Category: Devon

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

14/4/2020

Click here to In 1843, while performing a magic trick for his children, Isambard Kingdom Brunel accidentally inhaled a half sovereign coin, which became lodged in his windpipe.

The first attempt to free the coin by using as special pair of forceps didn't work, however, the second effort seems comical now, but no doubt wasn't then, involved a machine devised by Brunel (I'm not too sure that it was designed for this purpose) that eventually shook it loose.

Thank goodness this great man didn't choke to death, or we would not have had that wonderful bridge that spans the River Tamar between Devon and Cornwall or The Great Western Railway terminus at Paddington.edit.

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The Battle Dyrham

5/7/2017

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The Battle Dyrham in Gloucestershire in 577 severed the tie between the Britons of Wales and their sister tribes of Devon with the effect of allying the county with Cornwall. Just over one hundred years later, after the arrival of the Saxons, what remained of unconquered Devon would become part of Cornwall.

When the Saxon’s arrived the lives of the West Country people were turned upside down, no longer could they live their ‘clan’ existence but they had to conform to a new way of living, to the system of cultivation in the open field, areas split into our equivalent of allotments being one of them. In the year, 614 the Saxon's first attack met the people of Devon at Bindon, near Axemouth. Slinging stone have been found at the hill fort of Hawkesdown, this suggests that the Britons had the advantage. Despite this, the people of Devon were defeated enabling their enemy to take over the land of the Axe and Coly Valleys.

In 682, the Saxon king Centwine made another attack to the north of Dartmoor, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle tells us that "Centwine drove the Britons to the sea".

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Battle of Torrington

16/2/2017

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In what could be called a bit of a coup, Sir Ralph Hopton replaced Sir Richard Grenville at the head of the West Country royalist forces when Grenville refused to serve under Hopton and resigned his commission.

Beginning in the spring of 1643, Hopton's five Cornish regiments had defeated the Parliamentarian forces on Cornwall's border and were soon marching through neighboring Devon. By July, Hopton had led his forces in two battles, one at Crediton and at Landsdowne, where Hopton was injured. In 1644 Hopton, successfully defended Devizes from an attack by William Waller's forces and two years later he had taken up a defensive position in the Devon town of Torrington.

It was on the 16th February 1646, that Ralph Hopton faced the army of Thomas Fairfax in what is known as the Battle of Torrington.

A popular general, Thomas Fairfax, who was nearly twenty years younger than Hopton, had lead his troops to victory at the Battle of Nantwich in 1644, Naseby in 1645 and Colchester in 1648 and at thirty-two he had been appointed Commander in Chief of the New Model Army.

The 16th February 1646 turned out to be wet and cold, the combined forces of about seventeen thousand men fought on the narrow streets. No doubt the inhabitants of Torrington thought the bloodshed would never end, but end it did when gunpowder, that was stored in the parish church, was ignited by a stray spark. The explosion killed many from both sides effectively ending the battle. Ralph Hopton ordered to retreat, he and the remaining royalist army escaped back into Cornwall where he finally surrendered to Fairfax in Truro on 14 March.

The Battle of Torrington marked the end of Royalist resistance in the West Country.

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Family History: The Mohun and de Tracy Families.

29/12/2016

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While researching my medieval family history I have found numerous examples of the loss of reputation, land and
wealth - all that has taken one generation to accumulate, taken away by the next. The de Tracy and the Mohun family are
just one example. During the reign of King Stephen, the ancestors of William de Tracy, one of the murderers of Thomas Becket, feature in my family history, they benefited from the downfall of my ancestors, the Mohuns.

The de Tracy's held at least two baronies in Devon, that of Barnstaple and Bradninch. The Mohuns held the barony of Dunster
in Somerset.

For his part in an uprising in 1139, William Mohun has gone down in history as a man both hated and feared by the
population of the West Country, most of Williams ‘bad press’ appears in the ‘Gesta Stephani’ or ‘The Acts of Stephen’ a
12th century study of English history. According to this work, Mohun and other West Country rebels, ravaged the country
in order to obstruct the king.

