Newnham Park

Newnham Park, built circa 1720, viewed in 2014
"Nuneham, seat of ... Stroud Esq.", 1797 watercolour of Newnham Park (mansion house far right) by Rev John Swete (1789-1800). Devon Record Office 564M/F13/73
Setting of Loughtor Mill, viewed from within the Newnham Park parkland
Loughtor Mill, on the Newnham Park estate, in 2014 occupied by a motor repair garage

Newnham Park (before circa 1718[1] Loughtor) is an historic estate in the civil parish of Sparkwell, Devon. It was known as Loughtor until about 1700 when the ancient Strode family, long seated at Newnham, about 1 mile south-east of the manor house of Loughtor, abandoned Newnham and moved their residence to Loughtor (which they had inherited by a marriage in the 16th century) where they built a new mansion house which they renamed "Newnham Park". In 2014 the mansion house with an estate of about 1,550 acres[2] is still owned by a descendant (via various female lines) of the Courtenay and Strode families which held the estate from the 15th century,[3] and which were well established in the county of Devon long before that time. In 2014 part of the estate is operated as a commercial clay-pigeon shooting ground.[4]

Descent

Sir William Pole (d.1635) relates the early holders of Loughtorre as follows:[5]

Le Abbé

The first recorded holders of Loughtor was the family of Le Abbé (alias Le Abbe,[6] le Abby[7])

de Radford

The de Radford family (formerly known as Le Abbé) continued to hold Loughtor, apparently until the 15th century, when the next known holder was William Courtenay, a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay (d.1488) of Molland in North Devon.

Courtenay

Arms of Courtenay of Molland: Or, three torteaux a label of three points azure each point charged with three plates
15th century monument to William Courtenay of Loughtor,[11] St Mary's Church, Plympton
William Courtenay of Loughtor, with mutilated escutcheon within his helm on which rests his head showing arms of Courtenay of Molland: Or, three torteaux a label of three points azure each point charged with three plates. Detail from his 15th century monument in St Mary's Church, Plympton

The next recorded holder following the de Radford tenure was a younger son of the Courtenay family of Molland in North Devon. It is not clear how this family acquired Loughtor, but the feudal barony of Plympton had certainly been held by Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (1303-1377),[12] seated at Tiverton Castle and Okehampton Castle, from whom the Courtenay family of Molland was descended.[13]

Strode

Arms of Strode: Argent, a chevron between three conies courant sable. Detail from mural monument to Sir William IV Strode (1562-1637) in St Mary's Church, Plympton

For the descent of Loughtor in the Strode family until 1718 see Newnham (Old).

Until 1718 it is not clear what use, if any, was made by the Strode family of the old manor house of the Courtenays at Loughtor, as they appear to have continued to reside chiefly at "Old Newnham". The first of the Strodes to live at Loughtor was:

Lowe (Strode)

Cobbold

In 1955 Judith Eileen Strode Valle-Pope (born 1934) married Michael Maurice Cobbold (1931-2002), descended from an old Suffolk brewing dynasty,[33] a professional soldier, engineer, publisher, preserver of ancient buildings and sheep-farmer. In 1969 Judith Cobbold (née Valle-Pope) inherited Newnham Park[34] with its 1,550 acre estate, and with her husband developed the estate as a corporate entertainment business including shooting, archery, carriage-driving and off-road vehicles and moto-cross.[35] Her son David Michael Strode Cobbold (born 1961) is the owner of Newnham Park in 2014.

Sources

References

  1. Following death in 1718 of William Strode his heir was his nephew Sidney II Strode (1684-1721) who moved his residence from Old Newnham to Loughtor, see below
  2. http://www.newnham.co.uk/
  3. See descent below, David Michael Strode Cobbold is the owner of Newnham Park in 2014
  4. http://www.newnham.co.uk/
  5. Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp.329–30
  6. Pole, p.329
  7. Risdon, p.197
  8. Pole, p.329Regnal year 27 Henry III; Risdon, p.199
  9. Risdon, p.199
  10. Risdon, p.199
  11. Pevsner, p.685
  12. Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.138, which follows the descent of Plympton to his father Hugh Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1340). Pole, p.9, carries on the descent of the Barony of Plympton in the Earls of Devon
  13. Vivian, pp.244, 246, 251
  14. Risdon, p.197, erroneously gives the date of the Courtenay tenure of Loughtor as during the reign of King Edward II (1307-1327), which is far too early as the first Courtenay of Molland was Sir Philip Courtenay (d.1488) (See Vivian, p.246)
  15. Vivian, p.618, pedigree of Prideaux
  16. Vivian, p.251, pedigree of Courtenay, p.369, pedigree of Fowell of Fowelscombe
  17. Lauder, Rosemary, Vanished Houses of South Devon: Fowelscombe
  18. Vivian, p.618, pedigree of Prideaux
  19. Pevsner, p.771; Risdon, pp.248-9
  20. Vivian, p.718
  21. Vivian, p.718
  22. Vivian, p.720
  23. Prince, John, (1643–1723) The Worthies of Devon, 1810 edition, pp.730-735, biography of Strode, William, Doctor of Divinity
  24. Risdon, p.395 (1810 Additions): "The present residence of the family was erected, about a century ago, by Sidney Strode Esq, and is now under the name of Newnham Park"
  25. Vivian, p.720; Risdon, p.385-6
  26. Vivian, pp.718-20
  27. Vivian, p.720; Risdon, p.385-6
  28. Vivian, pp.718-20
  29. Risdon, pp.385-6
  30. Burke's Landed Gentry, pp.2172-3
  31. Burke's Landed Gentry, pp.2172-3
  32. Burke's Landed Gentry, pp.2172-3
  33. Cobbold Family History Trust, Patrons: Lord Cobbold DL; Ivry, Lady Freyberg; Nicholas Cobbold OBE
  34. http://family-tree.cobboldfht.com/people/view/537

Coordinates: 50°24′13″N 4°02′02″W / 50.4035°N 4.0338°W / 50.4035; -4.0338

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