People have been living at Rumleigh for a very long time. The placename, Rumleigh is recorded as ‘Romeley’ in 1298 (assize rolls), ‘Rumlegh’ in 1311 and ‘Romlegh’ in 1321 (Devon HER citing Gover 1931). The word Rumleigh is a compound of Anglo Saxon element rum [wide] and leah [clearing].
Rumleigh is mentioned in an itinerary detailing the journey of a late 15th century priest taking confessions from the inhabitants of the parish of Bere Ferrers, a mission of some 14 days (Henry 2001; Claughton, 2002; Smith 2013). Rumleigh is assessed as a smaller settlement, indicating that it was more a traditional farming estate.
Nearly all the buildings are Grade II listed. The living room within the Farmhouse is the oldest and is actually a Devon Longbarn that has been added on to over the years. Evidence of the through passage can be seen outside on the terrace. The first addition was the turret which would have contained stairs and allowed the inhabitants to move upstairs leaving their livestock on the ground floor! After this this snug was added and was the original kitchen – the original dung and horsehair construction can be seen within the loft along with years of wood smoke from the hearth.
The impressive stonework around the porch and the enormous fireplace in the living room are thought to have been acquired from Tavistock Abbey at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries during Henry VIII’s reign.
The farm buildings are a mixture of additions over the ages. You can see in the annotated picture when they first appeared on maps.
In the Events Barn you can see that it used to be two barns that were eventually joined up to make one. The larger thick bulging walls with tiny slates used as mortar are the original walls at both the stage and bar end of the barn. The lime mortar more crudely constructed middle section is the ‘younger’ part of the barn and is not as well built.
The Long Barn was for years in continual agricultural use and was only converted into the comfortable accommodation that you see now in the 1980’s. Below is a picture taken in the 1970’s showing the rough cobbled farmyard and a large entrance into the Long Barn. Presumably for the cattle and farm machinery!
