MANORS.
Alwig held DURSTON, later
known as Durston Hall, (fn. 30) in 1066, and Roger
Arundel held it in 1086. (fn. 31) The overlordship
descended in the barony of Poorstock (Dors.)
and on the death of Gerbert de Percy in 1179
Durston formed part of the barony which passed
to Gerbert's daughter Sibyl and thence to the
FitzPayn family. (fn. 32) Robert, Lord FitzPayn (d.
1315), was overlord in 1284-5 (fn. 33) and his son, also
Robert (d. 1354), in 1337. (fn. 34) The overlordship
descended like the castle and manor of Stogursey (fn. 35) to Henry Algernon Percy, earl of
Northumberland (d. 1527), who was overlord in
1503. (fn. 36) In 1604 Durston was said to be held of
James Clarke as of his manor of Cheddon Fitzpaine, (fn. 37) a manor also formerly held by the
families of FitzPayn and Percy. (fn. 38)
An undertenant, Richard, held Durston in
1086. (fn. 39) William of Erleigh possessed the manor
by 1177, (fn. 40) possibly in succession to his father
John of Erleigh, who had received the hundred
and manor of North Petherton in Henry I's
reign. (fn. 41) Ownership descended in the Erleigh
family like North Petherton manor. On the
death of Philip of Erleigh c. 1275 (fn. 42) Philip's
widow Rose, later wife of Geoffrey of Wroxhall, (fn. 43) received Durston in dower. (fn. 44) Rose was
still alive in 1304-5. (fn. 45) She was succeeded by her
son (Sir) John of Erleigh, who died c. 1323, (fn. 46)
and by her grandson, also Sir John, who died c.
1337. (fn. 47) John of Erleigh, son of the last, born in
1322 was knighted in 1371 (fn. 48) after service with
the Black Prince in Spain, (fn. 49) and died c. 1410. (fn. 50)
After John's death the site of the manor of
Durston and woods in the park were given by
John's widow Isabel to their only daughter
Margaret and to her second husband Sir Walter
Sandys, (fn. 51) and Sandys was holding a fee in
Durston in 1428. (fn. 52) Three years later the manor
was held by Isabel, who by 1431 was the widow
of Sir John of Rowdon. (fn. 53) She died in 1434,
leaving Durston and the remainder of the Erleigh inheritance to Margaret. (fn. 54) Margaret
married thirdly Sir William Cheyne, and both
she and her husband died in 1443. The heir was
Margaret's son Thomas Seymour, the issue of
her first marriage. (fn. 55)
Thomas Seymour (knighted by 1456, (fn. 56) d.
1458) was succeeded by his grandson William
Seymour, (fn. 57) who was then still under age and was
knighted before his death in 1503. (fn. 58) Sir William's daughter Joan, his heir, married William
Drury and died in 1517 leaving as her heirs her
two cousins, the sons of Sir William's two
sisters, John Stawell, son of Anne, and Edward
Bampfield, son of Margaret. (fn. 59) Their succession
to Durston was subject to a grant for lives made
by Sir William to Catherine Winsor and her son
Henry. (fn. 60) Edward Bampfield died in 1528 (fn. 61) and
was followed in turn by his sons John (d. 1532)
and Richard (d. 1594). (fn. 62) Richard's son Amias
sold his estate in 1598 to Sir John Stawell, who
as grandson of Sir William Seymour's nephew
John Stawell (d. 1541) had inherited the other
half of the manor, subject to the life interest of
Catherine Tyndale, possibly the Catherine Winsor of 1517. (fn. 63) Sir John Stawell died in 1604. (fn. 64)
His grandson and heir, also John (later Sir John
Stawell, K.B.), succeeded as a minor. (fn. 65) He
suffered forfeiture after the Civil War and the
manor was sold to Henry Cheeke in 1652. (fn. 66) Sir
John, who recovered his land, died in 1662 and
was followed by his two sons, first George (d.
