MANORS AND OTHER ESTATES.
In 1066
both CHARLINCH and CURRYPOOL were
held by Alwig Banneson, and in 1086 by Roger
de Courcelles. (fn. 20) Both were probably fees of
Hugh Vautort in 1166 (fn. 21) and both descended in
the Vautort family, usually as Currypool manor
although the name Charlinch manor continued
in occasional use until 1803. (fn. 22) Currypool was
held like Kilve (fn. 23) of the barony of Compton
Dundon and overlordship was recorded in
1363. (fn. 24)
Joel Vautort was probably lord of Currypool
between 1225 and 1245 (fn. 25) and was followed by
Philip. (fn. 26) John Vautort had succeeded Philip by
1285, and Hugh was lord possibly in 1299 and
certainly by 1303. (fn. 27) Hugh Vautort granted the
estate to Adam Brett, possibly his brother-inlaw, in 1310-11 and died shortly afterwards. In
1311 Adam settled it on Hugh's widow Lucy for
life, with successive remainders to Hugh's children John, Beatrice, and Gillian, who were
probably then under age. (fn. 28) A fourth child, Egelina, may by 1316 have been married to Richard
Champernowne, who then held a fee at Charlinch. (fn. 29) The manor was in the hands of the
Crown in 1320 (fn. 30) possibly after the death of
Lucy. John Vautort, the heir, seems to have
died without issue before 1332, and his sister
Beatrice, wife of Simon of Bradney, then held
the estate. (fn. 31) She and Egelina Champernowne
were still holding land in Charlinch in 1344 (fn. 32)
and Beatrice survived until 1360 or shortly
afterwards. (fn. 33) She seems to have died without
issue and by 1367 the inheritance had passed to
her nephew Richard Lyf, son of her sister
Gillian, who had married Godfrey Lyf. (fn. 34) In
1396-7 Richard granted the manor to trustees (fn. 35)
and died soon afterwards, leaving two daughters,
Amice or Avice, wife of Baldwin Malet, and
Joan, wife of Walter Tilley. (fn. 36) In 1401 the estate
was divided between them but Richard's widow
Margery, later wife of Richard Boyton, retained
a life interest (fn. 37) and Boyton held the manor until
1412. (fn. 38) In 1406 the whole manor was settled in
reversion on Baldwin Malet and Avice, (fn. 39) although Walter Tilley and Joan secured a
settlement of their share of the advowson c.
1416. (fn. 40) Avice held the manor from 1428 until c.
1436 when she granted it to Alexander Hody and
others, probably in trust for her sons. (fn. 41) In 1433
her son Hugh Malet (d. 1465) (fn. 42) had released his
inheritance to his brother Thomas for the latter's
life (fn. 43) but Thomas presumably died and Hugh
was lord of Currypool c. 1440. (fn. 44) Hugh was
succeeded by his son Thomas (d. 1501), (fn. 45) and
Thomas by his son William (d. 1510). (fn. 46) Currypool descended thereafter with Enmore until
1833 when it became part of Henry Labouchere's Quantock estate. Lordship was last
recorded in 1833. (fn. 47) At the sale of the Quantock
estate in 1920 Currypool farm was bought by
Somerset county council but was sold in the
same year to the tenant, William Jeanes, (fn. 48) whose
family owned it in 1987.
The capital messuage of Currypool was recorded in 1521 (fn. 49) and appears to have been the
Malet family's home in the 16th century, (fn. 50) but
by the early 18th century it was let as a farmhouse. (fn. 51) In 1664 half its 14 hearths were said to
have fallen down. (fn. 52) Currypool Farm lies within
a large enclosure which is moated on the north
and east. Close to the north-east corner of the
house the remains of a stone wing demolished c.
1960 incorporate a late medieval piscina and a
16th-century doorway, suggesting that it was the
solar wing of the medieval house with a chapel.
The present kitchen wing, which is probably of
the 17th century, may be on the site of the main
range, to which a new southern block containing
the principal rooms was added early in the 19th
century.
GOTHELNEY was held by Alweard in 1066
and by Geoffrey Vautort of Roger de Courcelles
in 1086. (fn. 53) Overlordship was not recorded again
until the 16th century when it was claimed by
the lords of Enmore manor. (fn. 54) Gothelney may
have been held by Hugh Vautort in 1166 (fn. 55) but
by the late 13th century it belonged to the Malet
family and Richard Malet was fined c. 1275 for
not keeping hospitality there. (fn. 56) In 1307 an estate
at Gothelney was settled on Raymond Malet and
his wife Joan and their issue with remainder to
Baldwin Malet of whom they were to hold it. (fn. 57)
Gothelney probably descended in the Malet
family like Enmore until c. 1400 when Baldwin
Malet gave the manor to Ralph Durburgh (d.
1432) and his wife Joan. (fn. 58) After the death of his
son Robert c. 1410, Ralph granted Gothelney to
Hugh Mortimer and others, presumably in trust
for his daughter Joan, who with her husband
John Courtenay secured a grant of the manor c.
