Delving into Devon's Literary Archives in search of Women Who Wrote

Archive record of Dorothy Holman at Devon Heritage Centre

After rather a long gap posting, during which I’ve been busy catching up with other neglected writing duties, here I am again. This year my main plan is to concentrate on women who have not yet featured in this blog. In this first post I intend to delve into some of the local archives in search of texts by women writers who were linked with Devon. Many of these writings and their authors have virtually disappeared from public awareness.

In 2016, Anna Boyd Rioux published an article entitled Erased from history: 'Too many women writers -- like Constance Fenimore Woolson -- are left to languish in moldy archives. What will it take to bring them back?' Rioux continued:

'Feminist scholars have done the hard work of recovering women writers, but we're not there yet. Far from it' ... Two of the books on many of the best-of-2015 lists were written by women who died in virtual obscurity, Clarice Lispector in 1977 and Lucia Berlin in 2004. The republication of their stories was big news last year, bringing them to the mass audiences denied them in their lifetimes. Lit Hub even declared 2015 “The Year of Rediscovered Women Writers,” in its list of the top five literary stories of the year. How could these gifted writers have been erased from history, so many wondered? We shouldn’t be so surprised. There are many worthy writers languishing in moldy archives, and I would venture to say that the majority of them are women. Feminist scholars spent much of the 1980s and 1990s recovering forgotten women writers, generations of Shakespeare’s and Melville’s sisters, as some called them. But virtually all of the dozens of writers they reclaimed, with the exception of Zora Neale Hurston and Kate Chopin, never made it out of academia’s cloistered walls and into the public consciousness. As a result, many of them are disappearing again.'

    This is so sad.  I want to do my bit to helping to rectify the situation. So far most of my own research about the history of Devon women writers is missing a large chunk of the county's literary heritage; it only occasionally references the variety of women writers from or with Devon connections whose texts are as yet unpublished, often held in archives. Therefore it seems useful at this stage of the blog, perhaps indeed imperative, to peer into the spaces and let some of the manuscripts and their writers have some light and air. 

At this stage I am concentrating on the archives held within Devon, either at the Devon Heritage Centre, or the North Devon Record Office. To start with I shall just list names, along with a brief summary about each entry. At a later time I may also expand out and add information from sources such as University of Exeter archives and perhaps venture even further afield. The one criterion I have at present is that all the women will have had a close connection with Devon in one way or other. And I must add, for the most part I do not intend to include recent writers (say after 1965 ish). Following that I hope to look at some of these neglected writers in more depth in future posts. Unfortunately in some (many) case the research trail soon grows cold, but maybe others out there may be tempted to pick up the thread and help fill in missing pieces of this lost literary Devon jigsaw. I have decided for the most part not to provide research catalogue numbers, but am instead naming some of the details of the manuscripts themselves. Information contained in this post is taken from the records themselves but I intend to update information about each women as and when I find something of interest from other sources.

 Names; Links; Texts

Devon Heritage Centre

Christian Henrietta Caroline Acland 1776-1778  Manuscript copy of Journal The Journal describes Acland's journey from England to America and her experiences there during the War of Independence when her husband was a Major of Grenadiers under General Burgoyne 

Christian Henrietta Caroline Acland of Killerton, nee Fox-Strangways, 1750-1815.

Joan Mary Bishop  Joan M Bishop Papers. 26 boxes Consists of a family 'catalogue' but includes a Diary and Journals and Remininscenses of Childhood in Exeter in 1930's. 

Joan Bishop may have come from Exeter or Crediton. At the time of compilation of this list the record is closed and waiting for listings.

