Pilton House in the parish of Pilton, near Barnstaple, North Devon, Ex31, is an historic grade II listed Georgian mansion house built in 1746 by Robert Incledon, twice Mayor of Barnstaple, who was from nearby Braunton. It is situated almost in the centre of the ancient town of Pilton, but had formerly extensive grounds covering at least 20 acres, which extended down "Pilton Lawn", now built over, to the River Yeo. It later served as the residence for various Members of Parliament for Barnstaple, for which it was well suited being only a 10-minute walk from the centre of that town, yet in a secluded situation with extensive grounds, and sufficiently large and grand for entertaining borough officials and electors.
History
No records detailing the history of the site of Pilton House before the 18th century survive on available title deeds. It is believed to occupy the site of the demolished mediaeval Pilton Priory. Reed states that the site was part of the Pilton Priory lands purchased following the Dissolution of the Monasteries by the lawyer George Rolle of Stevenstone, founder of the influential and wealthy Rolle family, and quickly re-sold by him in 1545 piecemeal and at a profit.
Robert Incledon. Pilton House was built in 1746 by Robert Incledon, a lawyer of New Inn, London, Clerk of the Peace and Deputy Recorder of Barnstaple and twice Mayor of Barnstaple, in 1712 and 1721. He was a member of the local ancient gentry family of de Incledon, which originated at the estate of Incledon, in the parish of Braunton, which family is first recorded in 1160. He was the younger of the two sons of Lewis III Incledon of Buckland House, Braunton, about 5 miles to the north-west of Pilton, by his second wife, whom he married at nearby Tawstock, Elizabeth Fane, daughter of Hon. Robert Fane of Combe Bank, Sevenoaks, Kent, 7th son of Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland. Tawstock Court was the seat of Henry Bourchier, 5th Earl of Bath, whose wife was Rachell Fane, a daughter of the 1st Earl of Westmorland. Robert's elder brother was Henry Incledon of Buckland and Incledon, who inherited the paternal estates. Robert Incledon married twice, firstly to Mary Lethbridge, daughter of Christopher Lethbridge of Westaway House, Pilton, the latter of whose "big and sumptuous" mural monument survives in Pilton Church, which marriage was without issue. Secondly to Penelope Sandford, daughter of John Sandford of Ninehead, Somerset.
Benjamin Incledon, "The Antiquary", second son and heir by his father's second wife, a genealogist of the ancient gentry families of Devon and historian of the ancient Borough of Barnstaple. He married Margaret Newton, second daughter and co-heiress of John Newton of Tiverton. She died at The Castle, Barnstaple, on 8 September 1803.
Robert Newton Incledon, eldest son and heir who was baptised at Pilton in 1761. In 1797 he married Elizabeth Beavis, the adopted daughter of Col. Henry Beavis of Yeotown in the nearby parish of Goodleigh. In 1806 he sold Pilton House to James Whyte and built for himself a new country residence at Yeotown, of which survives today only a castellated lodge with two square towers and a crenellated bow-window. He left two daughters, including Margaret Incledon, the last of the Incledon family, alive in 1890. The large inscribed grave-slab of Robert and his wife Elizabeth survives in the south aisle of the chancel of Pilton Church.
