Bratton Fleming
| Bratton Fleming | |
|---|---|
 The White Hart Inn, Bratton Fleming | |
  Bratton Fleming Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 928 |
| OS grid reference | SS6437 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Barnstaple |
| Postcode district | EX31 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Parish Council |
Bratton Flemingis a large village,civil parishand formermanorinDevon,England, about 6 miles (10 km) north-east ofBarnstapleand near the western edge of Exmoor. The parish includes the hamlets of Knightacott and Stowford.[1]The population of the parish in 2001 was 942, falling to 928 in 2011.[2]There is anelectoral wardwith the same name which at the2011 censushad a population of 2,117.[3]
History
[edit]The formermanor of Bratton Flemingwas owned by a succession of families from the Norman Conquest to the 19th century. The Flemings had their seat at Chimwell whichTristram Risdondescribed as "one of the largest demesnes of this shire". According toW. G. Hoskins,Chimwell is now a farmhouse called Chumhill.[4]OtherDomesdaymanors in the parish wereBentonand Haxton. The great juristHenry de Bracton(c. 1210 – c. 1268) was either born here or atBratton Clovelly.
The village was once served by arailway station,supposedly 'the most beautiful in England', on thenarrow gaugeLynton & Barnstaple Railway;the trackbed runs close to the village. The street names Station Road and Station Hill survive.
Church
[edit]St Peter's Church was rebuilt on the site of a much older building in 1861; parts of the north chancel chapel are from the 14th century.[5]
Rev. Gascoigne Canham (d. 1667), Rector ofArlington,whose mural monument exists in Arlington Church, and a relative by marriage to the Chichester family of Arlington (a cadet branch of the Chichesters of Raleigh and later of Youlston, lords of the manor of Bratton Fleming), purchased in 1665 theadvowsonof Bratton Fleming, 2 1/2 miles south-east of Arlington, from Sir Francis Godolphin for £300,[6]and on 27 March 1667 he signed a deed granting the advowson in perpetuity toGonville and Caius College, Cambridge,of which he was a member.[7]He also gave £10 toward the Combination Room of that college.[8]A mural monument exists in St Peter's Church, Bratton Fleming, to Rev. Bartholomew Wortley, the first rector to be appointed by Gonville & Caius. He was aged about 50 when appointed and remained in office until his death in 1749 aged 97.
Aglebe terrierof Bratton Fleming, 1679, is quoted at length inW.G. Hoskins' bookField Work in Local Historyand used as an example of how useful glebe terriers are in researching parish history in general.[9]
Since 2004, the church building has been shared between the Church of England and theMethodists.[10]The parish is part of the CofE's Shirwell Mission Community (a group of eight churches),[11]and is also part of the Ilfracombe and Barnstaple Methodist circuit.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Election Maps: Great Britain".Ordnance Survey.Retrieved28 December2023.
- ^"Parish population 2011".Retrieved20 February2015.
- ^"Ward population 2011".Retrieved20 February2015.
- ^Hoskins, W.G.,A New Survey of England: Devon,Newton Abbot: David & Charles. New edition, 1972. p. 345.ISBN0-7153-5577-5
- ^Historic England."Church of St Peter (1325277)".National Heritage List for England.Retrieved28 December2023.
- ^Copy deed held at North Devon Record Office (1506 A-1/PI5)
- ^Worthy, Charles, Devonshire Wills: A Collection of a Number of Testaments
- ^Venn, John, Biographical History of Gonville & Caius College, 1897, pp.280-1, 287
- ^Field Work in Local History, 2nd edition, 1982. Page 99. Faber&Faber
- ^ab"Church".Bratton Fleming Parish Council.Retrieved28 December2023.
- ^"Bratton Fleming Anglo-Methodist Church".Shirwell Mission Community.Retrieved28 December2023.
External links
[edit]
Media related toBratton Flemingat Wikimedia Commons
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