File:Compilation 15th Century Stained Glass, Ashton Church, Devon.svg

Compilation of 15th century heraldic stained glass in Church of St John the Baptist, Higher Ashton, Devon, relating to the Chudleigh family. Four rows, top to bottom, left to right:

Row 1

• 1a: Chudleigh impaling Stourton
• 1b: Chudleigh impaling quarterly of 4:

• 1&4: Argent, a chevron sable between three cocks (tincture faded) possibly Cockworthy of Cockworthy, Devon (per Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol.31, 1st Series (Vol 1, 2nd Series), Plymouth, 1899, Maxwell Adams, A Brief Account of Ashton Church and of Some of the Chudleighs of Ashton, p.187[1]) (For alternatives see: Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.I, London, 1874, p.393), but inscription below seems to state "T..kytt"). Maxwell Adams, p.187: Some of the arms in the first three windows of the north wall have the names of the bearers written in black-letter characters under them, but owing to plaster and whitewash it is exceedingly difficult to decipher them. Under the arms of Talbot (III a) the name Copleston is given; and under those of Cockworthy quartered with Wyke (IV 6), the name "Topkylf" or "Wykylf" appears. The arms of Topcliffe however, are: Or, a fess ... three mullets sable. (See Baring-Gould's and Twigge's Armory of the Western Counties, 1898, p. 45)
• 2&3: Sable, a chevron ermine between three barnacle birds argent (i.e. barnacle geese) (Wyke, originally arms of Burnell, per Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol.31, 1st Series (Vol 1, 2nd Series), Plymouth, 1899, Maxwell Adams, A Brief Account of Ashton Church and of Some of the Chudleighs of Ashton, p.187[2]); See pedigree of "Wykes of North Wyke" in parish of South Tawton in Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.825; see Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, pp.472,243, 508: Arms of "Burnell of Cocktree, South Tawton (heiress of Wykes): Argent, two chevrons ermine between three barnacles proper (p.472); Arms of "Wike of Bindon" in parish of Axminster, Devon: Argent, a chevron ermines between three barnacle birds proper (p.508); n.b. Arms of de Cocktree family of Cocktree: Argent, a chevron gules between three cocks sable (Pole, p.475). The arms of Burnell were later adopted by Wykes of Cocktree and North Wyke (Pole, p.243), in lieu of the paternal arms of Wykes Ermine, three battle axes sable. No marriage of a male Chudleigh to a member of any of these families is recorded in the Visitations of the County of Devon (Vivian, p.189)

• 1c: Chudleigh impaling quarterly of 4:

• 1&4: Copleston of Copleston, Devon. See Report and Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Vol.31, 1st Series (Vol 1, 2nd Series), Plymouth, 1899, Maxwell Adams, A Brief Account of Ashton Church and of Some of the Chudleighs of Ashton, p.187[3])
• 2&3: Argent, a chevron between three talbot's heads erased sable