Doris Mary Bradbeer (Documents held in the 'Bradbeer family Box'). 
The records include the following:
Correspondence and articles by Miss Doris Mary Bradbeer, 1978-1986 Submitted to various magazines for publication. 
Manuscripts by Doris Mary Bradbeer, undated: Two typed copies, with handwritten corrections, of "On my Way 1898 - " by D. M. Bradbeer of 20 Riverside Road, Topsham, Exeter. Both copies are incomplete. Stories of her life and travels.
Manuscript by D. M. Bradbeer, n.d. Handwritten copy of parts of a manuscript. Appears to be part of "'On My Way" - see 8732M/4/1/1. 
Manuscript by D. M. Bradbeer, n.d. Incomplete copy of a manuscript for a book to be called "Fragile Evidence" or "Frail Evidence". Includes hand written copies of a letter submitting part of the manuscript to an agency. 
Manuscript by D. M. Bradbeer, n.d. Manuscript of a novel. No title. 
Manuscripts by D. M. Bradbeer, n.d. Two copies of a manuscript - "An Island Adventure" Manuscripts by D. M. Bradbeer; short stories and articles Seven short articles - "The Life and Death of the Paddle Steamer" (including newspaper clippings); "Starlings"; "The Miracle of the Sugar Cane"; "Country Ways. Old Linen"; "A Brush with Authority"; "The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire" on paddle steamers; and "Re-establishing an Ancient Country Craft. Racing Dinghy Building". Six short stories - "The Old Man's House" with drawing; "The Avenue Children"; "Willie Worm" 2 copies; "Snakes and Ladders"; "The Diver's Tale" 2 copies; "The Crescent Children" 2 copies. Four photographs of paddle steamers and a sailing boat to go with article.
Manuscripts by D. M. Bradbeer; Includes three copies of "One November Day"; three copies of "Jaunty - The Dog That Never Gave Up"; stories about The Avenue; pages 1 - 151 of a book with no title and two drawings for children.
Manuscripts by D. M. Bradbeer for books, short stories and articles, 1959-1983. Correspondence relating to article on "Establishing an ancient West Country Craft" and a copy of the article; Letter to Devon Life, and a copy of article "The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire" on paddle steamers; Article on starlings; letter from the BBC and article on late day weddings; Article on the fastnet race; 1982 newspaper article on Exmouth Challenge a yacht to be entered in the Round Britain and Ireland Race; four parts of articles and stories with no titles.

The above records state that D. M. Bradbeer lived at 20 Riverside Road, Topsham, Exeter and that she wrote the books "Story of the Manor and Port of Topsham" (pub. 1969) and "Joyful Schooldays: A Digest of the History of the Exeter Grammar Schools" (pub. 1971).

Barbara Isabella Buller (nee Kirkpatrick)
C1820 Diary
Barbara Buller was born Barbara Kirkpatrick in South Molton. However she probably moved on marriage, as her will (1849) records her address as 12 Stanhope Place, Hyde Park, in London.

 UPDATE: Since these notes I have found much more about and written about Barbara Buller in the post  Letters and Journals written by Two Women from the C19 Devon Buller family - 2.  'Balls, the Boys, & Barricane Beach'; Barbara Kirkpatrick Buller's Devon Diaries. 

Lilian Mey Cronne -
Weather and gardening diaries 1966 -1999.
Lilian Cronne spent her retirement years in Cheldon Devon.

Gwendolyn Gwen Connor 
 (volumes or poetry (2) 1944, with biographical note and some later family papers).
The above records note that Gwen Connor (1885-1950, married H.Tapley Soper, Exeter City Librarian, and lived at 44 Wonford Road, Exeter, 1942 to her death), 'Dawn and Sunset at Topsham, Devon' 'Songs of Youth and the 'Desire after Knowledge', 1944 (with attached biographical note, 2009, by Karola Sartor, wife of G.E. Connor's nephew, and current - 2009 - owner of 44 Wonford Road), and "Springtime in Devon" (However, note that these records are restricted and 'not available for public inspection nor use until 24th April 2039'.

Beatrice Feodora Clara Augustus Grace Cresswell
Commonplace book of Beatrix F. Cresswell 1876 
Diaries of Beatrix and Richard Cresswell with notes and newspaper cuttings, photograph, dance card and obituary 1848-1940.
Notes on Books Read 1928-1933, 1933 -1938.
Diaries of Beatrix F Cresswell 1898-1899, 1901-1940.
Antiquarian and Literary Papers 1877-1924 (Westcountry Studies Library).
Diaries, commonplace book, notes on books read etc., 1876-1940
Beatrice Cresswell who died in 1940 is one of the few women writers you'll find in this list whose name is still widely recognised within Devon. In the early C20 she was a prolific writer of historical and travel books, features and various texts all, or most of which were concerned with Devon. I've already made a few notes about Cresswell in a post in my older blog (A Handful of 2012 Anniversaries)  Maybe this will be the year that I begin a Cresswell Quest.

