Mamhead is a rural village and civil parish near Dawlish and Kenton in Devon, South West England, in the Teignbridgelocal authority area. The village was home to a wild peacock named Marmite. Unfortunately Marmite was very loud and continually woke up the village residents. After some complaints, Marmite was abducted by the village folk and is now presumed dead. The village is now believed to be haunted by the spirit of Marmite. On high ground on the Haldon Hills, dense woodlands open out into views of the coast and the estuary of the River Exe.
History
The village was part of Exminsterhundred. According to Daniel and Samuel Lysons, in their Magna Britannia: John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales says of Mamhead: The population was 230 in 1801, 178 in 1901. A parish history file is kept at Dawlish Library.
Mamhead estate
The Mamhead estate is known from as early as the Domesday book, when it was held by Ralph de Pomeroy and later by Sir Hugh Peverell. In the early 14th century, Sir Nicholas Carew became lord of the manor through his marriage to Amicia de Peverell, and Mamhead remained with the Carews until 1547. The Mamhead estate was sold by the adventurer Sir Peter Carew to Giles Ball, whose son Sir Peter Ball was attorney-general to King Charles I's Queen, Henrietta Maria. He began to build a country house here, replacing an older house. His grandson Thomas Ball, a merchant, planted many exotic trees brought back from his continental travels. Britton & Brayley said of Mamhead's grounds The Beauties of England and Wales : Between 1742 and 1745, Ball built an obelisk on the hill above the house "out of a regard to the safety of such as might use to sail out of the Port of Exon or any others who might be driven on the coast". The obelisk has a height of one hundred feet. Mamhead then passed into the hands of the Earls of Lisburne, and 'Capability' Brown engaged through 1772-3 to redesign the grounds. In 1823, Mamhead was bought by Robert William Newman, who completely rebuilt the house on a new site in 1827–1833, to the designs of Anthony Salvin. In 1833, Westley Farm was also rebuilt by Salvin. Newman was Member of Parliament for Exeter from 1818 to 1826 and High Sheriff of Devon in 1827. On 17 March 1836, he became Sir Robert William Newman, 1st Baronet, of Mamhead in the County of Devon. The third Baronet was High Sheriff of Devon in 1871. In 1850, a report described the house as "a large and handsome mansion in the Elizabethan style". The fourth Baronet represented Exeter in the House of Commons from 1918 to 1931, when he was created Baron Mamhead of Exeter in the County of Devon, in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The peerage became extinct on his death in 1945, but the baronetcy is still extant. Sir Robert Newman owned the property until his death in 1945; it was left in his will to Frederick Lumley and then to Ralph Newman.
After 1950
During 1954 to 1958, the property was leased out and used as an evangelical holiday-and-conference centre by the Pathfinder Organization. It was sold in 1960 and again in 1963 when the Dawlish College for Boys purchased the mansion and most of the property. It was then acquired by a property company, Rockeagle, in 1988. In 1987, Mamhead Park and Garden were Grade II listed. By that time, the mansion was already Grade I Listed, as Dawlish College, Mamhead House. The interior of the house was restored; the stables were converted in 1988 for the Forestry Commission which used it for offices. Later, the mansion served as an events venue but was sold to investors, led by Richard Fuller, in 2000. The property was listed for sale in 2019. The offer of sale included the Grade II listed Mamhead Castle which had been converted into six office suites. A Country Life article made this comment in June 2019:
It will take a buyer with cash, courage and extraordinary vision to take on this remarkable house and realise its full potential. With its grand reception rooms, wonderful fan-vaulted staircase, vast galleried halls, landings and corridors, extensive domestic offices, 16 main bedrooms, eight bathrooms, 11 attic rooms and romantic camellia house, Mamhead House represents a considerable challenge for any investor, but also an opportunity to preserve and enhance a unique estate that has remained, quite magnificently, untouched by time.
As of June 2019, the house was still available for occasional rental according to another publication which added that the offices in the castle were not being occupied. The actual listing for sale indicates that in addition to the primary living quarters, there are also 11 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in the attic.
The Rector of the village from 1766 to 1777 was William Johnson Temple, who is mentioned several times in Boswell's Life of Johnson and letters from and to Temple are scattered through volumes of Boswell's Journals. He was the grandfather of Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter and Archbishop of Canterbury. Temple and Boswell had been undergraduates together at the University of Edinburgh, and Boswell visited Mamhead just after Easter, 1775. Temple was a water-drinker, and under his influence Boswell made a vow under the branches of the great churchyard yew at Mamhead never to get drunk again. William Plenderleath was Rector of Mamhead from 1891 until 1905, and kept notes of the parish, described as "census details, offertory accounts, list of communions, collections in aid of voluntary church rate, and confirmations. In the front is a linen-backed map showing inhabited houses in Mamhead".
