Mamhead

Coordinates: 50°37′11″N 3°30′43″W / 50.6197°N 3.5120°W / 50.6197; -3.5120

Mamhead is a rural village and civil parish near Dawlish and Kenton in Devon, South West England, in the Teignbridge local authority area.

On high ground on the Haldon Hills, dense woodlands open out into views of the coast and the estuary of the River Exe.

History

The village was part of Exminster hundred.

According to Daniel and Samuel Lysons, in their Magna Britannia:

John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870–1872) says of Mamhead:

The population was 230 in 1801, 178 in 1901. A parish history file is kept at Dawlish Library.

Mamhead Park

The Mamhead estate dates from Domesday, when it was held by Ralph de Pomerai and later by Sir Hugh Peverell. In the early 14th century, Sir Nicholas Carew became lord of the manor through his marriage to Amicia de Peverell, and Mamhead remained with the Carews until 1547.

The Mamhead estate was sold by the adventurer Sir Peter Carew (1514–1575) to Giles Ball, whose son Sir Peter Ball (1598–1680) was attorney-general to King Charles I's Queen, Henrietta Maria. He began to build a country house here, replacing an older house. His grandson Thomas Ball (1671–1749), a merchant, planted many exotic trees brought back from his travels. Between 1742 and 1745, he built an obelisk on the hill above the house "out of a regard to the safety of such as might use to sail out of the Port of Exon or any others who might be driven on the coast". The obelisk has a height of one hundred feet.