Colleton is a hamlet and former manor in the civil parish and ecclesiastical parish of Chulmleigh, in the North Devon district of Devon, England. It is situated on the north side of a valley containing the River Taw. Its nearest town is Chulmleigh, which lies approximately to the south-west. It consists of the grade I listedListed building text "Colleton Manor" Colleton Barton (the former manor house) and Colleton Mill, the former manorial mill, with another former industrial building situated at the approach to the bridge over the River Taw.
History
Ownership According to Pole (died 1635), the earliest records pertaining to ownership of the manor relate to the Cole family,Pole, Sir William (died 1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.433 Risdon stated it to have remained in the possession of that family for many generations, until during the reign of King Richard II (1377–1399) it passed by inheritance to an heir general of the Bury family.Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.123–4, pedigree of Bury of Colliton The last of the Bury family died in 1804,Lauder, Rosemary Anne, A Tale of Two Rivers, Bideford, 1986, p.72 and the property was inherited by Vice-Admiral Richard Incledon (1757–1825), third son of Chichester Incledon (1715–1771) of Barnstaple, a junior branch of the ancient gentry family of Incledon of Incledon, later of Buckland, both in the parish of Braunton, Devon; as required under the terms of his inheritance, he assumed the surname of Bury.Vivian, pp.497–8, pedigree of Incledon of Buckland Incledon-Bury's third daughter and heiress, Penelope, married Rev. John Russell (1795–1883) (Jack Russell), the "Sporting Parson", vicar of Swimbridge, who developed the Jack Russell Terrier, a variety of the Fox Terrier breed. Russell is said to have had expensive sporting habits both on and off the hunting-field, which drained the substantial resources of his heiress wife and left the estate of Colleton in poor condition.Lauder, Rosemary Anne, A Tale of Two Rivers, Bideford, 1986, p.72 By 1850, Colleton Barton was in use as a farmhouse, which status it retained in 1883.Gray, Todd, p.80
The property was bought in 1901 by William Pethebridge Martin (1859–1935);Obituary, Sydney Morning Herald, 10 July 1935 since 1987, Colleton has been owned by Simon and Grania Phillips, who have carried out much restoration workBury, 1993 and have been rearing North Devon cattle on the estate since about 2000.
Buildings
Gatehouse and chapel
The Gatehouse is probably C15, remodelled in circa C16 or early C17, with minor alterations probably of the early C19 and was repaired in C20.Listed buildings text Formerly occupying the upper floor was a chapel dedicated to St. Edmund of CanterburyBury, 1993 (Edmund Rich (1175–1240), Archbishop of Canterbury (1233–1240), canonised 1349), licensed in 1402 by Bishop of Exeter Edmund Stafford. The building is orientated on an east-west axis, thus suited for religious usage. The former entrance was up a steep staircase on the north side.Bury, 1993
Sources Bury, Richard M.B., History of Colleton Barton, 1993
References