The Manor of Poltimore is a former manor in Devon, England. The manor house known as Poltimore House survives in its 18th-century remodelled form, but has been dilapidated for several decades. A charity named the "Poltimore House Trust" has been established for the purpose of its restoration. The manor was situated within the historic Wonford Hundred and was largely coterminous with the parish of Poltimore and contained the village of Poltimore, north-east of the historic centre of the City of Exeter. It should not be confused with the eponymous Devon estate of Poltimore in the parish of Farway, east of Exeter. Poltimore was the principal seat of the Bampfylde family from to 1920.
Descent The identification of the manor of Poltimore, later seat of the Bampfylde family, with a location mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 is problematical. The Domesday Book lists two estates, PULTIMORE, the first-listed of the five Devonshire holdings of the king's tenant-in-chief Haimeric of Arques, Pas de Calais, PicardyThorn & Thorn, part 2 (notes), 50:1 and PONTIMORE (sic), the 90th of the 176 Devonshire holdings of Baldwin the Sheriff (died 1090). According to Worthy (1896), neither corresponds to the Bampfylde's manor of Poltimore, which he suggests was not listed separately in the Domesday Book, but rather was parcel of one of the two Domesday Book royal manors named CLISTE, namely the one later known as "Clist Moins", now "West Clyst", in the parish of Broadclyst, in the historic Cliston hundred. This estate of "Clist Moins" was later held from the feudal barony of Okehampton, which later comprised the former fiefdom of Baldwin the Sheriff.Worthy; Thorn & Thorn, part 2 (notes), 16:92
The descent of the manor was as follows:
Baldwin the Sheriff (died 1090) As recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 the first post-Norman Conquest holder of the manor was Baldwin the Sheriff (died 1090), whose fiefdom in Devon was the largest in that county,Thorn & Thorn, part 2 (notes), chap.16 recorded in the Domesday Book as comprising 176 holdings, including PONTIMORE (sic).Thorne & Thorne, 16:90 His tenants were the Canons of "St Mary's", as recorded in the Domesday Book. Worthy (1896) suggested that this religious establishment was St. Mary's Church in Rouen, Normandy, (i.e. Rouen Cathedral, Notre-Dame de Rouen) but Reichel rejected this suggestion and instead proposed that it was the Collegiate Church of St Mary, situated within the walls of Exeter Castle, which collegiate church is believed to have been founded by Baldwin.Thorne & Thorne, part 2 (notes) 16:89–92, quoting: Reichel, O.J., Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol.30, p.283
de Poltimore
At some later period Poltimore was held by the de Poltimore family which took its name from the manor, as was usual at that time. They also held an estate in Glamorgan called Poltymore. The descent given by Pole (died 1635) was as follows:Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp.230–1 Stephan de Poltimore Bartholemewe de Poltimore Sir Richard de Poltimore Sir Richard de Poltimore (son), who granted Poltimore to Simon de Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu (died 1316).
Montagu Simon de Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu (died 1316) acquired the manor of Poltimore from Sir Richard de Poltimore and in 1297Pole, p.230, regnal date 26 Edward I sold it for £200 to William Pontington, a Canon of Exeter Cathedral.
Pontington William Pontington (died 1307),Worthy a Canon of Exeter Cathedral, purchased the manor of Poltimore in 1297 for the sum of £200 from Simon de Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu (died 1316). William de Puntyngdon succeeded Thomas de Charleton as Archdeacon of Totnes on 28 September 1303, and had been Precentor of Exeter Cathedral in 1302. The origins of William Pontington are not recorded. According to Pole he gave Poltimore to John Baunfild (John Bampfield), whom he called in a Latin deed his alumnus ("foster-son, pupil, disciple"Cassell's Latin Dictionary, p.33), and who was the founder of the Bampfield/Bampfylde family of Poltimore.
Bampfield
John Bamfielde John Bamfielde of Poltimore and Weston Bampfylde, Somerset, married Ellinor Beauchamp, a daughter of Sir Humfrey Beauchamp of Ryme. By 1292 John Bampfylde held an estate in Great and Little Weston, Somerset, possibly in right of his wife.Victoria County History, Somerset, Volume XI He was the son of John Baunfeld (fl. 1199/1216) and married a daughter and heiress of a John Hastings, whose identity is unclear. In the Nomina Villarum of 1316 a certain de Bamfeld is described as "Lord of Poltimore" and on 5 March 1340/41 his son "John de Bamfeld" is recorded as patron of the Rectory of Poltimore.
John Bamfielde John Bamfielde of Poltimore (son), married Joane de Merton (died 1420),Vivian, p.606 a daughter and co-heiress of Sir Richard de Merton,Vivian, p.38, 606 of Merton, Devon, whose family also inherited a moiety of the feudal barony of Great Torrington. She survived her husband and remarried to Sir John de la Pomeray (1347–1416), feudal baron of Berry Pomeroy, Devon.
Thomas Bamfield Thomas Bamfield of Poltimore (son), who married Agnes Copleston, daughter of Adam (or Johnaccording to the inscription on the monumental brass of his daughter Eleanor Pollard (died 1430) in the church of St Giles in the Wood, Devon) Copleston of Copleston, in the parish of Colebrooke Devon.
