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Summary

Ruins of former manor house in grounds of Wray Barton. Late Medieval wall surviving up to first floor height of granite ashlar with dressed granite detail. This site is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wercia or Wergi and was a separate manor from Moreton.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1097204: RUINS OF OLD MANOR HOUSE APPROXIMATELY 40 METRES SOUTH SOUTH EAST OF WRAY BARTON

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: SX78SE16
• National Record of the Historic Environment: 445613
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX78SE/2
• Old Listed Building Ref (II): 85041
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SX78SE16

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• MANOR HOUSE (Constructed, XI to Late Medieval - 1001 AD to 1539 AD (Between))
• FOLLY (Post Medieval to Early 20th Century - 1540 AD to 1901 AD (Between))

Full description

Lysons, D. + Lysons, S., 1822, Magna Britannica, 387 (Monograph). SDV323771.

On the left hand side of the road to Bovey Tracey, about 2 miles from Moretonhampstead, is Wray Barton, called Wercia or Wergi in the Domesday Book. It was in the hands of Godwin, an English thegn. Below the present house, and to the south of it, there are remains of the old manor house which must have been a large building, as foundations of walls have been found some distance to the east.

White, 1878, White's Directory (Monograph). SDV5814.

White's Directory for 1878 mentions a large Tudor mansion here, presumably the present ruins, which must have been abandoned or at least downgraded when the 19th century house was built nearby.

Reichel, O. J., 1897, The Domesday Hundreds 5: The Hundred of Teignbridge, 230 (Article in Serial). SDV283555.

Department of Environment, 1952, Newton Abbot RD, 88-89 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV304573.

Forty yards south of the present house are fairly extensive remains of an earlier mansion; including pointed doorways with granite architraves. Grade II.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1953, SX78SE16, Plan and photocopied photographs included (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV280693.

(15/05/1953) The only remains now visible of the mansion marked on the Ordnance Survey 25 inch maps of 1884 and 1906 form the walls of two sunken gardens and appear to be no more than a garden folly built of ancient masonry. The walls of the lower garden are 2.6m high and 0.5m thick and the east wall forms the ashlar exterior of a dwelling possessing a fireplace, a false-arched doorway with bar slots and, between them, a corbel, 0.7m from the ground. The west wall supports the road above and, in part, may be original as it has a blocked window at road level 11m from the NW corner of the lower garden. At this corner there is a barrel-vaulted tunnel under the upper garden 14m long and 1.0m wide, with a break in its roof for light, at 6.0m. The re-faced archway through the north wall of the lower garden has a keystone of modern appearance bearing the date 1665 and the upper end of the tunnel ends at modern steps.
The outline of the rectangular building with bays on all four sides shown first on the Ordnance Survey 25 inch map of 1906 at SX 7706 8454 could only be seen as a depression 0.1m deep. At its north-east corner is a grassy mound 0.5m high with a stoney core. Mr Lesware, (bailiff, Wray Barton), stated that a hard surface within this rectangle prevented digging below a foot or two.
Other features pointed out by Mr Lesware were the site of an alleged chapel at SX 7696 8462, a tunnel from SX 7701 8461 to 7703 8462, a sunken building at SX 770 88463, and a roadside well at SX 7699 8455. Nothing could be seen of the footings of the early chapel upon which a sham Tudor chapel and tower are said to have been built. The tunnel is built of modern bricks in imitation of Tudor vaulting. The roofless, sunken building, although of early construction, can only have been an outbuilding. The well is disused and overgrown, the roadside wall having been built over it, supported upon a re-used millstone.

Hughes, G. W. G., 1954, Moretonhampstead, 85-6 (Article in Serial). SDV314001.

This site is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wercia or Wergi and was a separate manor from Moreton. In documents dating from 1238-1467 described asWrey and sometimes Wreycombe. In 1468 as Wrey otherwise Wreycombe.

Andrews, J. H. B., 1962, Chittlehampton, 243 (Article in Serial). SDV82648.

Footings of a possible chapel at SX76968462 one of eight manors held by Godwin of Chittlehampton, one of the few English thanes to retain his estates after the conquest.

Department of Environment, 1987, Moretonhampstead, 67 (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV337636.

Ruins of former manor house in grounds of Wray Barton. Late medieval wall surviving up to first floor height of granite ashlar with dressed granite detail. Doorway at centre with projecting lateral stack to right. The doorway has a chamfered pointed arch and is rebated for a door. The chimney projection to the right has a chamfered plinth. On the reverse are the vestiges of the fireplace; chamfered well-cut jambs and the beginnings of a shouldered lintel, the lintel itself has gone. This site is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wercia or Wergi and was a separate manor from Moreton. White's directory for 1878 mentions a large Tudor mansion here, presumably the present ruins, which must have been abandoned or at least downgraded when the 19th century house was built nearby.

Ordnance Survey, 2018, MasterMap 2018 (Cartographic). SDV360652.

Depicted on the modern mapping.

Historic England, 2018, National Heritage List for England (National Heritage List for England). SDV360653.

MORETONHAMPSTEAD SX 78 SE 5/106 Ruins of old manor house - 23.8.55 approximately 40 metres south- - south-east of Wray Barton II
Ruins of former manor house in grounds of Wray Barton (q.v.). Late Medieval wall surviving up to first floor height of granite ashlar with dressed granite detail. Doorway at centre with projecting lateral stack to right. The doorway has a chamfered pointed arch and is rebated for a door. The chimney projection to the right has a chamfered plinth. On the reverse are vestiges of the fireplace; chamfered well-cut jambs and the beginnings of a shouldered lintel, the lintel itself has gone.
This site is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Wercia or Wergi and was a separate manor from Moreton. White's Directory for 1878 mentions a large Tudor mansion here, presumably the present ruins, which must have been abandoned or at least downgraded when the C19 house was built nearby.
Listing NGR: SX7701084564

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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