1669) and then Ralph Stawell (cr. Baron Stawell
1683). Ralph's son John, Lord Stawell, died in
1692, (fn. 67) heavily in debt. (fn. 68) The family estates,
including both Durston and St. Michaelchurch, (fn. 69) were evidently sold, both passing to
the Seymour family, perhaps through purchase
by Alexander Popham and descent to his
daughter Elizabeth, wife of Francis Seymour. (fn. 70)
Henry Seymour (d. 1805), son of Francis and
Elizabeth, both of whom died in 1761, was lord
of St. Michaelchurch by 1762 (fn. 71) and of Durston
by 1792. (fn. 72) Henry Seymour was succeeded by his
son Henry (d. 1849) and then by his grandson
Henry Danby Seymour (d. 1877), who sold the
land, then amounting to 447 a. in the parish, in
1873 to Edward Portman, Viscount Portman. (fn. 73)
The sale did not include the lordship of the
manor, and Alfred Seymour (d. 1888), brother
of Henry Danby Seymour, still owned land in
the parish in 1888. Alfred Seymour was succeeded by his daughter Jane Margaret, who was
still alive in 1914. (fn. 74) The Portman estate was
divided and sold in 1930. (fn. 75)
The manor house at Durston was regularly
occupied by the Erleigh family in the 14th
century, (fn. 76) and its kitchen and oxhouse were
repaired in 1328-9. (fn. 77) The present house, known
as Lodge Farm by the mid 18th century, (fn. 78) stands
on the north side of the church. It includes an
open hall under a smoke-blackened wagon roof
of thirty-one trusses, a two-storeyed porch leading to a cross entry at its lower end, and a solar
over service rooms in a cross wing beyond the
entry. There are traceried and transomed windows in solar and porch. Dates at both ends of
the 15th century have been suggested. (fn. 79)
In or after 1170, and probably before 1176,
William of Erleigh gave all his land at Buckland,
Durston chapel, and land and churches elsewhere for the foundation of a house of
Augustinian canons at Buckland. The canons
were dispersed before c. 1180 and possession of
the house and land was given to the Hospitallers
to provide for a convent where all the sisters of
the order were to be placed. The order also
established a preceptory there, later endowed
with a farm at Cogload, (fn. 80) but the sisters received
endowments distinct from those of the preceptory, and some of the preceptory's land and
income was assigned to them. (fn. 81) The grant to
both the canons and the Hospitallers was in free
alms, (fn. 82) but in 1304 Buckland was said to be part
of 2 fees held by the Hospitallers of Edmund
Mortimer. (fn. 83) The same two fees were claimed by
successive earls of March until 1425 or later. (fn. 84)
The claim may have been made in respect of
land held by the preceptory. No preceptor was
appointed after 1433, and after 1500 the sisters
are thought to have become Augustinian. (fn. 85)
The preceptory, with manors in Devon, was
leased from 1501 for 30 years to John Verney of
Fairfield, (fn. 86) and the lease passed in 1506 to his
younger sons John and George. (fn. 87) They were
followed by Edmund Mill of Wells and his wife
Anne in 1508 and by Henry Thornton of Curry
Mallet in 1516. (fn. 88) Thornton's lease for 40 years
was renewed in 1521. (fn. 89) He died in 1533 leaving
his interest to his son-in-law Thomas Tynberry
under the name of the farm and commandery of
Buckland. (fn. 90) In 1539 the Hospitallers leased the
same to William Hawley or Halley, Tynberry's
son-in-law, for a term of 50 years (fn. 91) and on the
dissolution of the order in 1540 Hawley became
the Crown tenant. (fn. 92) In 1545 he and Alexander
Popham bought the estate, then described as the
manor and late preceptory of BUCKLAND
PRIORS, with other former Hospitaller
property. (fn. 93) The estate was conveyed solely to
Hawley later in the year (fn. 94) and by 1548 he held
just over 300 a. there. (fn. 95)
