|
Merryfield (''alias'' Merrifield, Murefeld, Merefeld, Muryfield, Merifield, Wadham's Castle, etc.) is a historic estate in the parish of Ilton, near Ilminster in Somerset, England. It was the principal seat of the Wadham family, and was called by Prince (died 1723) their "noble moated seat of Meryfeild" ''(sic)''.〔 Biography of Sir John II Wadham (died 1412), Justice of the Common Pleas〕 The mansion house was demolished in 1618 by Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645), of Orchard Wyndham, a nephew and co-heir of Nicholas II Wadham (1531–1609), co-founder of Wadham College, Oxford, the last in the male line of the Wadham family. It bears no relation to the present large 19th-century grade II listed〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Merryfield House, Ilton )〕 mansion known as ''Merryfield House'', formerly the vicarage, immediately south of St Peter's Church, Ilton. ==Description== About 1 mile west-north-west of St Peter's Church, Ilton, the parish church of Ilton,〔Moated site: OS Map Grid Reference: ST33981779 Latitude 50.95575° Longitude -2.94131°〕 situated on agricultural land south of RAF Merryfield aerodrome and between the disused railway line and the disused Chard Canal, is a moated site which is all that remains of the medieval fortified manor house of Merryfield (or Muryfield),〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Merryfield House )〕 which was the seat of the ancient Wadham family. The Wadham family originated at the manor of Wadham in the parish of Knowstone,〔Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.422〕 in North Devon. ''Wadeham'' was a manor recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as held in-chief from King William the Conqueror by the Saxon thane ''Ulf'', who had held it since before the Norman Conquest of 1066.〔Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 52,40〕 Such continuing holdings by Saxons after the Conquest are very rare, and Ulf in 1086 is still described as one of "The King's Thanes", so clearly was serving the new Norman king satisfactorily. The Wadhams other Devon seat, in the South of the county, was Edge in the parish of Branscombe. The house was demolished in 1618. The rectangular moat remains and an area which may have been an associated fishpond for the supply of food to the household, particularly according to religious usage during Lent and on Fridays. In 1524 King Henry VIII granted a licence to empark to his courtier Sir Nicholas I Wadham (died 1542), who had been present at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520, for him to make a park of of woodland and of woodland. The deer park so created was situated immediately to the east of the moated site. The last of the family in the male line was Nicholas II Wadham (1531–1609), who posthumously with his widow Dorothy Petre, founded Wadham College, Oxford in 1610. Monuments to the Wadham family survive in St Peter's Church, Ilton and also on a grander scale in nearby St Mary's Church, Ilminster. The three sisters of Nicholas Wadham were (in their issue) his heirs, one of whom was Florence Wadham (died 1596), wife of Sir John Wyndham of Orchard Wyndham in Somerset, and mother of Sir John Wyndham (1558–1645). The Wyndham family, which later commonly used the first name "Wadham", inherited the estate of Merryfield and the "Wyndham Estate" is still today the largest employer in the village of Ilton.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=St Peter's Church )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Merryfield, Ilton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|