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.;;H.;'!;'n-.  ■!/,. 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


n»Tcu 


DEVON SHIEB    PARISHES, 

OR   THE 

ANTIQUITIES,  HERALDRY  AND  FAMILY  HISTORY 

OF   TWENTY-EIGHT   PARISHES 

IN    THE    ARCHDEACONRY    OF    TOTNES. 


CHARLES    WORTHY,    ESQ., 

LATE   H.M.    82nd  RBOIMENT. 

AtTHOB   OF    "  ASHBURTON   AND  ITS   NEIGHBOURHOOD,"    "  HUNDRED  ,0F   WINKLEIOH," 
"notes   on   BIDEKOBD,    and    TIIK   HOUSE    OP   OBANTILLE,"  ETC.,   ETC. 


In  Two  Volumes. 


VOLUJIE   I. 


EXETER : 
PUBLISHED  BY  WILLIAM  POLLARD  &  Co.,  PRINTERS,  NORTH  STREET. 

LONDON  : 
GEORGE  REDWAY,   YORK    STIiEET,    COVENT   GARDEN. 

1887. 


D. 


I    DEDICATE    THESE    VOLUMES 

TO 

THE    RIGHT    HON,    AND     RIGHT    REV. 
THE    LORD     BISHOP    OF     LONDON, 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

HIS     USEFUL     AND     H  A  T 1' Y     CONNECTION 

WITH   THIS   DIOCESE 

AS     LORD     BISHOP     OF     EX  K T  K  R 

FOR  SIXTEEN   YEARS. 

1887. 


LISRARf 


PREFACE. 

In  my  preface  to  *'  Ashburton  and  its  Neighbourhood," 
which  appeared  more  than  eleven  years  ago,  I  said  that  I 
hoped  "  t(j  be  permitted  at  no  distant  day  to  publish  a 
second  volume  of  Devonshire  Parishes." 

I  had  at  that  time  visited  most  of  those  which  are 
included  in  the  present  volumes,  but  shortly  afterwards 
my  residence  in  the  district  was  terminated  by  the 
lamented  death  of  my  father,  the  late  Vicar  of  Ashburton. 
Since  then  various  cii'cumstances  have  delayed  the  aj)pear- 
ance  of  this  work,  and  I  caimot  altogether  regret  these 
since  they  have  afforded  me  an  opportunity  of  procuring 
more  extended  inforn^ation  than  I  could  otherwise  have 
obtamed. 

My  Papers  on  Parochial  history,  which  originally 
appeared  pei'iodically  in  the  columns  of  the  "  Western 
Morning  News"  and  the  "  Exeter  Gazette, "  in  the  former 
journal  between  the  years  1875-77,  and  in  the  latter 
between  18y3-4,  have  been  now  almost  re- written,  and 


vl  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

m  many  iustuiices,  especially  iu  the  earlier  ones,  have 
received  very  considerable  additions  and  necessary  cor- 
rections; besides  .which  the  account  of  Dartmouth, 
including  the  Hawley  Family,  the  life  and  genealogy  of 
Newcomen  the  Inventor  and  the  description  of  the 
Churches  of  TowustaD,  S.  Savif)ur's  and  S.  Petrock's  is 
now  prmted  for  the  first  time,  and  the  same  may  be 
said  of  the  parishes  of  Wolboroi;gh  with  Newton  Abbot, 
High  week  with  Newton  Bushel,  Kingsteignton,  and 
Torquay  which  includes  Tor  Mohun  and  S.  Marychurch. 