Amy Frances Emma Durnford 
 C19  journals (9) of Amy Frances Emma Durnford,
There is no information about Amy Durnford but the documents are a sub-set of the Durnsford Family of Teignmouth Files, so at present I'm assuming that Durnford had a connection with Teignmouth.

Emily Sabine Baring-Gould - Compiler of Nursery Rhymes -
Illustrated book of nursery-rhymes with tunes. 1835. 
Emily Baring-Gould was the daughter of Revd. Sabine Baring-Gould of Lewtrenchyard.

Diana Amelia Baring Gould -
Notebook diary, journal of trip to America 1799 - 1857.

Born Diana Amelia Sabine, in May 1755, she was daughter of Colonel Joseph Sabine and Sarah Hunt and sister of Arctic explorer Sir Edward Sabine. She married William Baring Gould - who inherited Lewtrenchard - on 8 March 1801  died 1858 and was thus grandmother of Revd Sabine Baring Gould of Lew Trenchard through her son Edward Baring Gould and his wife Sophia Charlotte Baring Gould. Diana died in 1858. Before they moved to Lewtrenchard she and her husband lived at Ivy House, in Teignmouth. Diana according to some sources was very much a 'society lady' whilst her husband was nicknamed 'The Adonis of Devon' because of his good looks. The couple had six children. 

UPDATE 2021: I have not see these diaries but understand from the record office that they consist of noted entries, each  'rarely more than a single line'. 

Dorothy Holman -

1904 83 diaires, incl. as a VAD nurse in Paris and Alexandria in WW1 and incl. refs to setting up of Topsham Museum.
Dorothy Holman's family lived at Teignmouth in Devon then various addresses in London between 1904 and 1939, when she moved to 25 The Strand, Topsham.

Mary Jenneret - 
Journal of Visit to Devon 1833.
Mary Jenneret may be the same woman as the widow Mrs Mary Jenneret of Bletchley


Elizabeth Knight -
Commonplace Book incl. genealogical information, remedies and accounts of a steward of Lady Clifford.  1667-1801? This collection is held privately (Enquiries to Devon Heritage Centre).
1667-1739 notebook with additions from family members.
Elizabeth Knight may have been steward at Ugbrooke near Chudleigh.

Catherine Lloyd -
Diaries fl1853 - 1856
Catherine Lloyd was wife of Revd. Lloyd of Tiverton. She may be the following:
Rev. John Daniel Lloyd (born about 1807), Uley, Gloucestershire, (in 1851 Census recorded as Rector of Clare Portion, Tiverton), and Catherine Hellings (born about 1811 in Tiverton, Devon), married in Tiverton in 1839 (1839 April-June : Tiverton &c. : Vol 10 : page 456 : entry unverified). 

Victoria Alexandria Marker 
Family diaries 1859-74 and diaries of tours in Scotland 1849, Germany 1854 and Switzerland 1862.
Victoria Marker, of Combe, which is Combe House in Gittisham. She was daughter of Edward Digby 9th Baron Digby of Minterne, Dorchester, Dorset and married Richard Marker of Combe in 1865.

Elizabeth Popham 
Manuscript music books belonging to her and others with music by her and others (C19)
Manuscript music book inscribed by Elizabeth Leyborne Popham music by her and some others 1858. 
Elizabeth Popham seems to have been a member of the Buller family from Downes, near Crediton as the documents are held in the family folders. Strictly speaking the 'music manuscripts' held in the Devon Heritage Centre are not in the category of 'lost women's writing', but I decided to include them here as they are part of Devon's forgotten artistic work by its female creators. She may be from the Buller - Leybourne - Popham family of Huntstrete. (records in Somerset Record Centre).

Elizabeth Simcoe 
Letter from Mrs Elizabeth Simcoe to Caroline Simcoe, c1839.
I'm just listing one item in this extensive archival catalogue for Elizabeth Simcoe, which is mainly kept in the Simcoe Family Archive. Some of these manuscripts have been published in various sources. I have written one post featuring Simcoe (See Down the Devon Lanes to Dunkeswell).