He (King Stephen) also gave orders to Henry de Tracy, a skilled soldier, oft approved in the hazards of war, that acting
n his stead, because he was called away to other business, he should with all promptitude and diligence bestir himself
against the enemy. Henry therefore, in the Kings absence, set forth from Barnstaple, a town belonging to him and
enjoying privileges granted to him by the king, and made vigorous and determined attacks on his foes, so that he not
only restrained their wonted sallies and the unbridled, marauding raids in the neighbourhood, but also captured a hundred
and four horsemen in on cavalry encounter. At length, he so reduced and humbled William (Mohun) that he was able
to abandon further hostilities against him and to leave the country more peaceful and free from such disturbance"

My ancestor died in obscurity, and his family suffered as a direct result of the loss of 104 of his knights to Henry de Tracy.
As Mohun’s disgrace left the next generation to suffer the consequences of his actions, the De Tracy family were, for
a generation at least, rising stars, but like the Mohuns, the de Tracys too fell out of royal favour, William de Tracy, as we
have seen in a previous post, was one of the four men who had heard Henry II’s outburst "Will no one rid me of this t
urbulent priest?’ and then had gone on to murder Becket at Canterbury Cathedral, as a result the De Tracy lands in Devon
were forfeited to the crown.

In the image you can see Dunster Castle, that fell into disrepair, and its surrounding land during the time of the Anarchy.

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Battle of Northam

26/6/2016

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Soon after Hastings William the Conqueror was quick to realise the importance of securing the West Country, the first step in achieving this was to take Exeter, the fourth largest city in the country.

Exeter was still controlled by the Godwin family. Harold’s son had fled to Ireland but his mother, Gytha, who still lived within the city walls, held out against the Norman forces during William’s return to Normandy, however on his return to England he made the city his first port of call. Exeter’s city walls withstood an eighteen month winter siege, many of the Norman soldiers succumbed to the cold, eventually though Exeter fell and Gytha escaped with her granddaughters to island of Flatholme in the Bristol Channel. There is no mention of Harold's son’s at the Siege of Exeter and it may well be that they were already in Ireland.

Gytha’s stand at Exeter in 1068 wasn’t the last effort by the Godwin's to take back some control of their father's country. Inevitably though, Devon would submit to Norman control, but before that Harold’s sons would give the invaders a run for their money.

On the 26th June 1069, in the lush green fields that look over the Taw estuary, Godwine and Edmund landed with an invading force in what could actually be a rematch of the Battle of Hastings. New evidence has recently come to light that this battle took place in the fields that lie in between the villages of Northam and Appledore. The Godwin’s forces arrived from Ireland on board sixty four longs ships given to them by the Irish king of Leinster. The defending army was made up of Normans, Breton's and English headed by Brian of Brittany who had fought with the Conqueror at Hasting. Following the battle it is thought that a total more than 3,000 men died in this clash. Brian of Brittany was rewarded with lands in Cornwall, however the fates of the sons Harold is not known.

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Edward Courtenay

18/9/2015

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On the 18th September 1556, Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon died in Padua, Italy.

A number of 'ailments' have been suggested as the cause of the Earl's death, fever, syphilis, falling down a flight of stairs, even poisoning.

Edward Courtenay had Yorkist blood flowing through his veins, his grandmother was Catherine of York, daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. Catherine had married William Courtenay, Earl of Devon by 1496.

In 1538, at the age of twelve, Edward joined his parents Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter and Gertrude Blount in the Tower of London. His father was suspected of being in cahoots with Reginald Pole and Gertrude accused of encouraging the traitorous behaviour of her husband. Henry Courtenay was executed at the end of 1539 and his wife released at the start of the following year, however Edward was to remain a prisoner, he would remain in the Tower of London for fifteen years. He was finally released on the 3rd August 1553.

After his release his fortunes improved, he was considered as a possible husband for Henry VIII's daughter Mary and when she married Phillip of Spain he set his sights on Elizabeth who would later become Elizabeth I. Edward and Elizabeth suspected of being involved in the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt and others who were fearing persecution under Mary's rule.
They were both imprisoned, when no evidence was found they were both released and Courtenay fled the country.

I've always wondered why this family, as a possible threat to the Tudor dynasty, were not hunted down like that of the family
of George Duke of Clarance's for instance, Henry VIII had no qualms about seeing off the aged Margaretin Pole and
Henry VII had executed Edward's grandfather.

