User:Noswall59/The Grange, Broadhembury

THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS—It is not complete, and may need tidying an trimming; it represents the style and approach I think is appropriate with manors if they are notable. The Grange, Broadhembury (or Grange, Broadhembury) is the name of a manor and its manor house in the civil parish of Broadhembury, Devon. It formed part of the fee held by a man called Odo at the time of the Domesday Book. His kinsman, William de Toriton, sold Broadhembury to William Briwere, who gave it to his foundation, Dunkeswell Abbey. The lands were seized by the king in the dissolution of the monasteries and eventually granted to Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton. His grandson sold them to Edward Drewe, a Member of Parliament and Serjeant-at-Law. It passed by descent through his family until it was divided into 38 lots and sold at auction in 1903. The house passed hands several times in the 20th and early 21st centuries; its owners include Kirstie Allsopp, the property consultant and television presenter.

The manor house... [explain history, summarise architecture and listing] ... Its furniture was sold in 1903, the Jacobean wooden-panelling was removed in 1927 and it was refurbished in the late-1990s.

Descent of the manor
The Domesday Book of 1086 records that, on the death of Edward the Confessor, Brictric, son of Algar, held Broadhembury. But, by 1086 a man named Odo, son of Gamelin, held a fee in the hundred of Sulfretona incorporating the settlements of Broadhembury and Plymtree. In 1166 Geoffrey de Hembury held Broadhembury for 1 fee of William de Toriton (d. 1233), nephew of William, son of Odo; William sold Broadhembury to William Briwere (d. 1227), who gave it to Dunkeswell Abbey (of which he was a founder) sometime before he died. The last abbot, John Ley, surrendered the lands to the King on 14 February 1539. In the following July, the King granted 1,600 acres of the abbey's former lands (including Broadhembury) to John Russell, Baron Russell. However, shortly afterwards, the land reverted to the Crown, probably in exchange for other former monastic estates. In c. 1545, the King granted the manor and lands of Broadhembury to Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton.

J. L. Vivian records that Thomas Drewe of Sharpham and Killerton "received Queen Elizabeth at the Grange". Other accounts state that his son, Edward Drew, purchased the Grange from Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, the grandson of the Earl who was granted it; it was so named because it had been Dunkeswell Abbey's grange before the dissolution. That Edward (c. 1548–1598) was Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis, Exeter and London, and a Serjeant at Law. On his death, the estate passed to his eldest son, Sir Thomas Drewe, who died in 1651, having had eight daughters and four sons. The eldest son, William died in c. 1654; despite marrying five times, he only had one son, Edward, who died in 1630. The Grange passed to William's next younger brother, Francis Drewe (1604–c. 1675), who was succeeded by his eldest son Thomas Drewe (1635–1707), a Member of Parliament. He left two daughters, but no sons and the Grange passed to his younger brother, Francis Drewe (1636–1710), and then to the third brother, Edward Drewe, Canon of Exeter, who died in 1714; it passed to his only son, Francis Drewe (1673–c. 1734), who served as Member of Parliament for Exeter from 1714 to 1734, and then to his eldest son in turn, Francis Drewe (1712–c. 1773), who was High Sheriff of Devon in 1738. He had eight sons and, on his death, the estate passed to the eldest, Francis Rose Drewe (1733–1801), but he died childless and was succeeded by the next brother, Thomas Rose Drewe (1740–1815); the next brother, Richard Rose Drewe, died in 1801, and the estate was then held successively by the next younger brothers, William Rose Drewe (1745–1821) and John Rose Drewe (1747–1830). The latter had married, and had two children, but his only son, Charles, died in 1801. On John Rose Drewe's death, the estates passed to his nephew Edward Simcoe Drewe, JP, DL (1805–1877), who was High Sheriff of Devon in 1845; after his death, it passed to his eldest son, Major-General Francis Edward Drewe, JP, DL (1830–1891).

Despite marrying twice, the Major-General died childless. His younger brothers, Captain Edward Drewe (b. 1834) and Albert Cecil Robert Drewe (b. 1839) died before him without issue, in 1883 and 1879 respectively. As a result, the estate passed to the elder sister, Adéle Caroline (b. 1829). She was the wife of John Arthur Locke, JP (d. 1888), of North Moor House in Dulverton; after she died in 1895, the estate passed to her eldest son, Arthur Charles Edward Locke, JP (b. 1860), who subsequently sold it. In 1902, the estate was auctioned by Daniel Smith and Sons, but bidding did not reach the reserve price of £77,000. It was put up again the following year. The estate's rental was then valued at £3,800 and the holdings spanned over 3,000 acres; a reserve price was set and, if it could not be reached, the estate would be divided into lots and each would be sold separately. The auction took place in May 1903; bidding on the whole estate started at £55,000 and went up to £68,500 before it was withdrawn. It was then offered in 38 lots; the mansion and over 457 acres of land were withdrawn at £26,250. A number of farms were also withdrawn, but other parcels of land were bought up, including the Red Lion Inn. In all, 20 lots were sold; J. and H. Drew, the land agents, offered the rest up for sale on application. By September, the estate and mansion had been disposed of, and the furniture in the Grange was being auctioned off as well.

Colonel Henry Bowden Gundry, JP, purchased the Grange in 1903; in 1914, he is listed as the lord of the manor. He died, still lord of the manor, in 1916, aged 60, leaving a son; his widow, Elizabeth, died in 1938, aged 78. The estate was put up for sale again in 1921, but their only son, Henry Edward Bowden Gundry, was living at the Grange by 1931; he put the house, along with 500 acres of land, up for sale in 1964. By the time he died in 1966, Gundry was living at Bowerwood. In 1997, Martin and Lindy Evans bought the house and refurbished it, before putting it up for sale in 2000. The house sold for £1 million. By 2009, it was owned by Kirstie Allsopp, who moved to Devon to live with her partner, the property-developer Ben Anderson.

The manor house
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