England had gone through a troubled religious
transformation during the 1500s, when King Henry the 8th broke with the Roman
Catholic faith and created the Church of England. In the process of creating
the Church of England, Henry “dissolved” the powerful institutions
created by the Catholic Church – cathedrals, monasteries, abbeys. He redistributed
these lands to those whom he favored, who would in turn pledge loyalty to him.
When Henry died, a period of conflict between Catholics and Protestants followed,
settled only when his daughter Elizabeth I, a Protestant, came to the throne
in 1558.
One of these former church properties was the Abbey of Dunkeswell, in the manor
of Hembury, Devon. Part of the Abbey lands were known as “the Grange”,
with a grange being a granary, - a building in which to store grain. In 1539,
the king gave The Grange lands to John, Lord Russell. The land was held by several
others before being soldto Edward Drewe, a lawyer,a Member of Parliament, and
legal advisor to Elizabeth I in 1595.
