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Summary

Okehamton is recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as having four burgesses. The liberties of the borough as they had been established in the 12th century were affirmed in a charter of 1221. A modification of 1292 which sought to limit the rights of access and pasturage of the burgesses on the Courtenay estate shows that the medieval

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX59NE/71

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• BURGH (XI to Late Medieval - 1001 AD to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

Beresford, M. W. + Finberg, H. P. R., 1973, English Medieval Boroughs. A Handlist, 96 (Monograph). SDV6626.

In 1086 Sheriff Baldwin had four burgesses in Okehampton and a market. There is a charter of Robert de Courtenay for his burgesses of Okehampton in 1194. In 1238 Okehampton was represented at the Eyre as a borough with twelve jurors of its own.

Timms, S. C., 1976, The Devon Urban Survey, 1976. First Draft, 151-4, 155, 156, 157, 158, 163 (Report - Survey). SDV341346.

Baldwin, Sherriff of Devon, was Lord of the Manor of Okehampton, which possessed a castle, market, mill and four burgesses. The market rental of 4 shillings a year points to a close relationship between borough status and market priveleges which continue throughout the medieval period. A fair was granted in 1221 and about the same time Robert de Courtenay affirmed the liberties of the borough as they had been established in the 12th century. The details of his charter reveal the opportunities for trade and self-management that borough status offered the burgesses. However, a modification of 1292 over which Hugh de Courtenay was in dispute with the burgesses, limiting their rights of access and pasturage on this estate shows that the medieval borough of Okehampton was essentially an agricultural community. Okehampton's early prominence is shown by its inclusion in the list of boroughs with separate representation before the king's justices in 1238 but its growth in the later medieval period was stunted by its inland and isolated position on the northern side of Dartmoor and which is reflected in its lowering tax assessments.
The later medieval borough was located on the wedge of land between the East and West Okement rivers. Traces of burgage plots have survived along both sides of Fore Street and also on the north side of East Street. However, there is no evidence to confirm that the Saxon or first borough settlement was located in the same area. The isolated location of the parish church to the west of the town has sometimes been taken as indicative of an area of Saxon settlement.

Ordnance Survey, 2015, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV357601.

Map object arbitrary, based on this source.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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