Emily Mary Sparkes 
Notebook used as a Diary by Emily Mary Sparkes (Nee Lyster) 1899-1891. Covers voyage by ship out to India, arrival there on 22nd November, and first weeks in that country.
Ends with a memo added in 1923 to the effect that the1891 diary was eaten by white ants.
Three separate sheets enclosed recording events of 3rd - 10th February 1891.
The Devon archive hold a number of files of  Emily Sparke's documents. The diaries cover the writer's residence in India 1890-1910, and the First and Second World War period, a memoranda book, and numerous loose enclosures. Diary entries are very detailed, especially about weather and family
Emily Mary Sparkes was born c1859 and died in 1954. Following her marriage she lived at Oakcliff, Dawlish Warren, then at Warren House Dawlish Warren

Anna Georgina Trollope (1873-1956)
Diaries Letters and Accounts 1904-51 No more information on the A2A website but Trollope's family contexts suggest these may be interesting. Anna Trollope was wife of the 13th Baronet Trollope, who was Sir Arthur Grant Trollope (1866-1937). Anna was daughter of Franklin Prestage the engineer who constructed the Darjeeling Railway. Her mother was Eliza Cary from the Cary family of Torre Abbey in Devon. UPDATE 2021. I have not see these diaries but understand from the record office that they consist of noted entries, each  'rarely more than a single line'. 

Edith Wheeler
C20 Literary and Historical notes, scripts, press cuttings and other papers.
Edith Wheeler was a Devon Local Historian and Broadcaster.

Elizabeth Ellen Wood
This is quite an extensive catalogue so I have just provided a selection of items:

Diaires of Elizabeth Ellen Wood (nee Williams) of Brixham, Torquay and Plymouth, 1895-1972 (10 Volumes)
Diary Elizabeth Ellen Wood (nee Williams) 1941. This is written in a printed diary with a small section for each day. Covers a variety of war issues including keeping a shop and family concerns.
Reminiscences of Elizabeth Ellen Wood (nee Williams) 1914-18. Reminiscences about sharing a room with two friends from 1915 during the First World War. The diary has been transcribed and is associated with Devon Remembers First World War Collection.
Reminscences of Elizabeth Ellen Wood (nee Williams) 1895-1918. Describes her life from birth in 1895 - Daily life, school, political elections. The diary has been transcribed and is associated with Devon Remembers First World War Collection.
Diary of Elizabeth Ellen Wood (nee Williams) 1944-45. Printed diary with small sections to complete for each day. Some days are missing. Working at YMCA and includes comments about the war and at the end about the celebrations at the end of the war in Plymouth 'dancing, singing and looking on a roaring bonfire and fireworks from ships'.
Elizabeth Ellen Wood (Williams) may have been born in Brixham but evidently also lived in Torquay and Plymouth. Her diaries are evidently extensive and may prove useful for sources apropos both First and Second World Wars.

Laura Woodhouse 
Edited Diaries of Laura Woodhouse by RvO Hancock.
A visit to Lympstone 1840-1, extracted and edited by R O Hancock from the diaries of Laura Woodhouse, younger daughter of Sir John Trevelyan of Nettlecombe Somerset and wife of the Revered John Woodhouse, Rector of Huish Champflower, Somerset.
Journal related to a visit to Lympstone 1840-1.
According to the records noted above, Laura Woodhouse (nee Trevelyan), 1840-41 was from Nettlecombe and Huish Champflower in Somerset. I have included the record as, because they feature a Devon parish, as probable travel diaries  they are relevant to this study.

     
 
         …  Well that's a start. I'll be looking into other local archives and libraries in future posts and also endeavouring to take a close look at some of the writers listed here and their manuscripts. Watch this blog-space!

Over the A377 at Umberleigh Exploring Ancient Abbeys ...

Writing Women on the Devon Land

A – Z of Devon Women Writers & Places

Over the A377 at Umberleigh

Track near Umberleigh House

'A private track leading away from the A377 across the Taw floodplain, giving access to several fields'.

© Copyright  Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

.

     What often intrigues me when I'm out and about exploring Devon's lost literary links connected with women of the past are the occasional teasing facts which pop up unexpectedly out of the historical blue, and yet either report conflicting facts or omit tantalising details, leaving you wondering what might have been. Although through the centuries Devon has frequently played a vital role in many major historical happenings, perhaps because of its outlying position toward the western margins of our country, it is more often than not ignored - and especially in my line of research focusing on its women's past literary achievements and networks. Sometimes, like a pop of colour from a bland painting, a tiny snippet of information leaps out of a passage of information and begins to repeat over in my mind, reminding me of those bothersome earworms. I had such a revelation recently when reading about Umberleigh, in the northern part of the county, so decided to select it as the Devon parish for 'U' in this A-Z of Devon Women Writers & Places.

