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A brief history of Bratton Fleming

Part one: From pre-history to the Normans

Artefacts from the Mesolithic period (7000 – 8000 BC) found in fields around Chumhill are the earliest evidence we have for human activity in or near Bratton. There is little evidence in the parish for human activity in the Bronze and Iron Age aside from some arguable landscape features.

In recent years archaeological excavation has revised the previously held view that there was minimal Roman activity in North Devon. In particular the recent work at Brayford suggests a significant Roman mining industry (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/outdoors/moors/exmoor_iron.shtml for more information). While Roman traders and military personnel may well have passed through the village, no signs of settlement have been found or indeed suspected.

Bratton’s real history begins with its name, which probably originates in old English and means ‘brush or thicket’ or ‘land cleared for cultivation’ (experts disagree). By the time of Domesday (1086) there were six manors in what is now the parish of Bratton Fleming, the oldest being probably Knightacott. In the terminology of Domesday Ordulf was the Saxon Lord of Bratton on the day when King Edward was ‘alive and dead’.

Following the Norman Conquest Bratton was given to Erchenbold le Flemynge (Archibald the Belgian) who probably first came to the parish around 1068. Erchenbold had received a number of holdings as his reward for good service but Bratton was the largest and although he would have moved around his holdings it was in Bratton that he made his home. Hence, at some point, Bratton Fleming acquires its present name.

We do not know when Bratton Castle was built (the remains can be seen near Beara Cross) though we know that many of the new Norman lords built their castles shortly after the conquest. Erchenbold may have done so too or he may have used Ordulf’s wooden Saxon hall, and the castle may have been constructed by his descendants some years later (perhaps during the civil war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen.