Peamore, Exminster

Peamore (anciently Pevmere, Peanmore, Peamont,[1] etc.) is an historic country estate in the parish of Exminster, Devon, which is near the city of Exeter. In 1810 Peamore House was described as "one of the most pleasant seats in the neighbourhood of Exeter".[2] The house was remodelled in the early 19th century and is now a grade II listed building.[3]

History

de Pomeroy

Peamore House, Exminster

The Domesday Book of 1086 records PEVMERE as the 12th of the 58 holdings of Ralph de Pomeroy, the first feudal baron of Berry Pomeroy, Devon,[4] and was one of the Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror. De Pomeroy's tenant was Roger FitzPayne.[5] The estate later passed to the feudal barony of Lancaster.[6]

Bolhaye

According to Pole (d.1635), Peanmore in the parish of Exminster was the inheritance of the family of Bolhay of Blackborough Bolhay. James de Bolhay was the last in the male line, whose daughter and heiress Amisia Bolhay was the wife of Sir John Cobham.[7]

Cobham

Arms of Cobham of Blackborough and Peamore: Gules, on a chevron or three eagles displayed sable[8]

Sir John Cobham (d.1335), a younger son of Baron Cobham of Cobham Hall in Kent,[9] inherited Blackborough[10] and Peamore upon his marriage to Amisia Bolhay, heiress of Peamore. It remained in the Cobham family for several generations until the male line failed. Elizabeth Cobham was the heiress of Peamore but died without progeny.[11]

The arms of "Cobham of Blackburgh Bolhay" are recorded by Pole as Gules, on a chevron or three eagles displayed sable,[12] which are a difference of the arms of the prominent family of Cobham of Cobham Hall in Kent, created Baron Cobham in 1313: Gules, on a chevron or three lions rampant sable, the heir of which family was Sir Thomas III Brooke (died 1439) of Holdich and Weycroft, Devon, grandson of Sir Thomas II Brooke (died 1418) of Holditch (whose monumental brass, together with that of his wife Joan Hanham, survives in Thorncombe Church), "by far the largest landowner in Somerset"[13] and served 13 times as a Member of Parliament for Somerset. John Cobham had issue by Amisia de Bolegh as follows:[14]

• • • James Cobham, son and heir;
    • Isabel Cobham, wife of John Bampfield of Poltimore;[15] the arms of Cobham of Blackborough are amongst the 30 quarterings above the effigy and monument to Sir Amyas Bampfylde (1564–1626) in All Saints Church, North Molton.[16]
    • Elizabeth Cobham, wife of Sir Hugh Peverell, ancestress of Hastings, Earl of Huntington (via Hungerford);
    • Phillipa Cobham, wife of Nicholas Ingpen, ancestress (via Fitchet, Hill and Cheney) of Waldegrave of Suffolk;

James Cobham had descendants:[17]

• John Cobham
• John Cobham
• Sir John Cobham of Blackborough, who left a daughter and heiress Elizabeth Cobham, wife of Walter Charleton, but died without issue. Charleton had conveyed the estate of Blackborough to Sir William Bonville of Shute, who after his death entered onto the estate, giving rise to a dispute with the families of Bampfield, Hungerford and Hill, right heirs of John Cobham and Amisia de Bolegh. The dispute was won by Bonville and thus Blackborough descended by the great heiress Cecily Bonville (1460-1529) to her grandson Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk, 3rd Marquess of Dorset (1517–1554). On the attainder of the latter in 1554, the estate of Blackborough escheated to the crown, and was sold to Sir John Wyndham, of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset.[18]

Bonville

The heirs general of Elizabeth Cobham were Lord Hungerford, Hill of Spaxton and Bampfield of Poltimore. However the succession was claimed by the magnate Sir William Bonville (c. 1392/1393 – 1461) (later 1st Baron Bonville) of Shute, who "carried away this and the greatest part of the land".[19]

Grey

Upon the attainder of Bonville's eventual heir Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1517–1554), all of his estates escheated to the crown. Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for nine days, was his eldest daughter.

