the western bank. The first written record of Kingskerswell is in the Domesday Book where it is called Carsewelle. Before the Norman Conquest it was held by Edward the Confessor as part of the royal demesne; afterwards it continued in royal ownership under William the Conqueror and his descendants (in contrast to the nearby village of Abbotskerswell). The first part of the village's name represents this royal ownership. The Saxon word carse probably means watercress, a plant that still grows freely in the local streams; and the last part of the name most likely refers to the wells and springs in the vicinity, though an alternative theory proposes that it derives from the Latin villa, indicating a Roman origin. After being granted to several lords, but always escheating to the king due to the lack of any heirs, the manor was given to Nicholas de Moels in 1230. In 1268 his son, Roger de Molis, was granted the right to hold a weekly market on Tuesdays and an annual fair on 1 September. The manor remained in the de Molis family until some time between 1349 and 1362 when it passed to the Courtenays for a short time until 1369 when it again escheated to the king because the next heir, John Dinham (1359–1428), was aged only eleven. John Dinham (or "Dynham") eventually gained his inheritance in 1381. He died in 1428 but the manor remained in his family until 1501. On the death of John Dynham, 1st Baron Dynham in that year, his lands were divided between his four sisters and the portion that included Kingskerswell passed to his eldest sister, Margery, and eventually to Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton. By 1710 the manor was owned by Sir Henry Langford who passed it to Thomas Brown; in 1972 the lord of the manor was T.H. Langford Brown of Littlehempston. The church and manor house A church is mentioned in the Domesday entry for Kingskerswell: "Also to the church of this manor belongs half a virgate of land", though this does not necessarily imply the existence of a building; it may just represent a group of Christians under some form of rectorship or similar administration. By 1159 there was a chaplain named William here, and in 1301 the chapel was visited by the Dean and Chapter of Exeter. They made several notes on the condition of the chapel, including the