On This Day in Wembury – 30 June 1755
A notice in the Sherborne Mercury advertised the sale of a major estate in Wembury, including a mansion house, bartons, demesne lands, coppice wood, and extensive manorial rights.
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The estate comprised about 500 acres of fine arable land, together with coppice wood yielding annually, and lands lying within the manor.
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The sale also included the Manor of Wembury, with several farms let at rack rent or customary rent.
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Importantly, it carried rights to anchorage and oysterage in the River Yealm, a valuable income stream given the Yealm’s long history of oyster beds and maritime trade.
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The estate was described as conveniently located, about 4 miles from Plymouth and near Tavistock, both major markets for cattle and produce.
This sale illustrates the scale and wealth of the Wembury estate in the mid-18th century, where ownership meant not only farmland but also control over riverside resources and local tenants. Later transactions at Langdon Court and Wembury House continued this pattern of estate consolidation and dispersal.
Source: Sherborne Mercury, 30 June 1755.
Entries are summaries and interpretations of historical newspaper reports.