John Bampfield John Bampfield (son), of Poltimore, who married Joane Hoxham, daughter and heiress of John (or WilliamRisdon, Tristram (died 1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.91) Hoxham of Hoxham, adjacent to Poltimore.Vivian, p.38; Pole, p.230; Risdon, p.91 Both Pole (died 1635) and Risdon (died 1640) state that the marriage was without children but that the Hoxham estates were nevertheless inherited by the Bampfields by entail.Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.230
Thomas Bampfield Thomas Bampfield, (eldest son, according to the Heraldic Visitation of Devon pedigreeVivian, p.38), who married Agnes Faber, daughter and co-heiress of John Faber. His second son was Richard Bampfield (died 1430) of Columbjohn in Devon, who received a grant of that estate to himself and "the heirs male of his body", from "Edward, Earl of Devon". He died without male children, and thus the estate escheated to Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon.Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.170
John Bampfield John Bampfield (son), who married a certain Joane. Pole states that "John Bampfield, the ancestor of Bampfield of Poltimore" married Isabel Cobham, one of the co-heiresses of the manor of Blackborough,Pole, p.195 and the arms of Cobham of Blackborough are amongst the 30 quarterings above the effigy and monument to Sir Amyas Bampfield (d.1626) in All Saints Church, North Molton.See image :File:BampfieldQuarterings SirAmyasBampfield NorthMoltonChurch Devon.JPG Similar 30 quarterings visible on funeral hatchment in Poltimore Church to Sir Coplestone Bampfylde, 2nd Baronet (d.1691). For identification of arms see: Summers, Peter & Titterton, John, (eds.), Hatchments in Britain, Vol.7: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Somerset; Phillimore Press, Chichester, Sussex, 1988, pp.29-30, Poltimore
John Bampfield (fl. 14th century)
John Bampfield (son) (fl. 14th century), who married Agnes Pederton, daughter and heiress of John Pederton of Hardington,Collinson, Rev. John, History and Antiquities of the County of Somerset, Vol.3, Bath, 1791, p.338 Somerset, by his wife Cecilia Turney, daughter and heiress of John Turney. By his wife he had two sons, the eldest Sir William Bampfield of Poltimore, the youngest Peter Bampfield of Hardington, Somerset. Bamfield and his wife Agnes Pederton rebuilt the Parish Church of Poltimore, as is evidenced by an inscribed ledgerstone, said by Worthy (1896) to have been moved from the nave to the chancel, bearing the following Latin text: "MCCCXC. Hic jacent Joh(ann)es Baunfeld et Agnes uxor eius, pat(er) et mat(er) Will(ielm)i Baunfeld, qui ha(n)c eccl(es)ia(m) et maxima(m) campana(m) fieri fecer(u)nt" ("1390. Here lie John Bampfield and Agnes his wife, the father and mother of William Bampfield, who caused to come into being this church and the greatest bell"). The arms are Bampfield impaling Pederton: Argent, a bend gules between three lion's heads erased and ducally crowned sable.Summers, Peter & Titterton, John, (eds.), Hatchments in Britain, Vol.7: Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Somerset; Phillimore Press, Chichester, Sussex, 1988, p.29
Sir William Bampfield (died 1474) Sir William Bampfield (died 1474)) of Poltimore, (eldest son), Sheriff of Devon in 1426.Regnal dates per Vivian, p.38 he married Margaret Pauncefoot daughter of Walter Pauncefoot of Compton, Somerset.
Walter Bampfield Walter Bampfield (1446–1478) (eldest son and heir), who married twice: Firstly to Constance Langsford, daughter of Edward Langsford; without children. Secondly to Grace Pudsey, daughter of Sir Ralph Pudsey. She survived her husband and remarried to Sir Roger Tetcote. By his second wife he had a son Andrew Bampfield (see below).
Andrew Bampfield (born 1474) Andrew Bampfield (born 1474) (son), who died childless, apparently as an infant, when the heir to the Bampfield estates was his uncle William Bampfield.
William Bampfield William Bampfield (uncle, second son of Sir William Bampfield (died 1474)) of Poltimore). He married twice: Firstly to Margaret St Maur, a daughter and co-heiress of John St Maur of Rode, and heir to her niece Mary Drury. Secondly to Margaret Kirkham, daughter of Nicholas Kirkham (1433–1516) of Blagdon in the parish of Paignton in Devon, and widow of John Cheyne of Pinhoe. She survived her husband and remarried to a Grenville of Stowe, Kilkhampton in Cornwall and of Bideford in Devon.Vivian, p.516, pedigree of Kirkham of Blagdon
Sir Edward Bampfield (died 1528) Sir Edward Bampfield (died 1528), eldest son and heir by his father's first wife Margaret St Maur. He married Elizabeth Wadham, daughter of Sir Nicholas Wadham (1472-1542) of Merryfield, Ilton in Somerset and of Edge, Branscombe in Devon (a widow at the time of her second marriage, she later married John Warre of Chipleigh. One of their four daughters, Elizabeth Bampfield,Vivian, p.39 was the wife of George Perceval (1561–1601) of Sydenham, near Bridgwater, Somerset, and mother of Richard Percival (1550–1620) an administrator and politician, who wrote a Spanish grammar for English readers and was the ancestor of the Earl of Egmont.
Richard Bampfield (1526–1594) Richard Bampfield (1526–1594) of Poltimore and Bampfylde House in Exeter, was Sheriff of Devon in 1576, and in 1550 began construction of the Tudor era, Poltimore House. He was the son and heir of Sir Edward Bampfield and Elizabeth Wadham.
His father died when Richard was an infant aged two, and he entered wardship, concerning which John Prince, (died 1723) relates a story "of undoubted credit":Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, London, pp. 35–6