ASHRIDGE MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The National Archives MDR record F276414 identifies Ashridge Manor in North Tawton, Devon. Independent Devon archaeological records identify Ashridge as a medieval manor house in the parish of North Tawton, at OS grid reference SS 670 031, with a first recorded reference to the manor circa 1380.
Representative point: 50.81392, -3.88886
Basis: documented_manor_house — The documented medieval Ashridge manor house and later Ashridge Farm site recorded at OS grid reference SS 670 031. The coordinate is an approximate WGS84 conversion of that grid reference.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period:
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: Available evidence securely locates the manor house/site but does not provide a documented or reconstructable perimeter of the historical manorial land. The North Tawton parish boundary, modern Ashridge Court estate, and modern landholding boundaries have therefore not been substituted.
Sources:
- The National Archives: Ashridge Manor, MDR record F276414: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F276414 — Registry record for the exact manor name and North Tawton location.
- Heritage Gateway: Manor House in the Parish of North Tawton, HER MDV1068: https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?resourceID=104&uid=MDV1068 — Identifies Ashridge as a medieval manor house in North Tawton, gives OS grid reference SS 670 031, and records that a new house was built in 1800 while the older building became the farm.
- A History of Devonshire: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/A_History_of_Devonshire_%28IA_historyofdevonsh01wort%29.pdf — Discusses the Ashridge estate in North Tawton and its descent through the Valletort, Champernowne, St Leger and Wood/Atwood families.
- Gazetteer of British Place Names: Ashridge Court, Devon: https://gazetteer.org.uk/place/Ashridge_Court,_Devon_1432 — Confirms the associated Ashridge Court settlement in North Tawton and provides an independent nearby location reference.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is based on the documented manor-house location, not the centre of the modern parish or a modern administrative boundary.
- No reliable source located in this research supplies the historical territorial perimeter of Ashridge Manor; no polygon is returned.
- The HER description notes that the historic manor-house structure was largely demolished by 1971, although fragments and associated buildings survived.