1421. (fn. 59) Joan Durburgh was still alive in 1451 (fn. 60)
but may have granted Gothelney to her daughter
Isabel (d. before 1436) who married Edward
Greville (d. 1436-7) but had no children. (fn. 61) The
manor had been acquired by Alexander Hody
by 1439 (fn. 62) possibly under a settlement of 1432. (fn. 63)
Alexander died in 1461 in possession of the
manor (fn. 64) which descended in the Hody family
with Newnham in Stogursey (fn. 65) until 1622 when
John Hody sold Gothelney to Roger Bourne. (fn. 66)
Roger Bourne (d. 1624) was followed in turn
by his nephew John Bourne (d. 1656) and by
John's son Roger (d. 1672-3). (fn. 67) Roger's daughter
Florence, wife of Edward Baber, died without
issue in 1713 leaving the manor to her kinsman
Thomas Bourne (d. c. 1728). (fn. 68) His wife Anne (d.
1730) (fn. 69) devised Gothelney to her brother William Gore (fn. 70) (d. 1768) who left the manor to his
kinsman Edward Gore. (fn. 71) Edward (d. 1801) was
succeeded by his second son Charles (d. 1841)
and by Charles's son Montagu (d. 1864). (fn. 72) By
1894 the estate was owned by the Cann family
and John Henry Cann was the owner in 1923. (fn. 73)
It passed through several hands and lordship
was last recorded in 1943 when it belonged to
Mr. S. Nation. (fn. 74) In 1987 the house was owned
by the Hallet family.
A house was recorded c. 1275 (fn. 75) and there was
a chapel at Gothelney, associated with but not
necessarily within the house, in 1436. (fn. 76) During
the Second World War the house was requisitioned by the War Department (fn. 77) and was later
used as a kindergarten. (fn. 78) Gothelney Hall, restored by the Hallet family in the 1950s, (fn. 79) has a
complex structural history. At the centre of the
main, north-south, range there is a tall house of
the later 15th century which has a central, ceiled
hall with a cross passage, entered from the east
through a porch. There was a room at each end
of the hall and above each another at mezzanine
level. On the first floor a great chamber, open
to the roof, extended over the hall and the
northern mezzanine room, and there were first
and attic floors over the southern room. The roof
of the great chamber is richly decorated with
arch-braced main and intermediate trusses and
three rows of cusped windbraces. The great
chamber was lit by two-light windows on each
side and on the west there was a fireplace whose
flue was bracketed out from the wall. Access to
the upper rooms was by a large stair turret
against the eastern entry to the cross passage and
there were garderobe turrets at the south-west
corner and the north end of the building. That
house was probably built by Alexander Hody,
his widow, or his nephew, and most of the later
additions were probably made during the period
of the Hody family's ownership. One of the first
was a room with a traceried window on top of
the stair turret. It may have been used as a chapel
or oratory. A 16th-century extension at the south
end was probably intended for storage rather
than domestic use and additions to the north and
east are of similar date and appear to have
contained kitchen and service rooms. The most
notable 17th-century insertion is a ribbed plaster
ceiling in the northern ground floor room. In the
18th century there was much internal refitting
and sash windows were put into the east side of
the great chamber. The porch and two-storeyed
passage next to it, which may be of 16th-century
origin, appear to have been rebuilt in the early
19th century.
PADNOLLER manor was settled on Hugh
Cary and his wife Edith for their lives in 1427
with reversion to Thomas Horsey and his wife
Alice. (fn. 80) Hugh held Padnoller in 1431 (fn. 81) but by
1461 it was held with Gothelney by Alexander
Hody (fn. 82) and there was no later reference to a
manor. Padnoller continued to descend with
Gothelney until the 16th century or later (fn. 83) but
by 1649 it was part of Currypool manor. (fn. 84) When
the Quantock estate was sold in 1920 Padnoller
was bought by Somerset county council but was
later sold to the White family, the owners in
1987. (fn. 85)
The eastern range of Padnoller House appears
to be of the 18th century but it may be an older
building which has been reconstructed and
refitted. It became the service wing in the early
19th century when the north range, which is of
the 18th century or earlier, was remodelled to
provide the principal rooms.
SWINDON, later SWANG, was held by Alweard in 1066 and by Ranulf of Roger de
Courcelles in 1086. (fn. 86) It was held of Compton
Dundon barony like Kilve, and the Furneaux
family had a mesne lordship. (fn. 87) In 1375 the
overlordship had been lost and the mesne lords
were said to hold in chief. (fn. 88) The terre tenancy
was held by the Horsey family. In the mid 13th
century William Avenel granted to William
Horsey the lands of Swindon which had been
held by Horsey's father, also William Horsey. (fn. 89)
John, probably the younger William's son, lord
in 1287, (fn. 90) was succeeded, though possibly not
directly, by William Horsey (d. 1327), (fn. 91) John (d.
by 1338), (fn. 92) Ralph (d. 1354), and John Horsey (d.
1375). (fn. 93) Henry Horsey in 1435 sold Swindon and
other estates to William Bochell and his wife
Alice. (fn. 94) In 1507 William Aylward of Totnes
(Devon) released his rights in Swindon to John
Horsey. (fn. 95) The subsequent descent is uncertain,
but by 1551 it was held with Currypool. (fn. 96)
Known as Swangdon in 1714 (fn. 97) and Swang by
1766, (fn. 98) it was purchased by Henry Pleydell
Bouverie of Brymore in Cannington and in 1928
it was bought by Somerset county council. (fn. 99)
The capital messuage was recorded in 1327 (fn. 1)
but there was no record of a house in 1714. (fn. 2)
Swang Farm, which has a main front of brick,
was extensively rebuilt, perhaps after a fire, in
the early 19th century.