     I've been interested in Umberleigh since finding about its links with the Bassett family and the Lisle Letters, which I wrote about in a post in my other earlier blog - see A Tale of Two Tudor Sisters.

     As I commented in the earlier piece, if you drive along the old Barnstaple main road, the A377 route through Umberleigh now, you just would never know, let alone even imagine, that the place was at one time and for many centuries, a site of great significance and that here there was an ancient chantry chapel; a large manor; perhaps at one time even a palace ‘overshadowed by tall trees’ (see Beatrix Cresswell). A deer park is recorded at Umberleigh during the period of Henry VII and may have been in existence long before that. If you search the site out on Devon Environmental Maps you can see that Umberleigh House is marked as 'on the site of a probable pre C13 mansion.

      (Unfortunately, although I have taken photos of the area some years ago, at present I can only find one of them, so Geograph images will need to suffice - and anyway their quality far surpasses any that I might come up with!).

A377 approaching Umberleigh House
'From Fishleigh Rock Garage looking towards the point '
where SS5924 : A377 near Umberleigh House was taken.
© Copyright Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

          I'm not exactly a qualified historian; my PhD was in English Literature. I don't often have time to visit archives to search out original data; for the most part my interpretations are taken from a range of online and secondary textual sources. But I did manage to scrape through history A level, so like to think I have sufficient credentials to have a go, especially when literary interests link with historical ones - and in particular, when they both focus on women who were once engaged with literature. Such is the case with Umberleigh. 

       As Beatrice Cesswell noted in her article on Umberleigh Chapel, the place appears to have been an ancient estate, 'which' she added 'in the course of its history has had [so] many feminine possessors'. Then, as is the case with the women of the Lisle family and the letters they exchanged, there are times in the estate's history when an owner was explicitly linked with written literary pursuits of the time. The period which especially intrigues me with regard to Umberleigh House/Chapel, is the C11, especially around the period of the Norman Conquest. In her piece about Umberleigh Chapel Cresswell comments that

Just before the Conquest all this property was held by Brictic Meau, Thane of Gloucester, whose tragic story has to be told so frequently in the history of Devonshire parishes, and need not be repeated here. - The Conqueror. bestowed Umberleigh upon the Abbess of the Holy TrInIty, Caen Mr O. J. Reichel suggests that the Abbess had here a rural oratory with the same dedication as her convent, and includes Umberleigh among the Domesday churches of Devon.

    Two details in this passage especially intrigue me: the reference to the 'Abbess of the Holy Trinity Caen' and the possibility of there once being an 'oratory' at Umberleigh. Other sources confirm that at the time of the Domesday Book in effect Umberleigh was entered as an alien priory, 'in the manor of the Church of the Holy Trinity Caen' (See History of Devonshire).

        The Holy Trinity, or Abbaye aux Dames, of Caen was founded as a Benedictine Monastery of Nuns in the latter years of the C11 - (possibly in 1059, or 1066) - by William the Conqueror and his wife Matilda. Works on the monastery began in 1062; they were completed in 1130. (Matilda, who died in 1083, was buried in the abbey). One source says that the first Abbess of Holy Trinity Caen (See The Early Abbesses Nuns and Female Tenants of the Abbey of the Holy Trinity Caen) was also a Matilda (which is a possible pitfall leading to confusion), who governed the abbey for 54 years (another source says 47 years) and that she must have come from an aristocratic family; she'd previously been abbess of an abbey in Liseux. Following Abbess Matilda's death, in 1113, or 1120, the Conqueror and his consort's probably eldest daughter Cecilia (who'd entered into the Abbey of Caen at a young age, probably at its founding), became second Abbess of Holy Trinity (See Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy). Cecilia died on 30 July 1126 in Caen, France; she was buried within the abbey walls. Her father was also buried in Caen. Eventually Cecilia became a powerful and highly respected figure amongst monastic women.

