The HISTORY bit
All those trees

In the C11th there was little by way of a middle class,. Either a man owned the land or he worked the land with  a few merchants trading far and wide
Change occurred with the huge reduction of population caused by he Black Death & later changed arose as the wealth & number of Wool Merchants increased .

Ranulph de Pomarai, a Norman knight from La Pommeraye near Falaise was granted 58 Devon Manors by William the Conqueror .
They chose  Beri  neat Totnes and their primary manor  & may have occupied an unfortified manor house by the Beri church , which was still in full use in 1496.  Exactly when the castle was begun remains uncertain but it seems to have been built during the period knows as the Wars of the Roses and first appears in the records late in the 15th century.It seems most likely to have been begun by Henry Pomeroy , whose wife was Alice Ralegh and given the length of time it would have taken to build  such a fortress, it is  reasonable to assume that it was begun by Sir Henry Pomeroy, and completed by the next generation. Certainly his 2nd son carried on t and is recorded as owner of the ‘honour, castle and manor of Bury’ , at that time.  Sir Henry died in 1487 just 2 years after the Lancastrian Henry Tudor stole the English crown and gave England 119 years of Tudor rule 

Sir Henry Pomeroy d 1481 and his wife Alice Ralegh had at least 7 children; the eldest son , Sir St Clere  born in the1440's married to Catherine Courtenay in 1462, and  who died in 1471 after the Battle of Tewkesbury. Their 2nd son Sir Richard  became Baron Pomeroy with his 2nd wife, the exceedingly  wealthy,  Elizabeth Densyll daughter of successful wool merchant Richard Densyll. She came as very well dowered as the widow of the heir of an ambitious and successful family and widow of,Sir Martin Fortescue  who died in 1473 . His father was Chancellor of the  Exchequer and Lord Chief Justice of England.  It seems that Richard may have completed the building of the castle around the time  king Richard III  died at Bosworth.

Richard's subsequent restoration of the Church at Berry Pomeroy has Tudor roses carved into the stones; the reason is unknown, whether out of natural loyalty or to reassure insecure Henry VII that he would not rock the fragile Tudor boat .  

In the Beginning there was an Invasion, the Norman Conquest, followed by a Tax Accounting - the Domesday Book  !

1066 AND ALL THAT  -  Who Got what

For his part in the Norman Conquest of England Ralph de la Pomerai was awarded  more than 50 manors, their lands and rents in Devon.

Ash (Bradworthy), Ashcombe, Aunk Berry Pomeroy, Radworthy, Brendon, Clyst St George, Curtisknowle, Dunsdon, Heavitree, Highleigh, Huxham, Keynedon, Lank Combe, Mamhead, Peamore, Sheldon, Smallridge, Southweek, Stockleigh Pomeroy, Strete Raleigh, Tale, Upottery, Washfield, Weycroft, Yeadbury, Great Torrington, Bruckland,  Caffyns Heanton, Cheriton (Brendon), Dunkeswell, Dunstone (Widecombe in the Moor), Gappah, Holcombe, Mowlish.

By around  1496 Pomeroy lands included  Berry Pomeroy included Coffyns Heannton (Lynton) Ogewell, Churston Ferrers,  Clyst Forneson (Sowton)  Gattecombe in Colyton, Knighton Hethfield at Hennock, Pynesford in Asprington and Saltern at Budleigh Salterton.

The family became established in Devon at Beri or Berry  Pomeroy near the thriving town of Totnes.   As the family expanded and spread outward, and over the intervening centuries there were family groups across Devon and the south of the west country, into Cornwall  and later into Dorset. 

The senior line of the family became extinct in the 17th Century .   The current armorial Pomeroy family , the Viscounts Harberton,  stems from a 3rd son of a cadet Irish branch of the family at Ingsdon Manor in Ilsington near Haytor on Dartmoor.

Bury Pomeroy Castle no longer belongs to the Pomeroy family  It was  sold some 500 years ago,  just 80 years after the Pomeroy builders finished it.

In 1547 Sir Thomas Pomeroy, being deeply in debt sold the barony with its castle, manors and the lands of Bury Pomeroy  to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. 