Tothill

Arms of Tothill of Peamore in the parish of Exminster, Devon and of the City of Exeter: Azure, on a bend argent cotised or a lion passant sable[20]

Jeffrey Tothill purchased the estate from the crown. He was Recorder of Exeter.[21] He was the eldest son of William Tothill, an Alderman of the City of Exeter,[22] by his wife Elizabeth Mathew, a daughter of Jeoffry Mathew, possibly of the ancient Welsh Mathew family, lords of Llandaff. One of Tothill's sisters, Elizabeth Tothill, married Thomas Stukley (c. 1525–1578), the third son of Sir Hugh Stukley (1496–1559) of Affeton in the parish of West Worlington, Devon, and head of an ancient gentry family, a Knight of the Body to King Henry VIII and Sheriff of Devon in 1545.[23][24] He married twice: firstly to Joane Dillon,[25] second daughter of Robert Dillon of Chimwell, lord of the manor of Bratton Fleming,[26] Devon, by his wife Isabel Fortescue (16th century),[27] by whom he had three sons: Henry, his eldest son and heir, Robert and Eleys. His second marriage in 1569 was to Elizabeth Fortescue, daughter of Bartholomew Fortescue (d.1557) of Filleigh, Devon, and widow of Lewis Hatch of Aller, South Molton.[28] Jeffrey Tothill died without progeny.

Henry Tothill (1562–1640) was the eldest son by his father's first wife; he was Sheriff of Devon in 1623.[29] He married Mary Sparke (d.1647), the daughter and heiress of Nicholas Sparke of Sowton, Devon.[30] Henry Tothill was in residence at Peamore in the time of Pole (d.1635). Beneath the south window of St Martin's Church, Exminster, is a coffin-shaped stone with the inscription: Here lyeth the Body of Henry Tothill of Peamore Esq: who dyed the 9th day of December Ano 1640, ætatis suæ 78. Mary the only wife of ye aforesaid Henry and sole Daughter and Heire of Nicholas Sparke, Gent: lieth also here.[31] He left two daughters as his co-heiresses:

Monument to Grace Tothill (1605–1623), St Martin's Church, Exminster. 1794 watercolour by Rev. John Swete (d.1821)

Johanna Tothill was Henry's eldest daughter; she became the wife of Robert Northleigh (1582–1638) of Matford, Alphington.[32] Northleigh's monument survives in Alphington Church. Henry's younger daughter Grace Tothill (1605–1623) married her second cousin William Tothill, grandson of John Tothill, a younger brother to her grandfather Geffery Tothill of Peamore. Grace died aged 18, having produced three children; a son Henry (living in 1640) and daughters Elizabeth and Ann. Grace Tothill's monument with her semi-recumbent effigy survives in St Martin's Church, Exminster.[33][34] [lower-alpha 1]

Northleigh

Arms of Northleigh of Northleigh in the parish of Inwardleigh, Devon: Argent, a chevron sable between three roses gules[37]

Robert Northleigh of Matford (born 1581), married Johanna Tothill, heiress of Peamore.[38] His family was seated at Matford, Alphington, near Exeter, and was a junior branch of the ancient Northleigh family of Northleigh in the parish of Inwardleigh, near Okehampton, Devon.[39][40] The Northleigh family made Peamore their seat and abandoned their previous residence of Matford. In 1799 the Devon topographer Rev. John Swete (d.1821) visited the area and noted in his journal the ancient mansion of "Matford Dinham" had been an ancient seat of the Dinhams and Northleighs, and "a century ago of respectability among the mansions in the neighbourhood, is now on the verge of ruin and desolation, by an anticlimax it has pass'd from the hands of the gentleman to those of the farmer and is now become the habitation of a family or two of labourers, dilapidated and overspred with huge volumes of ivy, it will perhaps soon become untenantable".[41]

Henry Northleigh (1612–1675)[42] (eldest son and heir), who in 1639 married Lettice Yarde, the second surviving daughter of Edward[43] Yarde (1583–1612) of Churston Ferrers, Devon.[44]

Henry Northleigh (1643–1694) was the second and eldest-surviving son and heir of Peamore House; he was thrice MP for Okehampton ands married Susanna Sparke, daughter of John Sparke, a dyer of Exeter.[45] Susanna was the grand-daughter of Stephen Toller, haberdasher of Exeter, who in 1673 purchased Crediton Parks, the former park of the Bishops of Exeter, from Sir John Chichester of Hall, Bishop's Tawton. Susanna devised Crediton Parks to her daughter Susanna Northleigh, who devised it to her nephew John Tuckfield (c. 1719 – 1767) of Little Fulford, MP for Exeter, eldest son of her sister Elizabeth Northleigh by her husband Roger Tuckfield of London, Merchant.[46]

Henry's son Stephen Northleigh (c. 1692 – ?1731) of Peamore was MP for Totnes from 1713 to 1722, which seat he obtained on the interest of his cousins the Yarde family.[47] He married Margaret Davie, daughter of Sir William Davie, 4th Baronet (1662–1707), of Creedy House in Sandford, Devon.[48] He died without male progeny, leaving his daughter Mary Northleigh as heiress.

