Colbrand 6

Colbrand ‘of Cumbe’ (Devon), fl. 1066
Male
DWP
4 of 5

Name

Colbrand
Colbrand 5
Colbrand 7

Summary

Colbrand 6 held three small estates in north-east Devon TRE assessed at slightly more than 1¾ hides and with a probable value of £5.

Distribution map of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

List of property and lordships associated with this name in DB

Holder 1066

Shire Phil. ref. Vill DB Spelling Holder 1066 Lord 1066 Tenant-in-Chief 1086 1086 Subtenant Fiscal Value 1066 Value 1086 Value Conf. Show on Map
Devon 16,77 Hockworthy Colbrand Colbrand 'of Cumbe' - Baldwin the sheriff Rogo 0.66 1.00 0.63 C Map
Devon 36,18 Culm Davy Colbrand Colbrand 'of Cumbe' - Theobald fitzBerner Oliver 'of Culm Davy' 1.00 3.50 2.50 B Map
Devon 36,18 Gorwell Colbrand Colbrand 'of Cumbe' - Theobald fitzBerner Oliver 'of Culm Davy' 0.13 0.50 0.50 B Map
Totals

Profile

Colbrand 6’s small manor called Cumbe can be identified from the subsequent descent as Culm Davy, on a spur of the Blackdown Hills between two small valleys and that of the River Culm in north-east Devon, with the river-name having replaced the earlier Old English cumb ‘valley’ and the manorial suffix deriving from a later holder (Gover et al. 1931-2: ii 616).  It is possible that it was once part of an estate granted to Glastonbury Abbey and was related to one granted to Wulfric 76 in the mid-tenth century, although the name Cumbe is too common for certain identification (S 1683; S 1745; Abrams 1996: 101-3, 239-41; Kelly forthcoming).  The TRE value of 70s for Cumbe was high relative to its assessment of only 1 hide and could in part be explained if the mill recorded in DB was already present and part of Colbrand’s manor TRE.

Both the DB entry for Cumbe and the TO (500b4; the corresponding Exon entry is damaged at this point) state that another manor at Gorwell had been added to Cumbe after the Conquest.  This tiny manor, on the edge of a plateau above the Madford River and 4 miles to the south-east of Culm Davy, had also been held by Colbrand TRE although it was not then regarded as a part of his manor at Cumbe.  The TRE value of the ½ virgate at Gorwell is not noted but is likely to have been close to the 1086 value of 10s given for it in DB.

One of two little estates at Hockworthy, close to the border with Somerset and 6 miles to the north-west of Culm Davy, was also held TRE by a man called Colbrand.  Although it passed to a different post-Conquest successor than did Cumbe and Gorwell its close proximity to them and the extreme rarity of the name Colbrand render it probable that it too was held by Colbrand 6 TRE.  There is no evidence to suggest that the two Hockworthy estates (or their holders) had been associated with each other in the recent past.

Colbrand 6’s three estates together amounted to little over 1¾ hides and were more than 50 miles from that of Colbrand 5 in Dorset, the nearest other TRE holder of that name recorded in DB.  This seems too far distant for any connection between them to be considered, and a difference in post-Conquest successors is a further bar to the identification.  There is no reason to consider Colbrand 6 in connection with anyone else.

Bibliography


Abrams 1996: L. Abrams, Anglo-Saxon Glastonbury: Church and Endowment (Woodbridge, 1996)

Gover et al. 1931-2: J. E. B. Gover, A. Mawer and F. M. Stenton, The Place-Names of Devon, 2 vols. (Cambridge, 1931-2)

Kelly forthcoming: Charters of Glastonbury Abbey, ed. S. E. Kelly (forthcoming).

S: P. H. Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography, Royal Historical Society Guides and Handbooks 8 (London, 1968), revised by S. Kelly, R. Rushforth et al., The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, published online through Kemble: The Anglo-Saxon Charters Website, currently at http://www.esawyer.org.uk/about/index.html