Giffard Church, Devon, on the monument of John Giffard (d. 1622) of
Brightley. They came to prominence again in the 19th century as the arms of
Hardinge Giffard (1823–1921),
Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, who was elevated to the
peerage in 1885 as
Baron Halsbury of
Halsbury in the County of Devon, and was created
Earl of Halsbury in 1898 One of the earliest holders of the manor was the 13th-century Sir Walter Giffard, after whom the manor subsequently took its suffix, who lived during the reign of
King Henry III (1216–1272). He left a daughter Emma as his sole heiress who married three times: • Firstly to Hugh Widworthy, without issue. • Secondly to Sir William Trewin, for whom she produced issue, William Trewin, who took the surname "de Wear"
in lieu of his patronymic. • Thirdly to Sir Robert Dynham, without issue. Stone effigies of an early member of the Giffard family and his wife exist in the Parish Church, now housed separately in arched niches set into the north wall of the nave. They are believed to represent Sir Walter Giffard and his wife Lady Alice de St George, whose son was also named Walter, however no identifying inscriptions or armorials survive to confirm any attribution of identity. The original location of these effigies was in the north transept, from which they were removed in the 19th century to make room for the new organ.
Surviving branches of Giffard The estate of
Brightley in the parish of
Chittlehampton, about 10 miles east of Weare Giffard, was acquired by Sir Roger Giffard (d. 1547) on his marriage to Margaret Coblegh, the heiress of Brightley. Over the porch of Brightley Barton, now a large farmhouse, still exists an escutcheon bearing the arms of Giffard. Roger was a son of Sir Thomas Giffard (c. 1461–1513) of the manor of Halsbury, about 13 miles west of Weare Giffard. The Giffards of Halsbury appear to have been a cadet line of the Giffards of Weare. Bartholomew Giffard (died c. 1314) of
Clovelly, married Joan de Halsbury, the heiress of Halsbury. The 13th-century
Testa de Nevill lists the manor of Clovelly as being held by Sir Roger Giffard from his overlord Sir Walter Giffard of Wear. The senior male line at Clovelly died out in 1303 on the death of Sir Matthew Giffard, who left two daughters co-heiresses.
de Wear The Trewin (or Treawyn, etc.) family,
alias "de Weare", are said to have used fishes as an heraldic device, in reference to the fish-weir within the manor and such devices are sculpted on the
spandrels of the western arch of the western porch to the Hall. The arms of William Trewin
alias Weare (d. 1421) are shown in the 4th quarter of the escutcheon on the monumental brass depicting
Richard Fortescue (d. 1570) in
Filleigh Church:
Argent, on a bend vert between six crosses crosslet fitchee gules three crozier heads or. The last of in the male line of the de Wear family was William de Wear, who died c. 1421 and left a daughter his sole heiress, who became the wife of Richard Denzell, descended from a cadet branch of the Denzell family of Denzell manor in
St Mawgan parish, near
St Columb Major, near
Newquay, Cornwall.
Denzell The senior line of the Denzell family became extinct in the male line on the death of
John Denzel (d. 1535),
serjeant-at-law and
Attorney-General to the
Queen Consort,
Elizabeth of York. He held large estates in
Cornwall and left two daughters as his co-heiresses, Ann who married
Sir William Holles (1509–91), later
Lord Mayor of London, and another daughter who married into the
Roskymer family. It was a cadet branch of this family which had acquired Weare Giffard by marriage to the heiress of Weare. Richard Denzell had one son, also named Richard, by his wife the de Wear heiress, and he left no male progeny but a daughter Elizabeth as his sole heiress. The arms of Denzell were:
Sable, a mullet in chief and a crescent in base argent. These arms survive sculpted on a bench-end, c. 1510, in Weare Giffard Church and also sculpted in stone on the monument to Sir Richard de Pomeroy (1442–1496), in
St Mary's Church, Berry Pomeroy. Sir Richard de Pomeroy (1442–1496), KB, knighted by King Henry VII,
Sheriff of Devon in 1473, married Elizabeth Densell (d. 1508), daughter and co-heiress of Richard Densell of Weare Giffard and Filleigh, Devon, and widow of Martin Fortescue (d .1472), of Wimpstone, Modbury. The Denzell arms are also shown in the second
quarter of the arms of
Richard Fortescue (c. 1517–1570) on his
monumental brasses in Filleigh Church.
Fortescue motto:
Forte Scutum Salus Ducum ("A Strong Shield is the Salvation of Leaders") In 1454 Sir Martin Fortescue (d. 1472), second son of Sir
John Fortescue (1395–1485),
Chief Justice, of Ebrington Manor in Gloucestershire, married Elizabeth Densyll, the daughter and heiress of Richard Densyll of Weare Giffard and Filleigh, and thereby the manor became a possession of the Fortescue family, together with substantial other Densyll manors including East Buckland, Bray (both adjacent to Filleigh), Buckland Filleigh, Combe and Tamerton. The Filleigh Estate, comprising some 5,500 acres (22 km2), together with Castle Hill mansion is still today privately owned by descendants of the Fortescue family. The last Earl Fortescue to own Castle Hill was
Hugh Fortescue, 5th Earl Fortescue (1888–1958) who died in June 1958, aged 70. As he had no surviving male issue he was succeeded in the earldom by his younger brother,
Denzil Fortescue, 6th Earl Fortescue. However the 5th Earl bequeathed
Castle Hill, his principal seat, to his elder surviving daughter, Lady Margaret Fortescue (b. 1923) and bequeathed Weare Giffard to his younger daughter Lady Elizabeth Fortescue (b. 1926), who sold the manor in 1960. Lady Margaret had married in 1948
Bernard van Cutsem, and had issue. Castle Hill is now the home of her daughter Eleanor, Countess of Arran (b. 1949), who married on 28 September 1974
Arthur Gore, 9th Earl of Arran (b. 1938). Lady Elizabeth married in 1946 Major William Lloyd (John) Baxendale,
Coldstream Guards, of Hailwell House, Framfield, Uckfield, Sussex, and had issue: • David Hugh (b. 1952) • Peter Anthony (b. 1955) • Lucinda Margaret (b. 1958) Lady Elizabeth Baxendale sold the manor of Weare Giffard in 1960. ==Weare Giffard Hall==