The manor of Buckland Filleigh was a manor in the parish of Buckland Filleigh in North Devon, England. Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the manor and its estates passed through several families, including over 300 years owned by the Fortescues.
Early history
The manor of Bocheland was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the 13th of the 99 holdings of Geoffrey de Montbray, Bishop of Coutances. His tenant was Drogo, who held several other manors from him. It had been held before 1066 by Wulfeva. The manor became the inheritance of the de Filleigh family seated at Filleigh in North Devon. On default of male heirs, the manor passed by marriage to the Denzell family, which originated from Denzell manor in St Mawgan parish, Cornwall. It was a cadet branch of this family which had acquired the de Filleigh lands by marriage.
Fortescue and Spooner
In 1454 Sir Martin Fortescue, second son of Chief JusticeSir John Fortescue married Elizabeth Densyll, a daughter and co-heiress of Richard Densyll of Filleigh, and thereby the manor became a possession of the Fortescue family. The manor was then given to Martin Fortescue's second son, William Fortescue. The subsequent descent of the manor through this family was as follows:
William Fortescue , son of John Fortescue. He married Anne Giffard, a daughter of Sir Roger Giffard of Brightley, Chittlehampton.
John Fortescue , buried in the church of Weare Giffard, which manor was a seat of his senior Fortescue cousins. He married Anne Porter, daughter of Walter Porter of Thetford in Norfolk.
Roger Fortescue , married Mary Norleigh, daughter of Richard Norleigh of Inwardleigh, Attorney-at-Law.
John Fortescue , married Thomasine Prideaux, daughter of Humphrey Prideaux of Soldon, Holsworthy.
William Fortescue , married Emlyn Trosse, daughter of Henry Trosse.
Henry Fortescue , whose monument survives in Buckland Filleigh Church. He married Agnes Dennis, daughter of Edward Dennis of Barnstaple, North Devon.
Sir William Fortescue, KC, PC a British judge and Master of the Rolls 1741–1749. He was probably responsible for the landscaping, including the serpentine lake, at Buckland Filleigh. He married his cousin, Mary Fortescue, daughter of Edmund Fortescue of East Allington Mary died an early death on 1 August 1710 and her monument exists in St Andrew's Church, East Allington. She bore him a daughter and sole heiress:
Mary Fortescue, who also inherited the Fortescue estate of Fallapit from her mother. Her monument survives in St Mary's Church, Buckland Filleigh. She married John Spooner and produced an only daughter Mary Spooner who died an infant. Due to the absence of a Spooner male heir, the estate reverted to a Fortescue male cousin.
John Fortescue of Bampton. He was the grandson of Roger Fortescue, younger brother of Henry Fortescue of Buckland Filleigh. He died unmarried.
Inglett-Fortescue
On inheriting his uncle's estates, including Buckland Filleigh, Richard Inglett "Fortescue" assumed the surname Fortescue by royal licence in 1766. He was a collector of customs. He was the eldest son of Caleb Inglett of Dawlish by his wife Rebecca Fortescue who was sister to John Fortescue. He married Elizabeth Weston, daughter of Lucy Weston. Richard's only son was Lt. Col. John Inglett Fortescue of the North Devon Yeomanry Cavalry, JP and DL for Devon. In 1792 he was appointed a trustee of the large Devon and Cornwall estates of the five-year-old Robert Trefusis, 18th Baron Clinton, of nearby Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe, and in that connection served as MP for that family's pocket borough of Callington, Cornwall. He was Receiver-General of the Land Tax for Devon from 1819 to 1841, a lucrative post. He rebuilt the mansion house in 1810 in the neo-classical style following a fire in 1798. By his first wife, Anne Saunders, daughter of a merchant of Exeter, Thomas Saunders, he had children including his eldest son and heir, Rev. John Dicker Inglett-Fortescue who sold the manor and died unmarried.
Later history
In 1843 Rev. John Dicker Inglett-Fortescue sold Buckland Filleigh to Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton. In the 1870s it was acquired by William James Browne, a medical doctor and owner of large agricultural stations in South Australia. He was born in Marlborough in Wiltshire, a son of Benjamin Browne. He moved to Australia in 1835 where he changed his career from medicine to livestock rearing and returned to England with his family in 1866. The manor passed to William Browne's fourth son, Major Scott Browne who was educated at Eton College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, and was a JP and DL for Devon. On 5 June 1894 he married Mary Frances Rolle, one of the two daughters of Hon. Mark Rolle of nearby Stevenstone, Devon. Major Browne's nephew, Captain Percy Browne inherited, but he sold the estate in 27 lots shortly after his newly wedded wife was killed in a fox-hunting accident in 1952. The mansion became Buckland House School, which was owned by Max Williams of Bideford. In 1984 he closed the school and sold the house and much-reduced estate to Mr Synyard who lived there for six years until 1990. The estate was then bought by an adventure holiday company which became bankrupt following its involvement in the Lyme Bay boating disaster in Dorset in 1996. As of 2014 the house and its estate of 280 acres was owned by Ralph and Suzanne Nicholson, who reconverted the house back into a residence with 17 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms, which they let-out for commercial and private functions and parties.