Whyte
James II Whyte, an Irish gentleman, who purchased Pilton House in 1806 from Robert Newton Incledon. He expanded the estate by purchasing part of Pilton Lawn, which had been retained by the Rolle family, namely John Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle. He also acquired Westaway House within the parish from Sir Thomas Buckler Lethbridge, 2nd Baronet. James II Whyte was the son and heir of James I Whyte formerly of Cookstown, Co. Meath, of Dawlish in Devon, and of Denbies, near Dorking in Surrey, son of Mark Whyte of Bride Street, Dublin, by his wife Jane Edwards, a daughter of John Edwards of Old Court, County Wicklow, Ireland, and aunt of Lt-Col. John Edwards the Anglo-Irish soldier and poet. According to his will dated 1788 James I Whyte describes himself as "of Denbies but residing at Winestead", the home of the Hildyard family, the family of his second wife. James I Whyte was described by Oliver as "Colonel Jas Whyte of Ireland". In 1772 at St George's Hanover Square, Mayfair, James I Whyte married Gertrude Gee, a daughter of James Gee of Bishop Burton Hall near Beverley in the East Riding of Yorkshire. James I Whyte married secondly Anne-Catherine Hildyard, the sister and heiress of Sir Robert Hildyard, 4th Baronet of Winestead Hall, nr. Pattrington, East Riding of Yorkshire, by whom he had a daughter Anne Catherine Whyte, heiress of the Hildyard estates, who married Col. Thomas Blackborne Thoroton, Coldstream Guards, of FlinthamHall, Flintham, Nottinghamshire, who adopted the surname Hildyard as a condition of his wife's inheritance. Denbies remained in the ownership of James I Whyte for six years until around 1787, when it was purchased by Joseph Denison, a wealthy banker. In 1805 at St George's, Hanover Square, Mayfair, James II Whyte married Frances Honoria Beresford, a daughter of the Irish statesman Hon. John Beresford, a younger son of Marcus Beresford, 1st Earl of Tyrone and a younger brother of George de La Poer Beresford, 1st Marquess of Waterford. James II Whyte had issue including:
John James Whyte, eldest son and heir, JP DL, of Newtown Manor, County Leitrim, Ireland, Lieutenant-Colonel, 7th Hussars. In the 1880s he owned more than 9,000 acres in county Leitrim. In 1842 married Mary Ann Jesse, daughter of Charles Dieudonné de Montenach, and had issue including:
*Charles Cecil Beresford Whyte, eldest son and heir, JP DL, of Newtown Manor and Hatley Manor, near Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim, High Sheriff of County Leitrim in 1877.
Whytes Lane, formerly Ratton Row, in Pilton, was named after him. In 1849, beset by financial difficulties, James II Whyte put the estate up for sale, Pilton House being then described as: He sold at the same time Westaway House and farm, comprising 42 acres and 40 houses, cottages and gardens with the public house "The Priory Arms", fishing rights in the River Yeo and various other lands amounting to about 137 acres.
Fraser
The next owner was Sir William Fraser, 4th Baronet, a politician, author and book collector. He was elected Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1852, and again in 1857, and for Ludlow in 1863 and for Kidderminster in 1894. In 1859 there existed a public house on Pilton Street named after him "The Fraser Arms".
Williams/Basset
In 1880 Pilton House was the residence of Charles Henry Williams also of Westaway House, Pilton, where he operated a model cattle farm, and of Watermouth Castle all in North Devon. He was a naval and military officer, JP and Deputy Lieutenant for Devon, and was Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Barnstaple, 1868–1874. He was master of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds between 1887 and 1893. He provided much assistance in establishing the Barnstaple Staghounds, for which purpose he provided Pilton House as occasional accommodation for hounds and hunt staff when hunting in the vicinity.
Chichester
Major General Hugh Chichester, JP, of the Royal Bengal Artillery, was the occupant in 1893. The ancient and prominent Chichester family was originally seated at the manor of Raleigh, adjoining Pilton Priory on the north-east, in the parish of Pilton, and later split into various branches within North Devon. He was the 4th son of Robert Chichester, of nearby Hall in the parish of Bishops Tawton, Devon. Hugh's great-grandmother was Amy Incledon, eldest daughter of the builder of Pilton House, and wife of Charles Chichester of Hall. Moreover, Hugh's grandfather, Amy's eldest son Charles Chichester, had married into the family of Webber, which had inherited Buckland House, the seat of the then extinct senior branch of the Incledon family. Hugh's first son Walter died an infant, his second son Lionel Chichester was killed at the age of 29 in the Boer War and his third son Cecil Chichester, a captain in the Royal Navy, resided in 1937 at Marston Manor, Marston Magna, Somerset. In 1853 "Mr Chichester of Hall", having melted down the bell of the demolished mediaeval St Margaret's Hospital in Pilton, presented a new bell to Pilton Church in 1853. This appears to be either Hugh's father Robert Chichester or elder brother Charles Chichester.
Retirement Home
In 1948 the estate was acquired by the Barnstaple Old People's Housing Association and continues in that use in 2014.