I  have  done  my  best  to  substantiate  my  statements  by 
reference  to  public  and  private  documents,  to  the  Episcopal 
and  Parochial  Registers,  to  the  Municipal  Arcliives  of 
Exeter  and  to  the  WiUs  at  the  Court  of  Probate,  and  I 
have  also  devoted  a  considerable  time  to  searches  at  the 
PubUc  Record  Office  and  British  Museum,  and  have 
obtained  much  of  my  genealogical  information  from 
Heraldic  MSS.  preserved  at  the  CoUege  of  Arms  and  else- 
where. I  have  endeavoiu'ed  by  these  means  to  reconcile 
and  correct  as  far  as  possible  the  diverse  statements  of 
our  old  County  Historians,  whose  works,  though  undeni- 
ably valuable,  are  notoriously  somewhat  untrustworthy. 
Very  probably  I  havfe  not  always  been  successful,  and 
there  are  one  or  two  points  to  which  I  should  wish  to 
direct  the  reader's  attention.  The  pedigree  of  Slanning 
was  compiled  several  years  ago,  and  was  founded,  as  will 


PREFACE.  vii 

be  seen,  chiefly  upon  Heraldic  and  monumental  evidence. 
It  has  been  recently  shown^  that  the  latter  is  altogether 
misleading,  the  Slanning  Memorial  at  Bickleigh,  having 
sutt'ered  from  the  effects  of  the  "  restoration  "  of  the  Church 
in  1838.     It  is  therefore  necessary  to  correct  some  of  the 
statements  in  the  text  as  to  the  descent.    Nicholas,  son  of 
Jolin  Slanning  married  Margaret  Champernowne,  but  he 
did  not  die  in  1580  ;  he  {not  his  son  Gamaliel)  was  killed 
in  a  duel  mth  Sir  John  Fitz,  June  4th,  1599.     The  son 
Gamaliel  married  his  kinswoman   Margaret  Marler,    not 
Maynard,  and  had  issue  a  son  Nicholas  as  I  have  said. 
Since  the  account  of  the  family  of  Redvers,  Earl  of  Devon, 
was  in  print,  I  have    also  discovered  that  the  Heralds 
were  in  all  probabiUty  mistaken  as  to  Constance  daughter 
of  the  Earl  of  Devon  and  her  marriage  into  the  Worth 
family.     I  have  never  been  able  to  find  any  mention  out- 
side the  Heralds'  College  Records  of  this  Constance  de 
Redvers,  but   I  have   lately   seen  an  original    deed    of 
William  de  Vernon,  fith  Earl  of  Devon,  by  which  he  grants 
land  to  Robert,  son  of  Ilmmse  Worth.      This  Hawise 
seems  to  have  been  a  daughter  and  ultimately  heir  of 
Richard  the  3rd  Earl  and  a  niece  of  the  said  William  de 
Vernon,  so  that  my  subsequent  remarks  a.s  to  the  descent 
of  the  Earldom  to  Courtenay,  will  equally  apply  to  her, 
because  WiUiam  de  Vernon  only  succeeded  to  the  Earldom 
» Trans.  Devon  Assoc,  1887,  vol.  xix.,  p.  4-54. 


viii  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

in  defoult  of  heirs  male,  !ind  when  these  tailed,  tlie  descen- 
dants of  Hawise,  daughter  of  the  3rd  Earl  would  certainly 
seem  to  have  had  a  prior  claim  to  those  of  her  cousin 
Mary  the  wife  of  Sir  Robert  Courtenay. 

In  conclusion,  I  have  to  thank  my  subscribers  for  the 
kind  interest  they  have  taken  in  my  work,  and  I  jJso 
have  to  express  my  very  gi*eat  obligations  to  the  Clergy 
of  the  several  paiishes,  and  to  many  other  kind  friends  and 
correspondents,  who  have  not  only  given  me  their  ready 
assistance,  but  have  facilitated  my  labours,  by  affording 
me  access  to  documents  in  their  custody  or  under  their 
control.  And  I  can  only  hope  that  this  book  will  be  found 
to  add  something  to  what  is  already  knowai  of  the  twenty - 
eight  parishes  of  which  it  treats  and  that  It  will  not  dis- 
appoint the  expectations  of  those  who  have  encouraged  me 
to  produce  it. 

CHARLES  WORTHY. 


Exeter,  December,  1887. 


CONTENTS  OF    VOL.  I. 


Chapter    I.       Pakts  I,  II,  III. 


PAGES. 