This is a statement of a now unknown marriage of a Chudleigh to a wife from the Copleston family of Copleston in the parish of Colebrooke in Devon. For the avoidance of any doubt the family names are stated in Gothic lettering underneath the shield as "Chuddlegh - Copleston". However, no marriage is listed in the pedigrees of either family in the Heraldic Visitations of Devon during the 15th century (Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, pp.189, 224). Nor is the quartering of Argent, a chevron between three talbot's heads erased sable, of unknown family, explained in the Copleston pedigree in that source. This was at a time when the Copleston family was at the height of its power and wealth, as Philip Copleston of Copleston, Sheriff of Devon in 1472, had married the great heiress Anne Bonvile, daughter of John Bonvile of Shute, whose inheritance included the manors of Tamerton Foliot (within which was the later Copleston seat Warleigh) and Chagford. Pole wrote: "By this match of Bonvile's daughter the estate of Copleston was greatly augmented" (Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.335). The eldest son of this marriage to Anne Bonvile was Raphe Copleston (d.1491) "The Great Copleston", named on account of his great revenue. The arms Argent, a chevron between three talbot's heads erased sable quartered here by Copleston are not the arms of Bonvile, nor of Hawley of Dartmouth, representing Elizabeth Hawley the heiress mother of Philip Copleston of Copleston, Sheriff of Devon in 1472, daughter and heiress of John Hawley of Dartmouth, 12 times a Member of Parliament for Dartmouth. Nor are they the arms of Philip Copleston's maternal grandmother, another heraldic heiress, namely Catherine Graas, wife of John Copleston (d.1433) of Copleston. Various families bearing the arms Argent, a chevron between three talbot's heads erased sable or similar are listed in Papworth, John Woody, Alphabetical Dictionary of Coats of Arms Belonging to Families in Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.I, London, 1874, pp.436-7, none of which feature in the Copleston pedigree in the Heraldic Visitations. (Duncombe, Hall, Hull of Devon, Tuck, etc). Pole (p.489) gives the arms of "Hull of Larkbere" in the parish of St Leonard's (now a suburb of Exeter) as: Gules, a chevron between three talbot's heads erased sable. The pedigree of "Hull of Larkbeare" in the Heraldic Visitations (Vivian, p.492) does not list any marriage to a Copleston. Vivian however gives the arms of "Hull of Larkbeare" differently as Sable, a chevron between three hound's heads erased argent, thus with tinctures reversed. Furthermore, the first listed member of the family of "Hull of Larkbeare", namely Henry Hull of Larkbeare, married Margery Talbot, daughter and heiress of "John Talbott of Exeter". These are likely the canting arms of Talbott, adopted by the Hull family following this marriage. Pole (p.504) gives the arms of Talbot ("of Sowreton, of Ham, of Exeter") as Argent, a chevron between three talbots (passant) sable (sic), the bracketed addition "(passant)" added by a later editor. Maxwell Adams gives the arms in Ashton Church as "Talbot" (Maxwell Adams, A Brief Account of Ashton Church and of Some of the Chudleighs of Ashton, p.187 (footnote 6), quoting Lysons, p.167 (Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, 'General history: Families removed or extinct by 1620', in Magna Britannia: Volume 6, Devonshire (London, 1822), pp. clxi-clxxii [4]). No marriage to a Talbot is recorded in the Copleston pedigree.

• 1d: Chudleigh impaling Canyngs/Canynges/Cannings

Row 2

• 2a:w:William Courtenay (c.1342-1396) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1381–1396), having previously been Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. He was a younger son of Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (died 1377), and his wife Margaret de Bohun, a daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford and granddaughter of Edward I. Arms: Or, three torteaux
• 2b:w:Edmund Lacey (died 1455), Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of Exeter. Arms: Azure, three shoveler's heads erased argent.
• 2c:George Neville (c.1432-1476), Archbishop of York from 1465 until 1476 and Chancellor of England from 1460 until 1467 and again from 1470 until 1471. Quarterly of 4:

• 1&4: Monthermer quartering Montagu
• 2&3: Neville with label of Beaufort

• 2d:w:Richard Courtenay (d.1415), Bishop of Norwich 1413-15. He was a son of Sir Philip Courtenay of Powderham Castle in Devon, and a grandson of Hugh de Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (died 1377). He was a nephew of William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury. Arms of Courtenay of Powderham: Or, three torteaux a label of three points azure on each point three plates. Alternatively poosibly arms of arms of w:Peter Courtenay (1432-1492), Bishop of Exeter, also from the family of Courtenay of Powderham.

Row 3

• 3a: Talbot/Copleston (as 1c) impaling Chudleigh
• 3b: Kirkham of Blagdon, Paignton, impaling Chudleigh
• 3c: Copleston impaling Gules fretty argent, a canton of the last
• 3d: Argent, a lion rampany gules impaling Chudleigh

Row 4

• 4a: St Aubyn impaling Chudleigh
• 4b: Chudleigh impaling Champernowne
• 4c: Raleigh of Fardell, Devon