Culm Davy is a historic manor within the parish of Hemyock in Devon.
History
The estate of Cumbe is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as one the 27 Devonshire holdings of Theobald FitzBerner, an Anglo-Norman warrior and magnate, one of the tenants-in-chief in Devon of King William the Conqueror. His tenant was Oliver, who held three of FitzBerner's Devonshire manors, the others being Widworthy and Marwood. The manor subsequently became a possession of the feudal barony of Great Torrington. The 13th centuryBook of Fees records that the manor was held from the feudal barony by David de Wydworth, and was called after him either "Culm Davy" or "Culm Wydeworth". He lived chiefly in Wales and was a younger son of Sir William de Widworthy of Widworthy, in Colyton hundred, also a Domesday Book possession of Theobald FitzBerner tenanted by Oliver. Following the de Widworthy tenure, the manor was held by Sir John Wogan, then by Roger Corbet.
From the reign of King Edward III and following the Corbet tenure, the manor was held by John Bourman. It was the seat of his descendants for seven generations until the time of Pole. The Bowerman family of Hemyock was descended from Nicholas Bourman of Brooke in the Isle of Wight, by his wife Elizabeth Russell, a sister of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford. Two of his grandsons were Rev. John Bourman, a priest and confessor to the nuns of Canonsleigh Abbey, near Hemyock; and Rev. William Bourman, a priest and sub-dean and canon of Wells Cathedral in Somerset. The Kerslake family acquired Culm Davy in about 1700 and then a Mr. Marsh of Wellington acquired it from the Kerslake family. A series of deeds relating to Culm Davy dating from 1612 to 1778 are held at the Somerset Heritage Centre. In the early 19th century Culm Davy was the property of Mr. Henry Pook.
Manor house
Part of the mediaeval manor house of the Bowerman family survives within the structure of the present Culm Davy farmhouse, including the roof timbers. Nearby was the small 15th centurychapel of ease, which survives today, although it was heavily restored in 1860. It contains an unusual mural monument "of the utmost primitiveness" for such a late date, to Anne Garvis of Ash Culm, comprising a classical entablature below an effigy lying on its side.
