Chantry house - Combe Raleigh Devon
The Chantry stands near the church of St Nicholas, Combe Raleigh Devon, built in 15c for a priest serving a chantry there.   Built of local flint rubble; with slate roof, gabled at the ends, it was thatched until the 1920s; 
A chantry was an endowment established for a priest or priests to celebrate specific masses or ‘chants’ for the soul of the founder to ease the founders journey to heaven .  
Lord of the manor William Denys &amp; wife Joan founded a chantry in late 13c followed in late 14c by Joan Bonville 
In 1498 a perpetual chantry was established in the church by the lord of the manor Maurice Moore &amp; Cecily Bonville here between c. 1488-1500 and it was at this time that this house was provided for the chanter priest.

Records show that during the 1520s and 30s The Chantry was the home of priest John Adams, but a few years later everything changed with the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII.  In 1547, during the reign of his protestant son King Edward VI, The Chantry Act dissolved the chantries and all their associated practices.
After the dissolution of the chantries, the lands and property attached to The Chantry were granted to the uncle of King Edward , Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector during the king's minority .   He in turn passed it to Sir Thomas Pomeroy and the Chantry became a gentleman’s residence. 
Later in the 16c it was bought by John Peter who, in 1603 sold it to Hugh Crossinge, a merchant of Exeter.   But, by the late 17c it was in the hands of Benedictus Marwood, a grocer of Exeter, whose ancestors had been royal physicians to Queen Elizabeth I, King James I, and also King Charles I.    It then passed with other property through the generations of the Marwood family up to James Thomas Benedictus Marwood +++ in the 1780s. 
Rented out in the late 18c it was occupied by local farmers, with tax records revealing it was the home of Joan Saunders who was paying an annual land tax of 12 shillings, and later in 1806 Susan Sydenham  the in 1808 Samuel Dimond.
Later in life James Thomas Benedictus Marwood +++  was recorded as a ‘lunatic’ and after his death in 1811 without issue  his estates passed to his sisters, with Mary wife of Rev George Notley inheriting the Combe Raleigh property and then to their son James Thomas Benedictus Notley.   By this time, in the 1830s, The Chantry was the home of the Pring family, and the  1841 census records 30 year old Daniel Pring, an agricultural labourer, along with 70 year old, Mary Pring.
Throughout the 19c it was the home of farming and labouring families &amp; by the 1880s its appearance was that of a rather run-down farmhouse.
In the early 1900s the house was home to the Carnell family, with Richard Carnell and his son Jesse working as bricklayers, along with Richard’s wife, Emma, and their 3 daughters, all laundresses.
However in the 1930s new owners added a new wing, which included a new bathrooms, as well as replacing the thatch with tiles, and it was the beginning of a new life for the house as a comfortable family home.
One of the most significant elements of The Chantry is the survival of so many historic features. With very few changes or renovations made to the house over the centuries it retains extraordinary historic features, contributing to its status as Grade I listed. This includes a newell staircase, described as a ‘remarkable staircase of heart of oak’, along with a garderobe at the rear and original door frames, timbers, and fireplaces. The hall features intersecting moulded beams with carved bosses, as well as ‘plank and muntin’ screen. The roof has been described as ‘an outstanding survival’ featuring 3 arch braced trusses along with many other details, including moulded braces and purlins. The house also features a traditional bread oven, and although more recent the 1930s bathroom fittings are also a notable feature.

<a href="https://comberaleigh.org/combe-raleigh-history/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">comberaleigh.org/combe-raleigh-history/</a>
<a href="http://www.house-historian.co.uk/tag/combe-raleigh/" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.house-historian.co.uk/tag/combe-raleigh/</a>
Ian Capper CCL <a href="https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6430591" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6430591</a>
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