William Hawley died in 1567 and was followed
in turn by his sons Henry (d. 1573) and Gabriel
or Geoffrey (d. 1603), and by his grandson Sir
Henry Hawley, son of his third son Francis. (fn. 96)
Sir Henry died in 1623 having added the site of
the dissolved priory and its demesnes by purchase from Edward Rogers in 1608. (fn. 97)
The priory surrendered in 1539 (fn. 98) and the site
and demesnes were let to farm to (Sir) Edward
Rogers. (fn. 99) Rogers also leased former priory land
in North Petherton. (fn. 1) In 1542 he took a Crown
lease of the priory site and over 150 a. adjoining
for 21 years. (fn. 2) Edward's grandson Edward
Rogers sold the 'site, circuit, and curtilage' of
the priory to Sir Henry Hawley in 1608. (fn. 3)
Hawley died in 1623 when his heir was his son,
also Henry. (fn. 4) Henry Hawley was succeeded in
1628 by his brother Francis (cr. Bt. 1644, Baron
Hawley 1645), who died in 1684 leaving his
grandson, also Francis Hawley, as his heir. (fn. 5)
Francis, Lord Hawley, sold his heavily mortgaged estate of Buckland to James Baker of
Culmstock (Devon), clothier, in 1711 and
Baker's widow Sarah and his son Christopher in
1725-6 sold it to George Parker of Boringdon
(Devon). (fn. 6)
George Parker (d. 1743) was followed by his
son John (d. 1768) and by his grandson, also
John Parker (cr. Baron Boringdon 1784, d.
1788). (fn. 7) Thomas Gray of Earl's Court (Mdx.), a
jeweller, acquired Buckland in 1809-10 (fn. 8) and
died in 1820. (fn. 9) He was succeeded by his son
Robert, resident rector of Sunderland (co. Dur.),
who also held the living of Durston at his death
in 1838. (fn. 10) Arthur Gray, then a minor and later
ordained, succeeded his father in the manor (fn. 11)
and sold the estate between 1860 and 1867 to
Edward Portman, Baron Portman (cr. Vct. Portman 1873, d. 1888). (fn. 12) On the purchase of the
Durston estate in 1873 (fn. 13) the Portman family
became owners of almost the entire parish. (fn. 14)
Buckland farm, representing the former manor
of Buckland, was sold to the tenant, Mr. G. R.
Norman, by Edward Portman, Viscount Portman, in 1930. (fn. 15)
The conventual buildings at Buckland comprised two distinct parts, the nuns' church and
living quarters and the church and domestic
buildings of the preceptory. (fn. 16) The Augustinian
canons had built a church by c. 1180 dedicated
to St. Mary and St. Nicholas. (fn. 17) This came to be
known as the greater church, in contrast to the
chapel of the preceptory which stood with other
buildings on its north side. (fn. 18) By the early 15th
century, and probably since the change of
ownership in the late 12th century, the nuns'
church was dedicated to St. Mary and St. John
or to St. John alone. (fn. 19) By 1506 there was an altar
called the cross altar (fn. 20) whose two chaplains were
supported by the farmer of the preceptory. (fn. 21) The
site was surrounded by 'pleasure grounds', orchards, and gardens. (fn. 22) The preceptory chapel
had by 1272 a light of St. Nicholas, (fn. 23) and by
1338 other buildings included a court or manor
house, a bakehouse, a dovecot, and gardens. (fn. 24)
By 1675 Lord Hawley occupied a substantial
house on the site. (fn. 25) It was remembered as having
a wainscotted hall 'large enough to turn a coach
and horses in'. The building was demolished c.
1800 together with an adjacent chapel which
contained monuments 'with figures of men and
arms' and a bellcot. (fn. 26) The chapel was still in use
in 1798. (fn. 27) Buckland Farm, a plain house of three
storeys, was built on made-up ground on or near
the previous buildings presumably for Thomas
Gray (d. 1820). Gravestones, probably from the
nuns' burial ground, were discovered in 1836
several feet beneath the kitchen garden. (fn. 28) The
present farm buildings incorporate a medieval
buttressed wall, but otherwise date from the
later 19th century.
