The Register Of Walter Branscombe Bishop Of Exeter 1257-1280
Walter Branscombe (c.?1220–1280) was Bishop of Exeter from 1258 to 1280
Nothing for certain is known of Walter Branscombe's origins and education, but he is thought to have been born in Exeter in about 1220. In the opinion of William George Hoskins he was a member of the family of de Branscombe seated at the manor of Edge in the parish of Branscombe east Devon, situated about 16 miles east of Exeter; although others appear to dispute this. John Prince (1643–1723), in his Worthies of Devon, says he was a native of Exeter, and "born there of poor and mean parentage". Prince appears to be quoting an earlier authority, Bishop Francis Godwin (1562–1633), who writes of Walter Bronscombe: "Patre natus Exoniensi cive, sed tenuissimae sortis et ex plebe infimâ ("He was born to a father who was a citizen of Exeter, but of the least and lowest of the common people"), and it is not clear that the Branscombe family, who filled various positions of responsibility and authority in the fourteenth century, married into the high Devonshire families of Courtenay and Champernowne, held land at Colyton, and took their name from the parish ever lived at Edge, Branscombe which, from the reign of King Edward III, was home to the Wadham family.
Branscombe died on 22 July 1280 at Bishopsteignton. He was buried in Exeter Cathedral, where his tomb, with the bishop's effigy, still survives. It remained unscathed during the Exeter Blitz, being protected by sand bags
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