Relhan Collection : 25 Barrington church. Mural monument of Thomas Bendyshe Esq and Constance Castell, his wife

Relhan, Richard, 1782-1844

Relhan Collection

<p style='text-align: justify;'><p>The monument is of painted clunch and freestone. All colour is now gone, except on top of the pillars. Bendyshe manor originated in 1325 and passed from father to son or daughter until General Richard Bendyshe (<b>26</b>) died childless in 1777. Before this, Thomas Bendyshe (1602-1684) had inherited an estate that had been reduced by providing for younger children to 215 acres, not a large estate. But it was built up again and at Enclosure in 1796 Richard Bendyshe was the largest landowner in the parish. Richard’s sons, John and Richard, inherited in turn, then Richard’s nephew held it for one year before he was killed in action 1915. His young son moved to Devon and sold the estate in 1937. This stable family that originated as yeomen farmers had built up a sizeable estate and built a good house at Barrington Hall, but they never married into wealthy families or aspired to high status and so were not tempted to aggrandise their property in ways which ruined grander families around them. They had a smooth line of succession, seem to have provided for all members of the family and were not derailed by laws which could ruin aristocratic families. Barrington Hall, their permanent home until the mid C19, was built in C17 but later Victorianised. It was bought by Sir Charles Davis, who took over Rugby Portland Cement Co, and it was used as offices after 1950. </p><p>RCHME 1968; VCH 1973 </p></p>