Umberleigh

The manor of Umberleigh, which had its own entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, was entirely situated on the west side of the River Taw and was centred on the Nunnery which was given by William the Conqueror to the Holy Trinity Abbey in Caen, Normandy.

He built at Umberleigh a palace and next to it a chapel dedicated to the Blessed Trinity which served the royal family and household.

[2] 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.

[3] In the Domesday Book of 1086 Umberlei is listed as the sole possession of the Eccl(esi)a (de) S(ancta) Trinitat(e) Cadom(ensis), the Church of the Holy Trinity of Caen, Normandy, the 12th-century Norman church of which survives today as the Abbaye de Sainte-Trinité, also known as the Abbaye aux Dames ("Abbey of Ladies"), due to the fact it was founded by William the Conqueror (1066–1087) and his wife Matilda of Flanders, before the Norman Conquest of England, as a Benedictine monastery for women.

[6] The Champernon family, sometimes Latinised Campo Arnulfi ("field of Arnulph") originated in the Cambernon area of Lower Normandy, and their arrival in England was associated with the Norman Conquest.

[19] Between 1224 and 1228 Ralph Willington and his wife Olympia built the Lady Chapel in St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester.

[20] Ralph also held (from Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick (1208–1242) as overlord) the manor of Poulton in Awre, Gloucestershire.

[21] Ralph II married Joan de Champernon, heiress of Umberleigh, during the reign of Edward I (1272–1307) was The descendants of Ralph II and Joan were as follows: Umberleigh railway station lies on the Tarka Line north of Portsmouth Arms and south of Chapelton.

The Georgian Umberleigh House, a Grade I listed building , a remnant of the grand 16th-century mansion of the Basset family , on the west bank of the River Taw, 1 mile northwest of Umberleigh Bridge, now in the parish of Atherington . It was anciently the manor house of Umberleigh, site of the mediaeval Umberleigh Chapel , the ruins of which survive, and supposedly of the 10th-century royal palace of King Athelstan
Arms of de Soleigny: Quarterly argent and gules . [ 5 ]
Arms of the Champernon/Champernowne family: Gules, a saltire vair between twelve billets or .
A 13th-century effigy, originally cross-legged, believed to be the crusading knight Sir William de Champernon, now situated against east wall of north aisle, Atherington Church, removed circa 1820 from the Umberleigh Chapel . It is comparable to the 13th-century effigies in the Temple Church in London.
The (ancient) arms of the Willington family: Party per pale indented argent and gules a chief or . All the sons of Joan de Champernon and Ralph de Willington abandoned their paternal arms of Willington (ancient) in favour of a differenced version of their maternal arms of Champernon (see below). [ 8 ] These ancient arms are shown in 19th-century stained glass in Atherington Church impaling the Champernowne arms.
Modern arms of the Willingtons of Umberleigh, Devon and Barcheston in Warwickshire: Gules, a saltire vair . These arms of Willington a saltire vair are shown on the tomb in Barcheston Church, Warks., of William Willington (d.1555), of Willington manor and his wife Anne, whose alabaster effigies lie on top of the tomb. [ 9 ] Also the same arms are listed in the Heralds' Visitation of Warwickshire, 1619 ( Wellington de Hurley ): Gules, a saltire vair . The Dering Roll of Arms lists the arms of Rauf de Wiltone as Gules, a saltire vair .