The  pari.sh  of  BlCKLElGH — General  Hi.stoiy — Families 
of     Slanning    and    Lopes — Bickleigh    Church — 
Heraldry,  &c.  ...  ...  1—23 

Chapter  II.     Parts  I,  11,  III. 

The  parish  of  Sheepstor — General  Description  and 
History— Elford's  Cave— The  Pixies— The    Elford 
Pedigree  —  Sheepstor     Cliurch  —  Hci-aldry  —  The 
Chui'ch    House — The    Vicarage  House— Sir  Jauics 
Brooke,  Rajah  of  Sarawak.  . . .  24 — 54. 

Chapter  III.     Parts  I,  II,  III. 

The  parish  of  Walkhaiipton — General  History— The 
Family  of  Redvcrs,  Earls  of  Devon— Isabella  ile 
Fortibus — The  descent  of  the  Courtenays  and  their 
succession  to  the  Earldoui — Constance  Wortli 
Appropriation  of  Walkhaiuptou  Cliurch  anil  De- 
scription of  the  Fabric — John  Dunning,  First  Lord 
Ashburton.  ...  ...  oo — 76 

Chapter  IV.    Parts  I,  II,  III,  IV. 

The  parish  of  Buckland  Mf>NAf:noHUM — General 
History — Baldwin  de  Brioniis  Sheriff  of  Devon  — 
His  descendants — Amicia  de  Rod  vers — Foundress 
of  Buckhmd  Abbey — Account  of  the  Alibi 'y — The 
dissolution— The  Grenvilles — Tlie  Abbey  Buildings 
— The  Drake  Peiligree — The  Drake  Ann- — The 
Church  of  S.  Andrew,  Buckland — The  Charities  of 
Buckland.  ...  ...  77—120 


DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


Chapter  V.    Pai!Ts  I,  II.  III. 


Tlic  parisli   oi'  .AIkavv — General  JJistory — The  Lords 
ol'  Meavy — The  Millatoiis — The  Strofles  ot'Enning- 
ton— The  Woiths  of  Wortli   in   W'a.shiiekl  and  of 
Com  pton  in  Marl  don —Heavy  Chuich — Mrs.  Bray 
and  the  Borders  of  the  Tamar  and  the  Taw.  121—147. 


Chapter  VI.    Parts  I,  II. 

The  parish  of  S.  Peter  TAVT—Oeneral  History  and 
l)e.scription  — The  Parish  Chnrcli.       ...  14S — 15S. 

Chaptkr  VII.    Parts  I,  II. 

Tlie  pai-i.sh  of  S.  Mary  Tavy — General  History — 
Siward,  Karl  of  Northunib(;rland  • —  Robert  de 
.\ Ibemark— Bnller  of  Mnrvall— Tlie  Parish  Church.     1  J'J— 1(J7. 


Chai'ter  VIII.     Parts  I,  II,  III. 

Thu  rniisli  of  ilARiSTOW — General  History — The  Manor 
of  Sydinham — The  Hamptons  and  Trenchards — 
The  Wise  Family — Tlie  Tremaynes — Sydenham 
House — Bescription — Account  of  the  Pictures — The 
Pedigree  of  Wise — The  descent  of  Aj'shford  Wise — 
Maristow  Church — The  Vicars  of  Maristow — 
Thorne  Land.s.  ..  ...  IfiS— 190. 


CiiACTKi;  IX. 

The  parish   of  Thrushklon — Chapclry  dependant  on 
Mari.stow — The  Family  of  Vipont— The  Trenchards 
— The  parish  Chuich — License  for  a  liurial  (i round 
A.D    lo()4.  ...  ...  191—195. 

Chapter  X.     Paris  1,  II,  HI. 

Tlie  pra-ish  of  LameRTON— Goheral  History— The 
]'"ovte.scues — The  Kumlles — Dr.  Tliomas  Itundle, 
Bishop  of  Deny — The  Kdgeumbes  of  Lamertou — 
'JMie  Kowe  Family — Nicholas  Rowe,  the  Poet — 
Tlie  Ti'emayne  Family  and  Pedigree — Lamcrton 
Church — Description  of  the  Building  and  details  as 
to  the  Monuments — The  destruction  by  h're — 
Rebuilt  1S79.  ...  ...     "  196—227 


CONTENTS.  xi 

Chapter  XI.    Parts  I,  II. 