Hippisley-Coxe

Peamore, view from southeast, watercolour dated June 1794 by Rev. John Swete (d.1821), during the Hippisley-Coxe tenure

In 1738, John Hippisley Coxe (1715–1769) of Ston Easton, Somerset, married Mary Northleigh (d.1773),[49] heiress of Peamore.[50] Hippisley Coxe was the builder of the Palladian mansion Ston Easton Park in Somerset.

John's third son Henry Hippisley Coxe (1748–1795) of Ston Easton Park, Somerset, was MP for Somerset from 1792 to 1795 and died without progeny. The Devon topographer Rev. John Swete (d.1821) visited the area in 1789 and made a sketch of Peamore, from which he made a watercolour painting in 1794. In 1789 he noted in his journal it was then the residence of Sam Strode, Esquire,[51] (d. 29 August 1795),[52] lord of the manor and hundred of Crediton in 1790,[53] who had purchased a life-interest lease from Henry Hippisley Coxe. In 1789 Swete noted concerning Peamore:

The foregoing sketch was taken near the road leading into the house just within the gate of entrance in the front of a noble and magnificent grove of elms. The building is here seen in its east and south aspect and though low carries with it a venerable look. But the chief beauty of Peamore lies in the undulating form of its grounds, rising and falling in the regular alternation of hills and dales; in its woods, groves and trees and in a quarry which surrounded by a thicket of high towering oaks, beech, etc., is one of the grandest and most romantic objects in the country.[54]

Swete revisited the area in 1800 and noted in his journal that "Mr Coxe of Peamore" had planted a "crest of firs" on top of a local conical hill owned by him, a "conspicuous knoll of a conical shape", in the parish of Exminster or Alphington, which he compared to a similarly shaped hill at Killerton.[55] Shortly thereafter "H.H. Coxe" sold Peamore to Samuel Kekewich (d.1822), who was the owner in 1810.[56]

Kekewich

The family's unusual surname is thought to derive from Keckwick in Cheshire, which lies close to the Lancashire border. The first family member recorded, Sir Piers Kekewich, originated from Lancashire before moving to Shropshire. By the early 1500s, one branch of the family had moved again and had settled in east Cornwall. George Kekewich (1530–1582) of Catchfrench was MP in March 1553 for nearby Saltash and was then Sheriff of Cornwall in 1576.[57] The family stayed in Cornwall for more than a century, before moving to west Devon.

The Kekewich arms are: Argent, two lions passant guardant in bend sable between two bendlets gules.[58]

Samuel Kekewich (1767–1822) DCL was a barrister and Sheriff of Devon in 1805.[59] He purchased Peamore from "H.H. Coxe".[60] In the early 1800s, the house was remodelled.[61] Samuel was the eldest son of William Kekewich (1736–1799) of Bowden House, Ashprington, Devon, who was a member of Royal Exchange Assurance. Samuel's son Samuel Trehawke Kekewich (1796–1873) also serves as Sheriff of Devon in 1835 before becoming a Deputy Lieutenant of Devon (DL).

The second Samuel's son Trehawke Kekewich (1823–1909) was the eldest son of the Deputy Lieutenant. His son, also named Trehawke Kekewich (1851–1932), was created a baronet in 1921 but had no surviving son so the title died with him. With both of his children already deceased, in later life he shared Peamore with his brother Robert Kekewich (1854–1914), when the Major-General retired from the army. After Robert had died, the third brother Lewis Pendarves Kekewich (1859–1947), JP., who had lived in Hove, Sussex, moved to Devon with his wife. Initially sharing a wing with his eldest brother, Lewis owned Peamore himself from 1932.

The last Kekewich to own Peamore was Sydney Kekewich (1893–1980), the fifth son of Lewis. The sole survivor of four brothers who served in the Great War, and with another who had died in infancy, Sydney had no interest in taking on the burdens of an estate late in life and promptly sold Peamore in 1948.

After World War II

fter its sale in 1948, Peamore House was operating as a country hotel by 1952. In the 21st century, the house is residential once again but is now partitioned into four separate properties.

Further reading

• Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, pp. 626–627, Peamore House

Footnotes

1. Inscribed as follows:[35]

   This monument is erected to the memorye of Grace, Wife of William Tothill of the Middle Temple Esq., who havinge issue Henry, dyed the 24th day of Februarye 1623 in the 18th yere of Her age and lyeth buried in this Ile, she being the daughter of Henry Tothill of Peamount then Sherife of Devon and Mary his wife.
   If Grace coulde length of dayes thee give,
   Or Vertue coulde have made thee live,
   If Goodnesse coulde thee heere have kept,
   Or tears of friendes which for thee wept,
   Then had'st thou lived amongst us heere,
   To whom thy vertues made thee deere.
   But thou a Sainte did'st Heaven aspire,
   Whilst heere on earthe wee thee admire.
   Then rest deere Corps in Mantle Clay,
   Till Christ thee raise the latter day.
   Thy years were fewe – thy glasse being runn,
   When death did ende – thy lyfe begunn.

