Sandridge Estate at Stoke Gabriel
STOKE GABRIEL Sir Thomas Pomeroy 5th son of Henry and Joanna Moels acquired Sandridge in the Parish of Stoke Gabriel in time of Edward III -1370 - his great grandson Edward succeeded to Berry Pomeroy Harbeton and Stockley Pomeroy after the death of cadet line from Smallridge & Upottery in east Devon of thwe troublesome Sir Thomas Pomeroy, whose 1st wife was thrice married Johanna Chudleigh.
Sandridge Estate became the main seat of the family after a later Sir Thomas Pomeroy sold the baronial estates to Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset in 1547.It continued as the family seat until Joan Pomeroy, daughter of Roger Pomeroy and his wife Joan Willis, married Humphrey Gilbert in 1679 and it passed to that family. It was sold by the Gilberts, of Compton Castle qv, in 1770 to 'the first Lord Ashburton
From Here the Pomeroy family spread to Brixham and far afield
Stoke Gabriel Parish
John Pomeroy yeoman 1758 apprenticed William Roach to him that year
SANDRIDGE BARTON built on the footprint of the original manor farmhouse.
Early C19. Rendered stone rubble. Two storeys and basement.Three bays. Sash windows with glazing.bars. Ground floor left hand tripartite sash. Panelled door at centre with C20 Tuscan porch. Standing on a steeply sloping site, and the basement is on ground level at rear.
Captain John Davies, son of a local yeoman farmer who became a world renowned navigator and explorer, was born on the Sandridge Estate in 1543. Davis discovered the Davis Straits in 1585. and the Falkland Islands in August 1592.
He was childhood friends with Humphrey Gilbert and his half brother Walter Raleigh and may also have been Gilberts brother in law - They may well have learned their early skills in seamanship messing about in boats on the river Dart at Dittisham and Sandridge
Greenway House is close by on the map and is famous as a home of Agatha Christie
More significantly it was the birth place of Sir Humphrey Gilbert , his brothers & his half brothers Sir Walter Ralegh and his equally adventurous brother Carew Ralegh
Gilbert was the explorer who amongst his other discoveries, laid claim to Newfoundland for the English crown.
The Gilbert family are seated at nearby Compton Castle where his descendants still live.
