Musbury (St. Michael)

MUSBURY (St. Michael), a parish, in the union and hundred of Axminster, Honiton and S. divisions of Devon, 3 miles (S. W.) from Axminster; containing 495 inhabitants. This place was the residence of the Drake family, from the time of Henry VII., for several generations. The parish comprises 2149 acres, of which 136 are common or waste land. A fair is held at Michaelmas. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £19. 11. 8., and in the gift of W. Payne, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £435. The church is a very ancient structure, with a south aisle added towards the close of the fifteenth century, by the Drake family, to whom it contains some monuments. Ash House, now occupied as a farmhouse, derives interest from having been the birthplace, in 1650, of the renowned Duke of Marlborough, whose mother was then on a visit to her father, Sir John Drake. Within the parish is a fortress of elliptical form, called Musbury Castle, having a double intrenchment inclosing an area of 20 acres.