      It is interesting to compare these dates with the years during which the abbey of Caen was linked with Umberleigh, which, if Cresswell is correct in her statement that 

'In 1176 Bishop Bartholemew Iscanus confirmed to Tewkesbury Abbey the church of Wimberleigh which Roger de Winkleigh held on behalf of the monks for 20S'. (Umberleigh Chapel) 

was about one hundred and ten years, a period which takes in the abbesses periods of both Matilda and Cecilia. 

        Cresswell also concludes that it is unlikely there was any direct connection between the Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen and its distant sub-oratory in Devon:

'It is improbable any of them [the nuns or the abbess herself) ever saw the place, and they must subsequently have parted with it, perhaps in exchange for property more conveniently situated' (Umberleigh Chapel).

        I can't help wondering whether it may be possible to question this theory that there was no direct link between Umberleigh and its 'mother' institution over in Normandy. I suppose Cresswell came to that conclusion after assuming that the rural situation of the Devon site would have made it too difficult to access and that the women from Caen would not have had any interest in visiting the far off western regions of the Saxons. I feel she was in some ways slotting into the same assessment about the northern part of the county as many earlier researchers - and once voiced in 'The Early History and Aborigines', a C19 paper by J.R. Chanter, in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol 2, 1867), in which he concludes:

The facts which have at various times been brought together concerning North Devon, tend to show that its history deserves more attention than has heretofore been shown to it.

        I'm not sure that Chanter's plea has yet received any response, even now well into the C21. But one fact is sure. At the time of William's invasion in 1066, Devon was not some god-forsaken, inconsequential county - a place which had little impact on the dramas unfolding throughout the whole country. Maybe it's quite valid to challenge Cresswell's conclusion. 

     For a time the county was the centre of the action, especially during the Exeter siege, in 1068, when Exeter was surrounded by William the Conqueror's army, and Gytha, Harold's mother, and wife of Godwin of Essex, was holed up for 18 days with other royal women. Eventually Gytha escaped, was rowed away from Exeter's water-gate, down the river Exe, and away from the town. 

    Then, three years after the initial invasion, north Devon became central to the main historical narrative when another significant battle, that of the Battle of Northam, took place in which Brian of Brittany defeated an army headed by two sons of King Harold. The battle site is thought to be between Northam and Appledore, in the north of the county (and so, not far from Umberleigh).

     There is also is the question of the once-sites of female occupied religious institutions. The focus of historical attention apropos Norman monasteries/convents and abbeys linked with women tends to be directed towards the famous ones such as Wilton Abbey in Wiltshire; but I have sometimes wondered if this is to the detriment of other now lost or forgotten nunneries, which may have existed further west in Devon - and not that much further onwards westward than Wilton. Sometimes when I read about the social, cultural and literary achievements of women during the C11 onwards for several centuries, it is as if they all congregated at Wilton and didn't venture any further westwards. Devon, as we now call it, hardly seems to have existed. It seems generally assumed that Devon religious institutions of the time were of little consequence to our national cultural heritage as it fed into the development of women-centred literature. But to counter that theory, there are several places in the south-west known to have had such female-centred establishments around or during the one hundred years following the time of the Norman invasion. For instance, in Durston, in Somerset, Buckland Priory (also known as Minchin Buckland Preceptory or Buckland Sororum - "Buckland of the Sisters") - was established around 1167 and was the only house for women in England of the Knights Hospitaller. It is known that girls were sent to Buckland to be educated. Then at the end of the C13 there was Canonsleigh Abbey, at Burlescombe, which was important enough to hold at least one copy of The Ancrene Wisse, one of the medieval age’s most significant and famous religious manuscripts (See The Mystery of The Ancrene Wisse).

      As far as I know, Umberleigh was the only Devon site that Caen was linked with? But I may be wrong in this assumption. What really puzzles me about Umberleigh's connection with the important and shiny new monastery of nuns at Caen is why? Why would a place that in the C11 must have been even more remote than most Devon parishes be selected as fit for purpose to align with one of the then most important new French religious institutions? Was Umberleigh already of special significance before 1066? If we take a step back to look at Umberleigh before the Norman conquest, there are tantalising - though unproven - suggestions that the site had been prestigious long before. According to Wikipedia,

Immediately prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 the manor of Umberleigh had been held by Brictric, as recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086. He was probably the great Saxon thane Brictric son of Algar.[3] A person named Brictric was also the pre-Conquest holder of the single possession in Dorset of the Church of the Holy Trinity of Caen, the post-Conquest holder of Umberleigh [3]

      Prior to that, one tradition says that during the C10 King Athelstan built a special palace at Umberleigh (see, for example, The North Devon Handbook). Athlestan is said to have 'built at Umberleigh a palace and next to it a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Trinity, which served the royal family and household' (Wikipedia). (Athelstan's court was known to be meeting-point and melting-pot for culture and learning for various parts of the British Isles and the continent). According to this tradition, Umberleigh remained an appendage of the crown for centuries. 

