History of Heanton
Heanton or Hantone (a Saxon word meaning 'high settlement') is double-barrelled after Robert de Pont-Chardon, a knight from Basse-Normandie who came over with William the Conqueror and was granted estates in Devon, Somerset, Hampshire and Hertfordshire.
By 1083 he held the manors of Heanton, Blakewell, Hagginton, Charles and Mockham from 'Baldwin the Sheriff' (Baudouin FitzGilbert de Brionne de Meules), the Anglo-Norman magnate, Lord Of Okehampton and one of the 52 Devon tenants-in-chief of King William.
The Punchardons held the manor (the Manor House of which was probably sited above the church, behind the Red Brick House and Monks Cottage) until the end of the 13th century, when the estate was divided between the three daughters of Sir John Punchardon.
One of these, Ermengarde Punchardon (b. 1320), married Philip Beaumont of Shirwell (b. 1312), a nephew of the Earl of Buchan, and so the manor passed into the Beaumont family. Henry was the great-grandson of King Jean of Jerusalem and Constantinople (1170-1237) and Princess Berengaria of Leon and Castile (1198-1237). The Beaumonts were prominent in the Anglo-Scots Wars and ancestors of the House of Lancaster.
Their son Sir John Beaumont (b. 1340) married Alice Scudamore. The Bassetts married into the Beaumonts in the late 14th century, as did the Chichesters, and some of the Beaumont estates passed to both families, the Bassetts becoming Lords of Heanton Punchardon, making their home at Heanton Court.
John Bassett was MP for Barnstaple from 1677-85. His son John was also elected Barnstaple's MP in 1718 following the death of Sir Arthur Chichester, and voted against the Administration in all recorded divisions. In 1721 he was identified to the Pretender as a potential Jacobite supporter, but perhaps fortunately he died on 5 November that year, leaving the manor to his young son John, who was to be the MP in turn from 1740-41.
The direct male line died out with Francis Bassett in 1803, and the manor had passed to his nephew Joseph Davie of Watermouth, who had (as was often a condition of inheriting) changed his name to Bassett.
Joseph Davie Bassett died in 1846 and by 1850 his son and heir Arthur Davie Bassett Esq was living at Watermouth, and Heanton Court had become a 'barton' farmhouse. His second son, the Rev Francis William Davie Bassett was Rector of Heanton Punchardon from 1836 until his death in 1882, living with his wife Mary in the rectory at the bottom of Heanton Hill (where Rectory Close now stands).
By 1852, the manor had been purchased by W.W. Williams Esq, first of Heanton Court and then of Upcott House, though Arthur Bassett remained the Patron of the living at St Augustine's until 1887 when it passed to the Sellwood family and was held by Rev Charles Lamb. Sir William Williams Bart. is recorded as the chief landowner in 1902.
More to come…
By 1083 he held the manors of Heanton, Blakewell, Hagginton, Charles and Mockham from 'Baldwin the Sheriff' (Baudouin FitzGilbert de Brionne de Meules), the Anglo-Norman magnate, Lord Of Okehampton and one of the 52 Devon tenants-in-chief of King William.
The Punchardons held the manor (the Manor House of which was probably sited above the church, behind the Red Brick House and Monks Cottage) until the end of the 13th century, when the estate was divided between the three daughters of Sir John Punchardon.
One of these, Ermengarde Punchardon (b. 1320), married Philip Beaumont of Shirwell (b. 1312), a nephew of the Earl of Buchan, and so the manor passed into the Beaumont family. Henry was the great-grandson of King Jean of Jerusalem and Constantinople (1170-1237) and Princess Berengaria of Leon and Castile (1198-1237). The Beaumonts were prominent in the Anglo-Scots Wars and ancestors of the House of Lancaster.
Their son Sir John Beaumont (b. 1340) married Alice Scudamore. The Bassetts married into the Beaumonts in the late 14th century, as did the Chichesters, and some of the Beaumont estates passed to both families, the Bassetts becoming Lords of Heanton Punchardon, making their home at Heanton Court.
John Bassett was MP for Barnstaple from 1677-85. His son John was also elected Barnstaple's MP in 1718 following the death of Sir Arthur Chichester, and voted against the Administration in all recorded divisions. In 1721 he was identified to the Pretender as a potential Jacobite supporter, but perhaps fortunately he died on 5 November that year, leaving the manor to his young son John, who was to be the MP in turn from 1740-41.
The direct male line died out with Francis Bassett in 1803, and the manor had passed to his nephew Joseph Davie of Watermouth, who had (as was often a condition of inheriting) changed his name to Bassett.
Joseph Davie Bassett died in 1846 and by 1850 his son and heir Arthur Davie Bassett Esq was living at Watermouth, and Heanton Court had become a 'barton' farmhouse. His second son, the Rev Francis William Davie Bassett was Rector of Heanton Punchardon from 1836 until his death in 1882, living with his wife Mary in the rectory at the bottom of Heanton Hill (where Rectory Close now stands).
By 1852, the manor had been purchased by W.W. Williams Esq, first of Heanton Court and then of Upcott House, though Arthur Bassett remained the Patron of the living at St Augustine's until 1887 when it passed to the Sellwood family and was held by Rev Charles Lamb. Sir William Williams Bart. is recorded as the chief landowner in 1902.
More to come…
