Risdon, writing in about 1630, states that the first occupier of Bradfell was Robert de Bradfell, but by the reign of King Henry III (1216-1272) Richard Walrond was lord of the manor.
The Flemings had their seat at Chimwell, now a farmhouse called Chumhill, which Risdon said was "one of the largest demesnes of this shire."
William Lambarde, John Stow, John Hooker, Michael Drayton, Tristram Risdon, John Aubrey and many others used it in this way, arising from a gentlemanly topophilia and a sense of service to one's county or city, until it was eventually often applied to the genre of county history.
A monument with lively recumbent effigy exists in the parish church of Thomas Chafe (1585-1648) of Dodscott, whose sister Pascoe Chafe was the wife of his neighbour Tristram Risdon (d.1635) of Winscott.
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Firstly, immediately beneath the above inscription, a small brass plaque with portrait of a kneeling lady, to commemorate Johanna Risdon (d.17/5/1610), daughter of George Pollard of Langley and mother of Tristram Risdon of Winscott in the parish of St Giles in the Wood, the author of "The Survey of Devon" (c. 1630).
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Their son Tristram Risdon was thus born at Winscott, and later it became his property when it was bequeathed to him by his childless half-sister Thomazin.
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The present large farmhouse is built on the site of the mansion house belonging to Tristram Risdon (d.1635), the historian of Devon, who calls it both a "mansion" and a manor.
Tristram Risdon | The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman | Risdon | David Tristram | Henry Baker Tristram | Tristram Shapeero | Tristram Hunt | Risdon, Tasmania | Tristram's Storm-petrel | Tristram Hyde's home at Tristram Hyde House | Tristram | Sir Tristram Beresford, 3rd Baronet | Sir Tristram Beresford, 1st Baronet | Risdon Vale, Tasmania | Risdon Vale | Risdon Cove | Joshua Risdon | Doctor Who: Devils' Planets - The Music of Tristram Cary |