History of Slapton & Buckland

Slapton village with its winding roadways and picturesque cottages lies about half a mile inland from the sea and the Ley.  The Tower Inn, tucked away in the centre of the village, was originally part of the Collegiate Chantry of St. Mary, founded in 1373 by Sir Guy de Brian, standard bearer to King Edward II at the battle of Calais in 1349.  Much of the Chantry Tower still remains and the Tower Inn was built in about 1347 as cottages to house the men working on the monastery buildings.

The Manor belonged to the de Brian family as early as the reign of Henry II, and it continued in their ownership until that of Henry IV, it was later owned by the Earl of Northumberland who inherited it from a sister of Sir Guy de Brian and later sold to Sir Matthew Arundell during the reign of Charles I.

Charles Kelland who owned the Manor in 1684 gave monies for the apprenticing of 20 poor children and building the school funded by Kelland's Charity.

The Manor passed into the Courtenay family through the marriage of Sussana Kelland to William Courtenay in 1704 but was later broken up into separate holdings.

The age of the original house at Buckland is unknown but the present house was built before 1750 and was owned as part of the Manor of Slapton by Kelland Courtenay of Painsford.  In 1752 Buckland Farm was leased by his widow the Hon Elizabeth Courtenay to James Adams and then again in 1756 to brothers Thomas & William Hodge at a rent of £59 per annum. On each of the leases Elizabeth's brother John Montagu 4^th Earl of Sandwich, who was reputed to have invented the sandwich, acted surety for his sister.

These original vellum leases are held by the Devon Record office in Exeter.

The farm was sold to William Roberts of Exeter in 1796 by the 7^th Earl of Cork, who had inherited it through marriage to Anne Kelland Courtenay in 1764.

It was later purchased by Major John Bent of Exeter and in 1843 Thomas Hodge (jnr) paid £36-10-0 half year rent for the farm.

Buckland was the centre of a large tenanted farm that paid tithes to the church and in 1845 was around 170 acres.

Up until about 1856 the farm was called Buckleton subsequently changing it's name to Buckland by 1862, following the death of Thomas Hodge.  From about 1832 through to the census of 1891 it was often referred to as either Buckleton or Buckland.

In February 1857 Henry Paige Hodge, Thomas's son, applied to Devon Quarter Sessions to build a new road from the House entrance up to Thorn Cross so as to divert the existing road away from the farmyard, the cottages drive being the public road at that time.  Upon receiving approval all the existing farm buildings were demolished.  The House was remodelled to the present Regency style and reduced in size, the new road built and new barns erected.

Upon the death of Major Bent in 1866 Buckland was sold to Revd William Milton and Anthony Trollope for £2,300 with Henry Hodge remaining as tenant.

The family remained at Buckland until 1892 and on the death of Henry Hodge the Helmer family came to the farm from Cornworthy.  Thomas Helmer was a nephew of bachelor Henry and stayed until about 1914 when John Walter Symons took over the farm.  By 1926 a member of a local farming family, William Henry Widger was at Buckland.

By the second world war the estate was owned by the Pears family, relations of the soap manufacturers being requisitioned by the government in 1943 as part of the Slapton exclusion zone for the D day practice landings.

The view of Slapton Church (above), shows a sign which reads "Out of Bounds By Order Range Commandant".  All churches and historic monuments in the area were padlocked, covered in barbed wire and designated as out of bounds whilst the US Army carried out training exercises in preparation for the D-Day Landings.

They also had white strips painted on their roof (clearly visible here) to make them clearly identifiable as 'untouchable'.  Despite these precautions, however, this church was damaged by naval shelling carried out as part of this training, despite being some distance from the sea.

The Pears family returned after the war staying until 1963, only to move across the field to Thorn Farm where Oliver Pears remained until a few years ago.  Farming continued at Buckland until 1970 when the land was divided and the barns became redundant.

The Lower Yard barns were converted to cottages in the 1980's and the Upper yard cottages in the 1990's on the footprint of earlier barns.

Buckland House was extensively renovated in 2003 and the conservatory added at this time.

Currently the Victorian walled garden is being repaired and a new cottage added by the stables.

Hodge Family Tree:  Tenant farmers at Buckleton/Buckland 1756-1914

William Hodge B 1720 (Joint Tenant 1756 > ? )
Thomas Hodge (Sen) B 1726 (Joint Tenant 1756 > ? )

Jonathan Hodge B 1751 in Thurlstone M Susanna Fairweather B 1751 in Malborough May 13^th 1783

Children of Jonathan Hodge D 1832
    i    Thomas Hodge B 1783 in Thurlstone
    ii   Thomas Hodge (Jun) B 1784 in Thurlstone M Susanna Paige? B 1791
    iii  James Hodge B 1788 in Thurlstone
    iv   Susanna Fairweather Hodge B 1790 in Slapton
    v    Susanna Hodge B 1793 in Slapton