Denbury is an historic manor in Devonshire, England. The manor house, known as Denbury Manor is situated on the edge of the village of Denbury.
Descent
Reynell
The manor of Denbury was long owned by the Reynell family of East Ogwell in Devon, also seated at adjoining West Ogwell. The Reynell estates passed by marriage to the Taylor family.
In 1726 Joseph Taylor married Rebecca Whitrow, daughter of John Whitrow of Dartmouth and niece and heiress of Richard Reynell of East Ogwell, West Ogwell and of Denbury, twice elected a Member of Parliament for Ashburton 1702-8 and 1711-34. Joseph Taylor was the son of Captain Joseph Taylor, Royal Navy, of Plymouth, whose family was from Lyme Regis in Dorset, who was captain of the flag-ship stationed at Plymouth at the time of the death of Queen Anne in 1714. The mural monument of Captain Joseph Taylor is in Denbury Church sculpted by John Weston of Exeter, is in the shape of a grey obelisk on the top part of which is sculpted a portrait medallion, and on the lower part a relief-sculpted anchor and other naval symbols and several canon which appear to lie behind the obelisk, with an inscribed sarcophagus below. The lengthy Latin inscription, now much faded, was composed by his friend Dr. Williams, of Exeter. Joseph Taylor was a Member of Parliament for Ashburton 1739-41 and was educated at Exeter College, Oxford and as a law student at the Middle Temple. Richard Reynell had bequeathed his estates "to be sold for the benefit of" his niece Rebecca Whitrow, Taylor's wife, and Taylor duly purchased such estates as the "absolute estate of inheritance — in Devon or elsewhere" which, as required by his marriage settlement, he settled upon his wife and his eldest son.
Thomas Taylor (born 1727)
Thomas Taylor, eldest son, who married Eliza Pierce, daughter and heiress of Adam Pierce of Yendacott in the parish of Shobrooke, Devon. As her surviving correspondence reveals she was "a cultured and intelligent woman, who had strong opinions of her own concerning not only the running of her life but also on the subjects of books and literature". In about 1750 Thomas Taylor began to rebuild the manor house at West Ogwell, as recorded by Polwhele : "Three parts of this parish at present are the property of Mr Taylor who built a large house here about forty years ago but left it unfinished. It stands near the church and is occupied by Farmer Howard, who rents the estate and whose family are more than half the parisioners."
Pierce Joseph Taylor (1754-1832)
Pierce Joseph Taylor of West Ogwell and of Denbury House, son and heir, who in 1790 completed the rebuilding of West Ogwell House commenced by his father. The manor house of East Ogwell was then abandoned, and Polwhele wrote of East Ogwell Church: "Close adjoining to the church are the ivy-grown ruins of the mansion house of the Reynells, inhabited at present by large flocks of pigeons". Pierce Joseph Taylor was educated at Eton College and his correspondence whilst a pupil there to his mother survives. He was promoted to Lt-Captain to Captain in the 3rd Dragoon Guards in January 1779. In 1781 when a Captain in the 21st Light Dragoons his portrait was painted by John Downman. He married Charlotte Cooke, 5th daughter of Rev. William Cooke, Dean of Ely and Provost of King's College, Cambridge. His son was Maj-Gen Thomas William Taylor, CB, of West Ogwell House, an officer of the Honourable East India Company at Madras, and later Lt-Gov of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and a Groom of the Bedchamber to King William IV, whose mural monument survives in Denbury Church.
Froude
In 1807 Denbury was sold by the Taylor family of West Ogwell to Mrs. Robert Froude, mother of Rev. Robert Froude, Archdeacon of Totnes, Rector of Dartington and Rector of Denbury. Denbury was conveyed to her two daughtersfor life. The present manor house comprises a 17th-century core to which was added a Georgian facade, with later pseudo-mediaeval alterations in 1825 by Rev. Hurrell Froude, son of the Archdeacon and an Anglican priest and an early leader of the Oxford Movement.
Curtis
Walter Septimus Curtis was the owner of the estate in the early 1900s. He was lord of the manors of Denbury and of adjoining Newton Abbot and Newton Bushel. He was a barrister of Lincoln's Inn and was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was the 3rd and youngest son of John Curtis by his wife Juliana Davies, eldest daughter of John Davies of Manchester. Walter's grandfather was Matthew Curtis of Thornfield in the parish of Heaton Mersey, Lancashire, the leading manufacturer of cotton-spinning machinery in Britain and thrice Mayor of Manchester. Walter married Eleanor Francis Master, daughter and heiress of Robert Edward Master, JP, Madras Civil Service, of Hillingdon Furze, Uxbridge, Middlesex, by whom he had one son, Robert Master Curtis and 6 daughters, including Lettice Curtis an aviator, flight test engineer, air racing pilot, and sportswoman. Walter Curtis made substantial additions including the gatehouse and the very high and very long boundary wall in which it is set, probably built between 1912 and 1914, which stretches from the village of Denbury for several hundred yards along the roadside, past Denbury Green. His coat of arms is sculpted on a stone tablet above the inner entrance of the gatehouse.
Townsend
In 1975 Denbury manor house was the home of Lt-Col. Cyril Moseley Townsend, Durham Light Infantry. He was the son of Admiral Cyril Samuel Townsend by his wife Mary Elizabeth Moseley. His gravestone in the graveyard of Denbury Church is inscribed: "In loving memory of Lt.Col. Cyril M. Townsend of Denbury Manor late the Durham Light Infantry. August 8th 1908 - May 29th 1997 and of Lois Isabel Townsend D.St.J. March 31st 1907 - Dec 31st 1997 aged 90, beloved wife of the above for 63 years". His daughter is Mrs Tessa Carol Amies, a trustee of the Parish Lands Charity of Denbury.
