lsington manor is recorded in the doomsday book of 1086 and was one of six mediaeval manors in the parish in the 13th century. it was held from the Beaumonts earls of Devon by their tenants. the Dynim's records show the Dynem's were benefactors of St. Michael's church and founders of a chantry in the north concept of the church. the blocked up doorway of the transcept laid out to the manor garden when the last lord Dynham died in 1501 here.
John Ford and Emily bought two of these three parts and his son George a further one. It is George who is thought to have rebuilt the house into its characteristic Elizabeth and e-shaped style. one of George's sons was John Ford, a well-known dramatist by the 17th century. during the ownership of sir Henry ford MP for Tiverton, his estate was again fragmented. Records show that by 1829 a manor house was in two ownerships. The central range of the building had disappeared and the two wings were little more than cottages. By the mid-19th century. these were being used for agricultural storage in 1852. description of the manor describes it as "the remains of a mouldering mansion went fast and venerable which form a very pleasing object from the precinct of the church, the tourists and ponder on the dim prestige of the Harris million and bracketed and bayed all over. they're all that there left is a miscuit and phantom of the past"
In 1871. part of the site was sold to the vicar and churchwardens of Islington to provide plans for the current school. Many of the original dress stones from the manor house can be seen around the village where they're being reused in buildings and walls.