Holy Trinity Chapel, Umberleigh

[4] According to Tristram Risdon (d.1640) the Devon historian, the site was originally a royal palace of the Saxon King Athelstan and was later a mediaeval mansion house by successive inheritance of the Solery (or de Soligny), Champernoun, Willington, Beaumont and Bassett families.

Umberleigh Chapel of the Holy Trinity was founded by the widow Lady Joan Willington (died c. 1314), née Champernowne (Latinised to Campo Arnulphi ("from the field of Arnulph")), formerly the wife of Sir Ralph Willington of Gloucestershire, and the daughter and heiress of Sir William Champernowne of Umberleigh.

[7] The foundation deed was quoted by Tristram Risdon in his 1630 work A Survey of Devon:[8] "Johan de Campo Arnulphi salut(em).

Know ye that I in my widowhood, inspired of divine charity, for the salvation of my soul and of my ancestors, not least for the salvation of the souls of lord William de Champernowne, my father, and of Eve my mother and of Sir Ralph de Willington sometime my husband, and of our boys, have granted all the land of Wiara toward the sustenance of a chaplain of our own presentation, and of that of our heirs, to divine celebration in our chapel of Umberleigh.

[11] Three tombs existed, identified by Coulter by the letters A, B and C: Risdon, writing in about 1630 described the Chapel and its contents thus:[15] "In Trinity Chapel, which still stands, many of these (i.e. lords of the manor of Umberleigh) were interred, this being their principal dwelling, where they had fair sepulchres on whose tombs some of their proportions were curiously[16] cut; but 'tempus edax rerum',[17] now only two of them remain, upon one of which is the 'effigies' [18] of a knight and his lady adorned with their armories, and other noble families, their allies, richly gilded, whereon the Courtenays, Grandisons, Willingtons, Whalshborowes, did not long since appear.

Surviving south wall (centre) of Umberleigh Chapel, Atherington, Devon, founded by Joan Champernown c. 1275. Now a redundant farm building next to Umberleigh House. The north side of the wall is covered by a modern lean-to roof which forms a long storage shed. In the north side of the wall are visible the blocked up gothic-arched doorway and four lancet windows
Gothic doorway to ruined Umberleigh Chapel, north side of sole surviving wall. The architectural fragments belonging to the chapel or former mansion house were unearthed in the vicinity from the 1950s onwards [ 1 ]
Mediaeval lancet window on internal wall of ruined Umberleigh Chapel
Unearthed fragments of architectural decoration belonging to the mediaeval Umberleigh Chapel or adjacent mansion. The length of stone sculpted with gothic niches enclosing shields (rear right) may have been the original base of the chest tomb on top of which lay the effigies of the knight and his lady removed to Atherington Church in about 1800. [ 2 ] The grave slab incised with a large floriated cross (left) is of very ancient date and compares with a similar slab in nearby Chittlehampton Church. The renaissance classical column (centre) perhaps was originally part of the canopy of a 16th- or 17th-century monument
Willington effigies in their present location in Atherington Church, north side of chancel, on 19th-century plinth
13th-century effigy "C", supposed to be the crusading knight Sir William de Champernowne, against east wall of north aisle, Atherington Church. It is comparable to the 13th-century effigies in the Temple Church in London