In 1391 John Hayward settled 16 messuages
and 21 a. of land in Crosse by Buckland and 3
messuages and 3 a. in Durston on William
Frebody and his wife Clemence. (fn. 29) She may have
been Clemence, widow of John de Moleyns, a
South Petherton miller. (fn. 30) Nicholas Moleyns
died in 1429 holding lands at Crosse and Buckland, (fn. 31) and in 1497 John Moleyns died in
possession of the manor of CROSSE in Durston, land in North Petherton, and mills in
South Petherton and Kingsbury Episcopi, held
as of the manor of Durston Hall. John was
succeeded by his uncle, Richard Moleyns. (fn. 32) William Moleyns owned Crosse by 1531 and died
in 1553 when his heir was his son Anthony. (fn. 33)
Anthony died in or before 1590 when his two
daughters and coheirs sold the manor and lands
in Durston and Lyng to Henry Moleyns. (fn. 34) In
1613 James Arnwood and his wife, Richard
Bartholomew and Thomas Knollys, possibly
acting as trustees, granted the manor to Robert
Waterton. (fn. 35) Waterton settled Crosse on his
grandson Robert Blatchford in 1647, (fn. 36) and
Robert Blatchford, perhaps his son, still owned
it in 1722. (fn. 37) It passed from the Blatchfords to
Elizabeth Hascoll, whose son Robert died in
1782 dividing his estate into three parts. Hascoll's Farm in Lower Durston formed part of
the estate. (fn. 38)
In 1725 part of Buckland manor, described as
the manor of COGLOAD, was purchased by
George Parker from Lord Hawley. (fn. 39) By 1752 it
was owned by George Baker of Brockenhurst
(Hants). (fn. 40) He was still owner in 1767 but by 1781
had been succeeded by John Baker. Both John (fn. 41)
and George Baker were described as owners of
the manor in 1790, (fn. 42) but thereafter the estate was
known as Cogload farm. Anna Wheaton, successively wife of John Kinglake (d. 1809) and
Joseph Gatcombe (d. 1820), (fn. 43) owned Cogload
farm, which she expanded, from 1784 (fn. 44) until her
death in 1847. It passed to Mary Mullins of
Goathurst (fn. 45) and later to her son Thomas. On
Thomas's death by 1903 the farm and a larger
estate at Lyng were sold. (fn. 46)
The Augustinian canons at Buckland were
given the chapel of Durston by William of
Erleigh. (fn. 47) The Hospitallers, their successors,
were instituted as parsons in 1189, (fn. 48) and in 1335
they were recorded as holding the church with
the tithes of Cogload. (fn. 49) Among the chaplains
supported by the preceptory in 1501 was a
chaplain at Durston. (fn. 50) The impropriate rectory
was leased by the Hospitallers to William Hawley in 1539 (fn. 51) and descended like Buckland
manor. From 1838 a tithe rent charge of £170
was payable to the lord of Buckland manor on
land representing Durston manor in the west of
the parish and on Cogload in the east. (fn. 52) In 1862
the rent charge was separated from Buckland
manor and was transferred by the Revd. Arthur
Gray to the incumbent. (fn. 53)
In 1535 the Hospitallers' estate included the
rectory of Buckland with the chapel of St.
Michaelchurch. The whole, comprising tithes
and offerings, was worth 12s. 5d. net. (fn. 54) It was
farmed by Edward Rogers by 1538 (fn. 55) and was
leased to him by the Crown with the priory site
in 1542, (fn. 56) and sold to him and others in 1544. (fn. 57)
Rogers's grandson, also Edward Rogers, retained the rectory when he sold his land in
Durston parish to Sir Henry Hawley in 1608, (fn. 58)
and Sir Francis Rogers was probably still in
possession at his death in 1638. (fn. 59) By 1647,
however, the tithes of Buckland had come into
the hands of Sir Francis Hawley, (fn. 60) lord of
Buckland manor, and were subsumed within the
manor. By 1838 Buckland manor land was tithe
free. (fn. 61)
A cottage and 45 a. of land, belonging by 1529
to St. Andrew's chantry in St. Mary's church,
Taunton, (fn. 62) were sold in 1549 to George Payne
of Hutton. (fn. 63) In 1620 the land was conveyed by
Nicholas Halswell to Sir Henry Hawley of Buckland. (fn. 64)