was buried in the Church of the Austin Friars in London. His will was dated at Bampton 13 February 1466/7. Fulk Bourchier, Baron FitzWarin (died 1480). (son) He requested in his will to be buried at BamptonCokayne, The Complete Peerage, new edition, IV, p.381 near the graves of his parents. He married Elizabeth Dinham, one of the four sisters and co-heiresses of John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham (1433–1501), KG, of Nutwell, Devon. Elizabeth remarried to Sir John Sapcotes, and a stained glass heraldic escutcheon survives in Bampton church showing the arms of Sapcotes impaling Dinham.