The manor, including the whole parish, originally without doubt in possession of the lands, although it is now become, like innumerable other manors, a mere royalty, was given by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent, to the Abbey
of Clyve in Somersetshire. It is an instance, however, of the small reliance that can be placed on the orthography of ancient names, since the charter of Hubert de Burgo is in these words:
“Sciant præsentes et futuri, quod ego Hubertus de Burgo Domini Regis Camerarius, dedi, concessi, et hac præsenti cartâ mea confirmavi, Deo et Beatæ Mariæ et monachis de Cliva, ibidem Deo servientibus et servituris, pro salute animæ meæ, et patris et matris meæ, et omnium antecessorum et parentum et herædum meorum, in perpetuam elemosinam, totum dominicum quod habui in Rugeham,” which must be Poughill.
And in a charter of confirmation by Richard Earl of Cornwall it is thus mentioned:
“Richardus comes Pictaviæ et Cornubiæ, &c. &c. noverit universitas vestra me concessisse, et hac præsenti cartâ meâ confirmasse, &c. totas terras quas habuerunt in Cornubiâ, videlicet Pochewille,” et Treglastan, cum pertinendis, quas prius habuerunt ex dono domini Huberti de Burgo comitis Kanc. &c.
Mr. Lysons, who, from his situation in the Tower, possessed the most ample means of ascertaining all transactions with the Crown, states that King James the First sold this manor to two gentlemen, Mr. George Salter and Mr. John Williams; in more recent times it belonged to the family of Stanbury, and is now the property of Thomas Troad, esq.
Mr. Lysons relates, on the authority of William of Worcester, that Nicholas Radford, counsel for Lord Bonville, against Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon, was slain in his own house in the year 1437, by Thomas Courtenay, eldest son, and afterwards successor to his father. There is, however, an anachronism as to William Bonville, who was first summoned to Parliament twelve years afterwards, as Baron Bonville, and died in 1480, leaving the barony in fee to his great-granddaughter, married to Thomas Grey, Marquis of Dorset.
The Reverend Charles Dayman, lately deceased, resided, as his family had done for several generations, at Flexbury in this parish; and Mr. John Bryant is said to have succeeded a long line of ancestors at Bushill, a seat decorated by several remains of the magnificent house at Stowe.
The great tithes belong to George Boughton Kingdon, esq.; but the distinguishing honor of this parish is Stamford Hill, so called from the position taken there by Lord Stamford, commanding the parliamentary army in 1643; and where Sir Beville Granville, commanding the Cornish army, obtained one of the most splendid victories achieved during the whole course of the civil war. It is unnecessary to repeat the details of this battle, which are given by Hyde and by most of our general historians. Its effects nearly decided the struggle in favour of the party supporting the system of hereditary power in a single hand.
This parish measures 1,759 statute acres.