   Beneath is a recumbent figure, in alabaster, of a female, the elbow resting on a pillow, the hand supporting the head. She wears ruff, mantle open at the front, showing the tight-fitting bodice, and long full skirt.[36] Beneath the figure are the lines:—

   Speake statue tell her story,

   Its Grace inherits Glory.

References

1. Risdon, p. 118
2. Risdon, 1810 Additions, p. 374
3. Listed building text
4. Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086–1327, Oxford, 1960, p. 106
5. Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 1, 34,12
6. Thorn & Thorn, Part 2 (notes), 34,12
7. Pole, p. 253
8. Pole, p.476
9. Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.90.
10. Pole, p. 195
11. Pole, p. 253
12. Pole, p.476
13. Biography of "Brooke, Sir Thomas (c. 1355 – 1418), of Holditch in Thorncombe, Dorset and Weycroft in Axminster, Devon", published in History of Parliament: House of Commons 1386–1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe., 1993
14. Pole, p.195
15. Marriage not recorded in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon pedigree of Bampfield (Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.38)
16. 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
17. Pole, p.195
18. Pole, p.195
19. Pole, pp. 253, 195
20. Vivian, p. 729, pedigree of Tothill of Peamore; Pole, p. 504, arms of Tothill of Peamore, but given with bend or cotised argent. The monument to Grace Tothill (d.1623) in St Martin's Church, Exminster (possibly restored/repainted) shows no bend at all, the lion being shown in bend on a field azure cotised or
21. Vivian, p. 729, pedigree of Tothill
22. Vivian, p. 729, pedigree of Tothill
23. Stucley, Sir Dennis, 5th Baronet, "A Devon Parish Lost, A new Home Discovered", Presidential Address published in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, no. 108, 1976, pp. 1–11
24. Vivian, p. 721
25. Risdon, p. 118
26. Risdon, p. 329
27. Vivian, p. 284, pedigree of Dillon
28. Vivian, p. 456, pedigree of Hatch
29. Risdon, 1810 edition, list of Sheriffs; Inscription on monument to daughter Grace Tothill in Exminster Church
30. Vivian, p. 729; Risdon, p. 118
31. Stabb, John, Some Old Devon Churches, pp. 97–108
32. Monument in Alphington Church; Vivian, p. 584, pedigree of Northleigh of Northleigh
33. Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p. 442. Image, Church Monuments Society
34. Description and watercolour circa 1794 see: Swete, Vol. 2, pp. 74–75
35. Text transcribed by Swete; also (with variations in spelling, etc.) by Stabb, John, Some Old Devon Churches, pp. 97–108
36. Stabb, John, Some Old Devon Churches, pp. 97–108
37. Vivian, p. 584
38. Vivian, 1895, p. 584
39. Vivian, p. 584, pedigree of Northleigh of Northleigh
40. Risdon, p. 256, Inwardleigh; Pole, p. 354, Inwardleigh
41. Swete, Vol. 4, pp. 160–161
42. Date of death per ledger stone in Alphington Church
43. "Edward" per Vivian, p. 831, pedigree of Yard of Churston Ferrers; "Henry" per Vivian, p. 584
44. Vivian, 1895, p. 584
45. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/northleigh-henry-1643-94
46. Oliver, Rev. George, History of Exeter, Exeter, 1821, pp. 87–88, footnote
47. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/northleigh-stephen-1692-1731
48. Vivian, 1895, p. 270, pedigree of Davie
49. Swete, Vol. 1, p. 55
50. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p. 1119, pedigree of Hippisley of Ston Easton
51. Swete, Vol. 1, p. 56
52. Date of death per The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 78, London, 1795, p. 706
53. Lysons, Daniel & Lysons, Samuel, Magna Britannia, Vol. 6, Devonshire, London, 1822, p. 145
54. Swete, Vol. 1, p. 56
55. Swete, Vol. 4, p. 212
56. Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p. 374
57. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/kekewich-george-1530-82
58. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, pp. 1276–1277, pedigree of Kekewich of Peamore
59. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, pp. 1276–1277, pedigree of Kekewich of Peamore, p. 1276
60. Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p. 374
61. Listed building text

Sources

• Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791
• Gray, Todd & Rowe, Margery (Eds.), Travels in Georgian Devon: The Illustrated Journals of The Reverend John Swete, 1789–1800, 4 vols., Tiverton, 1999
• Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895