by Captain J. E. Lacouture

12 Portledge-Home of the Coffins in England

by Capt. J. E. Lacouture

LAST MAY, on our annual visit to Devon and Cornwall in England, my wife and I decided it was high time that we visit Portledge, legendary estate of the Coffin family. At the time we were staying in the Watch Tower of Compston Castle, a National Trust property, and home of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a founder of the British Empire and a half brother of Sir Walter Raleigh.

From Compston, in southeastern Devon, to Portledge, located in western Devon on the Atlantic, four miles southwest of Bideford in the town of Alwington on the Clovelly-Bideford road, it is little more than an hour's drive. Turning off the main road at the gatepost with the small Portledge sign, it is a half-mile drive through a lovely wooded area and down across a meadow with grazing sheep to the splendid old manor house of Portledge.

The imposing front doorway, which used to lean into the old Great Hall, has remained virtually unchanged since it was first built about 1234. The Spanish armor in the doorway was brought back by an early Richard Coffin from the English campaigns in Holland against the Spanish in the 16th century. The main part of the present mansion is a splendid example of 17th century architecture in a magnificent setting, surrounded by beautiful parkland, about % mile from the sea.

The old Great Hall has lost its Minstrel Gallery which was moved over 100 years ago to Alwington Church-a lovely old 15th century church, containing many monuments to the Coffin Family and in whose church yard many of the Coffins are buried. The old entrance courtyard was roofed in and made into a new Hall, complete with gallery, in the middle of the 18th century. The dining room is ornate with a beautifully plastered ceiling, large wall mirrors with gilded frames, a lovely carved fireplace, and magnificent silver candelabra on the sideboards.

There is also a belfry and a Spanish Armada courtyard, which features timbers from Spanish galleons wrecked on the nearby coasts during the Armada. Throughout the mansion are many fine pieces of antique furniture, Coffin ancestral portraits, Spanish Armada guns, carved stone coats of arms, and beautifully carved panelling.

For some time now Portledge has been converted into a charming and historic hotel by the Coffins. One reason for this was to raise money to pay the inheritance and estate taxes. This enables them to retain the property, which has been in the family continuously since the days of Henry II (1154-1189). Portledge, as a hotel, contains 30 bedrooms, most with bath, a luxury cocktail bar, a heated swimming pool, a good bathing beach, which may be reached by a picturesque walk through the woods. Tennis courts, a mini-golf course, and table tennis is available. There is an excellent dining room with dancing and music on many occasions.

The Coffin family church at Arlington

The approach to Portledge

The dining room at Portledge

PORTLEDGE — HOME OF THE COFFINS 15

Portledge is well located for many activities, with excellent salmon and trout fishing nearby, as well as boats for sea fishing. There are two good riding schools in the vicinity, as well as a fine Westward Ho golf course. Close by is Exmoor and Dartmoor for biking and pony rides, as is the quaint seaside village of Clovelly, with its steep, cobbled streets flanked with white-washed, flower covered cottages, leading from the top of a high hill to a tiny harbor. King Arthur's Tintagel; the magnificent National Trust estates at Lanhydrock, Killerton, Castle Drago and Buchland Abbey-to name a few- and the historic cities of Exeter, Dartmouth and Plymouth are well within short driving distances.

At Portledge, Mrs. Coffin, when she learned we were from Nantucket, graciously showed us around her superb hotel. This year seems a particularly critical time financially for the Coffins in their efforts to retain ownership of Portledge, because of the taxes imposed at the time of the death of Col. John Pine Coffin (the previous owner) when inheritance taxes in the amount of a million pounds ($2,000,000) was assessed. She still held to a faint hope that the American Coffins, learning of this financial problem, might attempt to raise some of the money required to save the ancestral home. In the meantime she acknowledged that they were placing many of the tenant houses on the auction block, to help raise the money.

Insofar as history is concerned the Coffin family came originally to England from Normandy in France at the time William the Conquerer defeated the English at Hastings in 1066, to become King William I of England. It is known that the Coffins actually lived for years in a chateau near Falaise, where William grew up. It is reasonable to suppose that the Coffins were well known to the Conquerer, and that Sir Richard Coffin took part in the Battle of Hastings. It is interesting to note that when the Domesday Book was published that the name Coffin appeared as holding land in Devon which was granted by King William.

The name Sir Richard Coffin of Alwington appears as early as the reign of Henry II (1154-1189), and from then until 1766 there was nearly always a Richard Coffin of Portledge. A charter giving "Few Warren" over all the Manor of Alwington to Sir Richard Coffin by Henry III in 1254 is still in possession of the family. This makes Portledge Manor, which once included the parish of Alwington, one of the very few estates in England which has been held by the same family for seven or eight centuries.

In the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) Richard Coffin of Portledge held high office in Devon. His younger brother, Sir William Coffin, became perhaps the most famous of the family, being appointed "Master of Horse" at the coronation of Anne Boleyn in 1534, and also a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. Afterwards he was one of the 18 assistants to Henry VIII at the tournament held between the knights of Henry and the French King at Guienne in France in 1519.