South Milton

"Sutton, Devon" redirects here. For the historic port, now part of Plymouth, see Plymouth.
Not to be confused with South Molton.

South Milton
All Saints Church, South Milton
South Milton is located in Devon
South Milton
South Milton
Location within Devon
Population371 (2021 census)
Civil parish
  • South Milton
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
List of places
UK
England
Devon
50°16′N 3°49′W / 50.267°N 3.817°W / 50.267; -3.817
South Milton Sands

South Milton (anciently Mideltone,[1] Middleton,[2] Middelton,[3] etc.) is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district, in the county of Devon, England, situated on the south coast about 2 miles south-west of Kingsbridge. The civil parish includes the hamlets of Sutton, south of the village, and Upton, north of the village. In 2021 the parish had a population of 371.

The mediaeval parish church is dedicated to All Saints.[4] Horswell House, an 18th-century mansion within the parish, was anciently a seat of the Roope family,[5] also of East Allington, whose heir in 1761 was the Ilbert family.[6]

Manor

The manor of Mideltone is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as the 15th of the 22[7] Devonshire holdings of Alfred the Breton, one of the Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief of King William the Conqueror. It was held in 1295[8] by James "de Mosom"[9] (or "de Mohun", according to Pole, apparently a member of the Mohuns, feudal barons of Dunster in Somerset).[10]

Pipard

In 1345[11] it was held by Sir William Pipard (d.1349).[12] He left two daughters and co-heiresses:

  • Margaret Pipard, wife of Sir Gerard de Lisle;[13]
  • Matilda Pipard, wife of Sir Osbert Hameley.[14]

Carew

The next holder was the Carew family of Haccombe, Devon, which sold it to Sir James Bagg[15] of Saltram, near Plymouth.

Bagg

Sir James I Bagg (1554/5-1624),[16] MP for Plymouth (1601–11) and Mayor of Plymouth, purchased Saltram in about 1614. On his death the house passed to his son James II Bagg (died 1638), Deputy Governor of Plymouth and a vice-admiral closely allied to the Duke of Buckingham, a favourite of King James I. He is believed twice to have embezzled funds from the Crown, the first occasion having contributed to the failure of Buckingham's attack on Cadiz in 1625. For reason unknown King Charles I twice defended him despite his seemingly obvious culpability. James II Bagg died in 1638 and was succeeded by his son George Bagg, when Saltram was described as comprising "One great mansion house, one stable, three gardens, two acres of orchard, eight acres of meadows" and eight acres more. Despite inheriting his father's role as Deputy Governor of Plymouth, George Bagg did not share his father's luck, and having chosen the Royalist side in the Civil War, Saltram suffered at the hands of the Parliamentarian forces. Following the defeat of the Royalist cause, shortly after 1643 he was forced to compound in the sum of £582 to secure his landholdings.[17] Despite having held on to Saltram through the Civil War, the Baggs lost Saltram in 1660, shortly before the Restoration of the Monarchy when the Commonwealth government transferred it to the former Parliamentarian captain Henry Hatsell in payment of a large debt owed by Bagg.

Morrice

The manor was subsequently the property of Sir William Morrice[18] (1602-1676) of Werrington in Devon, Secretary of State for the Northern Department and a Lord of the Treasury from June 1660 to September 1668.

Prideaux

In 1810 the manor belonged to Walter Prideaux, attorney-at-law at Totnes,[19] apparently a member of that ancient and widespread family seated at Orcheton, Modbury; Adeston, Holbeton; Thuborough, Sutcombe; Soldon, Holsworthy; Netherton, Farway; Ashburton; Nutwell, Woodbury; Ford Abbey, Thorncombe; (also Prideaux Place, Padstow and Prideaux Castle, Luxulyan, Cornwall).

References

  1. ^ Domesday Book
  2. ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.177
  3. ^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 2 (Notes), 39:15
  4. ^ Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.747
  5. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.657, pedigree of Roope of East Allington
  6. ^ Pevsner, p.748
  7. ^ Thorn & Thorn, Part 1, 39:15
  8. ^ Risdon, p.177, regnal date 24 Edward I
  9. ^ Risdon, p.177
  10. ^ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.304
  11. ^ Pole, p.304, regnal date 19 Edward III
  12. ^ Pole, p.304
  13. ^ Pole, p.304
  14. ^ Pole, p.304
  15. ^ Risdon, p.177; Pole, p.304
  16. ^ History of Parliament biography [1]
  17. ^ Ceri Johnson/National Trust, "Saltram", National Trust Press, 1998
  18. ^ Risdon, p.177
  19. ^ Risdon, p.384