Raleigh, Pilton

The historic manor of Raleigh, near Barnstaple and in the parish of Pilton, North Devon, was the first recorded home in the 14th century of the influential Chichester family of Devon. It was recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 together with three other manors which lay within the later created parish of Pilton. Pilton as a borough had existed long before the Norman Conquest and was one of the most important defensive towns in Devon under the Anglo-Saxons. The manor lies above the River Yeo on the southern slope of the hill on top of which exists the ruins of the Anglo-Saxon hillfort of Roborough. The historic manor of Raleigh is now the site of the North Devon District Hospital.

Under the heading Terra(e) Ep(iscop)i Constantiensis ("Lands of the Bishop of Coutances" (Geoffrey de Montbray (died 1093)) and under the sub heading Infra scriptas t(er)ras tenet Drogo de Ep(iscop)o ("The undermentioned lands Drogo holds from the Bishop"), is the following entry for Raleigh, 28th of 99 Devon holding of the Bishop (translated into English): "Raleigh. Brictric held it before 1066. It paid tax for 1/2 hide. Land for 4 ploughs. In lordship 1 plough; 4 slaves; 1 virgate, 4 villagers and 4 smallholders with 1 plough and 1 virgate; meadow 2 acres; pasture 5 acres; woodland 30 acres; 2 cattle; 30 sheep; 16 goats. Value formerly and now 30 shillings". Drogo was probably "Drogo son of Mauger" mentioned in another nearby entry and was one of the Bishop's knights and his largest tenant in Devon, and held about 70 manors from him. On the death of Geoffrey de Mowbray in 1093 his heir was his nephew Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria (died 1125), who rebelled unsuccessfully against King William II in 1095 and forfeited his lands to the crown. King William II then re-granted most of the de Mowbray lands to Juhel de Totnes (died 1123/30), the first feudal baron of Barnstaple. The manor thus became a constituent part of the Feudal barony of Barnstaple and the barons remained the feudal overlords for many centuries. In the Book of Fees Raleigh was in the same ownership as Challacombe, which was also a Domesday manor held by Drogo from the Bishop of Coutances. In the 19th century Challacombe was sold by the Chichesters to the Fortescues of Filleigh.

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