My suspicion is that the upkeep of the castle, with it retainers and obligations, and payments on the hefty mortgage,  proved too much for both his father Edward and for Thomas  and his debts rose to a point where he had no choice but to sell the barony to the ambitious  Edward Seymour who,  as uncle to Edward VI,  had recently made himself Duke of Somerset. His ambitions lost him his head  at the Tower of London in January 1552

Two years later Thomas Pomeroy got himself into other trouble when He participated in the Prayerbook Rebellion of 1549.

 For his part in this West Country rebellion, which was suppressed in a  most bloody fashion, Sir Thomas  was sent to the The Flete prison in London where he languished for several years before he was released and sent to the country.  
It seems that some of his family leased back the family  holdings at Sandridge in  Stoke Gabriel near Dartmouth and in Brixham  but by 1715 the main line died out when Joan daughter of Roger Pomeroy in 1679 married Humphrey Gilbert of the famous Gilbert family of nearby Compton Castle.  

Cousin Hugh, son of Valentine Pomeroy had daughters who died in infancy and when he died in 1715 the Sandridge line of the Pomeroys ended in the male line, or so it seemed...   

 Definitions Concerning Titled and Landed Families 

Aristocracy, aristocrat From 19th century the term which included all ranks down to gentry. Gentry who do not hold land have frequently been excluded from the group.

Armigers Someone entitled to bear a coat-of-arms, an esquire.

Armorial a  heraldic coat of arms or a book illustration this

Armorial bearings An heraldic charge or device,; coat of arms

Baron Lowest rank of the peerage

Baronet A hereditary rank created by James I in 1611 for a fee of £1,095 which was used for troops in Ulster. Abbrevted to Bart. or Bt.

Baronetage Baronets collectively. Also a manual containing a list of baronets with genealogy.

Baronetcy Baronet’s patent or rank

Barony The domain of a baron. In Ireland the division of a county. In Scotland a large freehold estate or manor.

Coat of arms Heraldic device granted to an individual. There is no such thing as a family coat of arms.

College of Heralds aka College of Arms The official heraldic authority for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and much of the Commonwealth including Australia and New Zealand .which  records pedigrees etc. and grants armorial bearings.
Herald  Officer who, among other duties, regulated the use of armorial bearings

Heraldry Science of armorial bearings carried out by a herald.

Heralds’ Visitations County surveys carried out by the heralds from the  College of Arms King of Arms Chief Herald

Duke There are 11 Dukes  Usually a member of the Royal Family they  outrank  all other  titles  holders -  

Earl The oldest English title and rank and now considered above the ranks of baron and viscount.

Esquire 17th -18th centuries a man with a coat of arms who was a superior gentleman. During 19th century was used to address any gentleman, and later any man.

Gentleman / Gentry Superior in rank to a yeoman but have no title, and some have no land. In 19th century excluded from nobility but included as lowest rank of aristocracy. In common parlance ‘one who does not work with his hands’ so included urban professionals as well as richer rural people.

Knight Knighthood was a personal honour not an hereditary one. Originally one who fought with William the Conqueror and was rewarded with land which was held in return for knight service or money. One who did not take the knighthood because of the expense remained an esquire. After 1662 a knight was a person, usually of noble birth who had served as page and squire, elevated to this honourable military rank. Later conferred as reward for personal merit or service to crown or country.

Landed family Families who owned land, generally gentry and above in rank.

Landed gentry Gentlemen who owned land.

Marquess or marquis Rank of nobility between duke and earl; may be carried as a courtesy title by the heir to a dukedom.

Nobility Originally all ranks down to gentry, later divided into hereditary nobility (peers) and lower noble ranks. Many modern nobles have no landed estates.

Peer(s), Peerage Hereditary noble who sits  in the House of Lords ( until the end of the 20th century). The term peerage is also used for a list or manual of genealogy of the peers.

Sir The title of baronets and knights and, until the Reformation, of a priest who was not a university graduate.

Titled family Family having a title of nobility down to level of baronet.