Yarty is an historic estate in the parish of Membury in Devon, and was from the 14th century until 1726Death of Robert Fry in 1726, per Vivian, p.376; Risdon, p.266, states 1722 for many centuries the principal seat of the Fry family.Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.375-7, pedigree of Fry of Yarty It takes its name from the River YartyRisdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.21; Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.118 which flows near or through the estate. During the reigns of King Richard II (1377-1399)Risdon, p.21 or King Henry IV (1399-1413)Pole, p.118 William (or JohnRisdon, p.21 states "William Fry", Vivian, p.375 states "John Fry) Fry inherited the estate by marriage to the sister and heiress of Simon de Yarty,Pole, p.118 who died without progeny. The mansion house was "newly builded and augmented"Pole, p.118 by Nicholas Fry (d.1632), Sheriff of Devon in 1626, whose mural monument survives in the Yarty Chapel in Membury Church.Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.567See image
The following text appeared in "Report & Transactions of the Devonshire Association Vol 39 (1907)" p. 134:
The story of the ghost returning home "at the rate of a cock's stride each year" also occurs in Devon in relation to Dowrich an historic estate in the parish of Sandford.
Further reading The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Volume 2, 11 November 1843, pp. 309–11 "Membury Church" (refers to Yarty throughout as "Tarty") Fry, Edward A., Fry of Yarty, published in Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, vol.49, 1903, pp. 65–70
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