Maybe, this new generation didn't consider the Yorkists as much of a treat anymore?

Words on the engraving of Courtenay above state:

En! puer ac insons et adhuc juvenilibus annis,
Annos bis septem carcere clausus eram,
Me pater his tenuit vinclis quae filia solvit,
Sors mea sic tandem vertitur a superis.

Behold! a guiltless boy and still in his youthful years,
during twice-seven years had I been shut in prison,
the father held me in these chains which the daughter released,
thus at last is my fate being changed by the gods above."

Interestingly, in this engraving Courtenay stands in front of a crumbling castle, whats the significance of that do you think?

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Castle Drogo: England's Last Castle

28/12/2014

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Castle Drogo stands on a granite outcrop on the edge of Dartmoor, and from a distance the stonework seems so perfect that you will be forgiven for thinking that it has been crafted by a child out of granite coloured lego bricks.

But Castle Drogo is a real castle, its walls are nearly six feet thick, it has battlements and working portcullis.

However, unlike the hundreds of castles built in Britain, this is one that has never had to endure an attack or a siege.

This twentieth century castle was named after one Drogo de Teigne who is thought, by the castles original owners, the Drewe family, to have been a Norman baron and their ancestor.

The Drewe families time at this West Country castle began in 1911 when the building work began. Julius Drewe was a young and wealthy grocery tycoon and the original owner of Castle Drogo, his fortune was made through his Home & Colonial Stores. The first store arrived on our English high streets in 1883 and the last in 1903. Within those twenty years Drewe built up a chain of over five hundred stores.

The story of the Drewes and Castle Drogo begins with a cousin who was the rector of the Parish of Drewsteignton with whom Julius had stayed on occasions. The fact that name of the village was a similar to his own did not go unnoticed and he soon became convinced that it was here, in this little piece of England, that his ancestors lived, the search for proof of this was soon underway. A link to the Drewe family in Elizabethan Devon and a knight in the court of King Charles I was soon found and this convinced Julius Drewe to build a new country home on the lands of his ancestors that matched his place in society, it was at this point that he decided that a castle would be a perfect way to add weight to his newly found social status.

The castle was was completed only eight decades ago in 1931 and designed by architect Edwin Lutyens. Julius Drewe's castle was designed to appear as though it was rising from the cliff face, as if it had grown 'organically over the centuries.' The building of Castle Drogo began in 1911, but the labour shortage due to the First World War saw the work on Drewes dream home come to a halt and the death of his son Adrian in 1917 from a mustard gas attack in Ypres France saw the end of his dream.

Since then the castle has been in much need of repair, the main problem area is the brickwork which has been severely damaged, the result of water pouring in from the original badly built roof. In 1974 Castle Drogo was given to the National Trust. It has also been given a Grade I listed building status and is presently in its second year of a 5 year conservation project to protect the castle from more water damage.

So was Julius's family of Norman origin or was he, as historians suggest, just a wealthy man with the desire to move up the social ladder with the money and the means to make it happen. Putting all the facts together it looks unlikely. The letter E was added to the family name in the same year work began on Castle Drogo when the information about the Drewe family of Devon was discovered. The Domesday Book has Drewsteignton as Taintone meaning a village by the Taine and by the thirteenth century it was known as Teyngton Drue which derives its name from a local landowner Drewe de Teignton which could, if you wanted it to be, a link to a Drogo de Teigne.

I have much sympathy for Julius, why is it we scoff at men like him? Why do we say they have "ideas above their station" or
" they are trying to be someone they are not."

Don't some of us look back through history in the hope of finding a solid connection to our past, a something, an anything to attach ourselves too in a fragile world that we are unsure of? I certainly do. Don't we all look in estate agents window and gaze in wonderment at those big houses with even bigger gardens and hope one day that we too might be living in one.

That is all Julius Drewe did, but what we don't like is the fact that he had the money to be able to do it.

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Isambard Kingdom Brunel

The Battle Dyrham

Battle of Torrington

Family History: The Mohun and de Tracy Families.

Battle of Northam

Edward Courtenay

Castle Drogo: England's Last Castle

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