Roborough, Torridge
| Roborough | |
|---|---|
 Roborough Church |
|
 Roborough
|
|
| Roborough shown within Devon | |
| OS grid reference | SS 576 170 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Postcode district | EX19 |
| Dialling code | 01805 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Devon and Somerset |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Roborough is a village and civil parish 5.5 miles from Great Torrington. Situated topographically on the plateau between the Torridge and Taw Rivers, the parish covers 1258 hectares and contains a population of some 258 parishioners. It is surrounded by a pastoral landscape of rectangular fields, high hedges and scattered farmsteads.
With a thriving pub, village hall, church and chapel, Roborough is perfectly located for the weekend break or a leisurely holiday with plenty of attractions within easy reach. There is a range of community initiatives such as the Women's Institute, 'biscuit club', and a youth club. More information can be found on the village website.
Various historic estates are situated within the parish of Roborough, including:
The estate of OLECU(M)BE is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the 7th of the 27 Devonshire holdings of Theobald FitzBerner (fl.1086), an Anglo-Norman warrior and magnate, one of the Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror. His tenant was Gotshelm. The mansion house survives today as "Owlacombe", south-west of the village of Roborough.
Much confusion exists in historical sources concerning the estates of Over Wollocombe and Combe, which appear to refer to the same place. Over Wollocombe, a seat of the Wollocombe family, was stated by Pole (d.1635) to have been situated in the parish of Roborough:
Certainly in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries many members of the Wollocombe family "of Combe" were baptised, married and buried at Roborough. The family became extinct in the male line on the death of Roger Wollocombe (1632-1704), buried at Roborough, who left two or three surviving daughters as his co-heiresses. The 5th-born daughter Mary Wollocombe (1666-1701) married John Stafford (1674-1721) of Stafford Barton in the nearby parish of Dolton, whose eldest son Roger Stafford (1696-1732) assumed the surname Wollocombe in lieu of his patronymic, following the death of his uncle Roger Wollocombe (1632-1704). He died without surviving male progeny, when his heir became his younger brother Thomas Stafford (1697-1756), who likewise assumed the surname Wollocombe and was buried at Roborough. He married a daughter of the prominent Rolle family. His sons adopted the surname Stafford-Wollocombe. His daughter Henrietta Stafford (born 1732) married Henry Hole of Ebberly, in the parish of Roborough. Her son Thomas Hole in 1819 was resident at Stafford Barton. The Stafford-Wollocombe family later moved to Bidlake in the parish of Bridestowe, having inherited that estate by marriage.
...
Wikipedia