| Washfield | |
|---|---|
.jpg) St Mary the Virgin Church, Washfield | |
  Washfield Location withinDevon | |
| Population | 362 (2001 census) |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| 50°56′N3°31′W / 50.933°N 3.517°W /50.933; -3.517 | |
Washfield is a village, parish and formermanor inMid Devon,Devon, England, situated about 2 miles north-west ofTiverton. The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. It was within the jurisdiction of the historicWest Budleigh Hundred. In 2001 the parish had a population of 362.
Washfield is listed in theDomesday Book of 1086 as two separate manors, now referred to as Little Washfield and Great Washfield.[1] Washfield is situated close toTiverton Castle, one of the most important mediaeval strongholds in Devon, and principal seat of theEarls of Devon,feudal barons of Plympton.
Great Washfield was held by Ralph de Pomeroy,[2] one ofWilliam the Conqueror'sDevon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief. It is listed in Domesday Book as the 39th of his 58 Devonshire manors, and was held by him indemesne.[3]
The tenant in chief of Little Washfield as listed in theDomesday Book of 1086 was the Norman magnateRalph de Paynell,Sheriff of Yorkshire, one ofWilliam the Conqueror'sDevon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief. It is listed as the ninth of his ten Devonshire manors heldin-chief.[4] His tenant at Washfield was Gerard, himself a tenant-in-chief of two manors withinTiverton Hundred,[5] who also held from him the nearby manor of Little Tiverton[6] ("Great" Tiverton having been a royal manor since Saxon times[7]). Gerard's own two manors later passed to thefeudal barons of Plympton,[8] lords ofTiverton Castle, which castle was given by King Henry I to Richard de Redvers,[9] Earl of Devon. The eldest son of Ralph de Paynell was Ralph FitzPayne of Dart,[10] who at the time of the Domesday Book held the manors of Dart and Worth, the latter in the parish of Washfield, from the overlordWilliam of Poilley ( 21,6&14).
Ralph FitzPayne died without male progeny when his younger brother Reginaldus inherited his manor of Worth and making it his seat adopted the surname "de Worth".[11] His descendants in a direct male line, later known as Worth, remained seated at Worth until 1880 on the death without male progeny of Reginald Worth.[12] This makes the Worth family one of the longest lived and longest seated on its original seat in the history of Devon. It thus compares in these aspects to the continuing families of Fulford and Kelly.
Another ancient gentry family situated within the parish of Washfield was Barby.[13]