    The legends retreat even further back, for one source says that traditionally, pre-Athelstan, Umberleigh was supposed to have been the special residence of the chief of the Celtic Druids of North Devon. (Godfery Higgins, The Celtic Druids, quoted in the paper by J.R. Chanter in Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol2 1867).

       But, as so often happens re supposed facts about this mystery place, there have equally been other historians who are cynical about Athelstan's military accomplishments in Devon and therefore, about his alleged close links with Umberleigh:

Unfortunately, however, the accounts of his reign which have been preserved are all too scanty; and, as is usual with national heroes whose careers have not been adequately recorded, tradition has been busy with his name, and has ascribed to him deeds which he probably never performed and never even attempted to perform ...Various traditions have added other incidents, such as Athelstan’s triumphal entry into Barnstaple, and the erection of a palace for him at Umberleigh, “which he bequeathed to John of Gaunt.” (See The Athelstan Myth).

     As you may imagine, it is unlikely that I can provide any new evidence either way as to the probability or not of Umberleigh having once been a south-west royal palace; but I do tend to think there must be something in these rumours and that it was perhaps because Umberleigh had already become a pre-eminent Saxon estate that at the time of the Norman invasion it was gifted to the monastery of nuns at Caen. 

     Neither can I establish the truth as to whether there was an oratory at Umberleigh at the time of its possession by Caen. Skimming the sources which are easily available via google searches, there are various reactions to this possibility; they're not always in agreement. One source turns oratory to nunnery - referring to a once Norman nunnery sited at Umberleigh. Others are not so sure. Maybe there was not an oratory here.

     Nevertheless, there is no doubting the facts of the association between Umberleigh and Caen. And there are other local examples of such smaller cells established in Devon during the period of William the Conqueror. In St Nicholas Priory Exeter a cell was built at the charges of the parent monastery (See Monasticon Anglicanum).

Track near Umberleigh House

Looking right from where SS5924 : Track near Umberleigh House was taken. SS5924 : A377 near Umberleigh House shows the A377 just over the hedge on the right.

© Copyright Derek Harper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

      Why in any case is the possible link between Caen and Umberleigh of interest? You might well ask. My chain of inferred links may well turn out to be a historical-literary red-herring. A far-fetched and obscure theory. Quite likely perhaps, but I hope one day - if there are any useful sources in existence - someone out there might explore the necessary archives and help to confirm, or kybosh, my hunch.

        One researcher in this field who has helped direct my thinking about Umberleigh is the writer/academic Elizabeth M Tyler, whose various writings about royal and aristocratic women of the Saxon to early Medieval period establish again and again how important were the social, family and cultural interconnections of these women in terms of their contribution to the development and spread of literature of the period. In particular, apropos this blog post, Tyler's work in this area explores the impact of the nunneries - where many of the royal women were educated and spent much of their lives - on the proliferation of all kinds of texts into the cultured communities. In her paper 'Crossing Conquests: Polyglot Royal Women and Literary Culture in Eleventh Century England', Tyler notes that during the 'intensely creative period' of the eleventh century, both 'court' and 'cloister' became 'location[s] of innovative literary culture'. Nunneries 'functioned as schools and as places to put royal daughters', whose learning became 'impressive'.  As far as I know, Tyler's work does not focus at all on Royal-women's Devon links, nor does it feature any female religious establishment west of Wilton - the famous convent where so many of these royal women spent much of their lives. However, what she does discuss makes me wonder if there may have been interconnections between places such as Wilton and other convents or priories or nunneries - whose presence and histories are long ago forgotten - which were sited westwards of Wilton. 

