Woolleigh, Beaford

The surviving mansion house known as Woolleigh Barton, situated 1 3/4 miles north-west of the parish church of Beaford, is a grade II* listed building,[1] long used as a farmhouse.

The earliest surviving record of it is in the registers of the Bishops of Exeter for 1321 when it was licensed to Master William de Wolleghe, Rector of Yarnscombe.

He was permitted by the licence to say mass therein but was forbidden from administering the sacraments there and was obliged to attend the parish church on Sundays and Feast Days.

[4] Woolleigh was thus a member of the feudal barony of Okehampton, whose later barons were the Courtenay Earls of Devon of Tiverton Castle.

After that Woolleigh appears to have been used as a residence of elder sons and heirs apparent whilst their fathers were still alive and living at Killerton.

Woolleigh Barton in 2015
Woolleigh Barton in 2015, chapel at right
Chapel at Woolleigh Barton in 2015
Ancient roof timbers at Woolleigh Barton
Arms of Hatch: Gules, two demi-lions passant guardant in pale or [ 7 ]
Arms of Mallet: Azure, three escallops or
Small kneeling effigy of Elizabeth Rolle, widow of Robert Mallet of Woolleigh, on monument to her 2nd husband Sir John Acland (died 1620) of Columb John , in Broadclyst Church, Devon
Arms of Acland: Chequy argent and sable, a fesse gules
Escutcheon showing arms of Acland impaling Mallet. Detail from monument to Sir Arthur Acland (died 1610) in Landkey Church [ 26 ]