Knightstone, Ottery St Mary

family, the heiress of which Joan Bittlesgate, daughter of Thomas (or John) Bittlesgate by his wife Joan Beauchamp, was the wife of Richard Woodville (died 1441), grandfather of Elizabeth Woodville (c.1437-1492) Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Edward IV.

In 1381 the Bittlesgate family obtained a licence from the Bishop of Exeter to build and operate a private chapel at their home, but no trace of the structure survives.

[7] As all the grandchildren of Thomas III Bittlesgate died childless, in accordance with the entail the estates descended to the great heiress Lady Cecily Bonville (1460-1529), wife of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset (1455-1501), the son of Elizabeth Woodville by her first husband Sir John Grey (c.1432-1461) of Groby in Leicestershire.

[9] Following the attainder of Cicely's grandson Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1517-1554), his estates escheated to the Crown, which sold Knightstone to William Sherman, a wealthy merchant[10] of Ottery St Mary.

[11] Three monumental brasses of the Sherman family survive in Ottery St Mary Church, at the east end of the south aisle, one dated 1542, another 1583.

Knightstone House in 2011
Entrance gates to Knightstone House
Arms of Bittlesgate: Argent, an annulet sable over all a fess gules [ 1 ]
Arms of Sherman: Or, a lion rampant sable between three holly leaves vert [ 12 ]
Monument of John Cooke (d.1632) of Thorne. Ottery St Mary Church. He married his step-sister Margaret Sherman (d.1614), a grand-daughter of William Sherman of Knightstone. The arms of Sherman appear above his left shoulder