      Here is my line of thought. I'll begin by going back full-circle to where I started this piece; it's what is left out of the existing tantalising factual fragments that need to be explored. It seems to me that the linking of Umberleigh with the female community at the Holy Trinity at Caen, - the 'Abbey of Women' - which, in those times, was apparently such a prestigious religious site, ought to be investigated further. For the women associated with Caen were also connected with some of the literary highlights of the early Norman period. Cecilia, the Conqueror and his consort Matilda's abbess daughter, for example, was the recipient of several important literary texts. Some have called her 'patron of poets' and one source notes that she visited London regularly and carried out surveys of her abbey's lands (See Magistra et Mater). It is therefore not inconceivable that Cecilia and other women within the royal network travelled further into the south-west corner of the country to assess and explore sites connected with their family lands. In any case, regarding alien priories held by French religious houses, I understand that frequently the parent church sent a monk or nun over to manage the property. If so, it is surely possible that the abbess travelled down to Devon to keep an eye on proceedings there.

       Certainly, although it wasn't until two years after her husband accomplished the invasion, Cecilia's mother, William's consort Matilda herself visited Devon. It is said that Matilda was keen to see her new kingdom and take possession of her landed wealth, including her rich estates in Devon. Matilda was one of a chain of female consorts who held Devon land during the Anglo-Norman period. Many of them were blood relatives of the west-Saxon royal-line and genealogical study had become one of the special literary trends of the day for women of the aristocracy. It was common for royal women to express curiosity about their family history and to commission genealogical charts; as Tyler explains in Crossing Conquests, they were educated and actively engaged in the 'cultivation of dynastic memory'. 'Who do you think you are' is not a new phenomenon! 

      So, for anyone who's had the patience to follow me this far, if, back in the early days following William the Conqueror's invasion, there was an oratory or small cell-chapel sited at Umberleigh attached to the important mother Caen church over the Channel, in Normandy then, in my re-envisioning imagination, there could have been a footfall of female visitors travelling over from France via other religious establishments (such as the alien priories or nunneries scattered throughout the Wessex region). One or two of them may have been women from the top of the cultural hierarchy who were involved in the pursuit, study and circulation of some of the time's foremost literary achievements. Or perhaps they were actively engaged in the tracking of their own extended family history. Perhaps, for instance the women were out and about in the south-west, re-visiting the haunts of their own predecessors and ancestral kin. William the Conqueror's grandfather Richard II Duke of Normandy, for instance, was sister of Emma of Normandy, (Queen Consort of England, wife of Aetheldred the Unready and Cnut), who'd held extensive lands in Devon and it said he made many visits there. Meanwhile, Matilda of Flanders, William's consort, through Alfred's daughter, Aelfthryth, was a descendant of King Alfred the Great and the old Saxon House of Wessex.

      Yes, I know this is all rather obscure and tentative and that Caen's holding of Umberleigh for the hundred or so years following the conquest could simply be a matter of monetary benefits. As far as literary interests are concerned I could, or should, instead be focusing on the connections between women and literature that are already established and for which there is plenty of evidence. But, when it comes to the centuries before say the C15/16, documentation about female engagement with literary achievement is just not out there. Nowadays, various researchers working in the field of rediscovery apropos the missing contributions of women to our national and local literary heritage, are beginning to reassess and formulate plausible theories about what may have been.They're trying to pinpoint a particular place, a woman (usually royal or aristocrat), or a group of women who, during the time in which they lived, may have played a part in what Elizabeth Tyler, in her book English Royal Women and Literary Patronage c1000 -1150, calls 'the cultivation of literary culture'.

       It is not implausible to suggest that an active network of women from the incoming Norman aristocratic community, who'd been educated at one or other of the various female monastic establishments in Normandy or England had considerable impact upon literary developments of that early Norman period, and given the few facts that are out there indicating a connection between these people and the site at Umberleigh, neither is it completely out of place to suggest that several of these women may have had some direct link with the place.

Fields near Umberleigh House

      In what must then have been an intensely pastoral location, set in the northern region within the ancient land of the Dumnonians, which we now call Devon, perhaps, just for a few years, the quiet site beside the river Taw became a little still-centre - one of the few in the county - where women gathered to commission new texts and to share, exchange views, ideas and responses to a variety of then circulating literary texts.


See also From the Devon Ridge Where a Book Began