The  Boi-ouyh  of  LmroRn — The  Kingof  the  Romans — 
Kintj  John — Prince  Town — The  Convict  Prisons — 
Dartmoor  Forest — Wistmans  Wood — Post  Bridjjjo  — 
Crockcm     Tor — The    Stannary    Towns — Liilforrl 
Castle— Lidibrd  Church  "         ...  228—248. 


Chapter  XII.    Pahts  I,  II,  III. 

The  parish  of  Milton  Abbot — Dependant  on  Tavistock 
Abbey — The  Fortcscues — The  Edgcumbe  Family — 
Dr.   Gilbert,  Archbishop  of  York — The  House  of 
Russell— Tlic    Parish    Church— The    Bundles    of 
Milton  Abbot— The  Hammick  Pedigree.  249—300, 


Chapter  XIII.    Parts   I.  II. 

The  Parish  of  Ashpkington — General  Historj' — 
Ciinonslcigh  Priory — The  family  of  Boty  or  Bowden 
— The  Manor  of  Painsford — The  Kelland  Family 
— Sharpham — The  Drewes— The  Bastards — The 
Parish  Church — An  account  of  the  Carwithen 
Family.  ...  ...  .301—325 


Chapter  XIV.,    Parts  I.  II.  III. 

The  History  of  Dartmouth — General  description — 
Its  extreme  an  tic  I  uity — King  Richard  I — Departure 
of  J)artmouth  Ships  to  join  the  King  at  ilarseilles 
— King  John — His  invasion  of  France — Clifton — 
Ilardnesse  or  Sand-quay— Townstall — Dartmouth 
.sends  Burgesses  to  Parliament  — A  Municipal 
Borough — Charter  of  Queen  Elizabeth — Recites 
former  Charters — Attack  on  Dartmouth  by  the 
French— "The  Crescent  and  the  Ilarte"— The 
(ireat  Rebellion — Dartmouth  succuudis  to  Fairfax 
— Wm.  La  Zo\ich,  Baron  of  Totnes— Percy,  Karl  of 
Noi-thumberland — Descent — Erroi's  and  iliscrepaii- 
cies  of  County  Historians  as  to  the  Borough — The 
Scales  of  Mount  Boon — Charli's  Fit/.-Charles,  Farl 
of  Plymouth  and  Baron  of  ])artmoiith — Legge,  Earl 
of  Dartmouth — The  Hawleys  —  Newcoinen,  the  in- 
ventor of  the  Steam  Engine — Bra.ss  at  Stoke 
Fleming — Arms  and  Pedigree  of  Newcomen.  .'52C — 376. 


DEVONSHIEE    PABISHES. 

CHAPTER  I.     PAET  I. 
The  Pakish  of  Bickleigh— General  History. 

The  pleasant  village  of  Bickleigli  in  the  south-western 
portion  of  this  county,  is  situated  about  seven  miles  north 
of  Plymouth,  in  the  hundred  of  Eoborough,  the  Deanery 
of  Plyrapton,  and  the  Archdeaconry  of  Totnes.  Until  the 
recent  alteration  of  the  ecclesiastical  divisions  of  the 
Diocese,  Bickleigh  belonged  to  the  ancient  Deanery  of 
Tamerton,  now  altogether  suppressed.  The  parish  consists 
of  2,323  acres  of  land  with  under  362  inhabitants. 

I  believe  the  Manor  to  be  the  "  Bichenelie"  of  Domes- 
day, which  under  the  Saxons  belonged  to  Brictric,  the 
son 'of  Algar,  and  which,  although  it  was  at  one  time 
appendant"  to  Tavistock,  was  ultimately  held  by  him  as 
pertaining  to  the  Manor  of  Bickington,  in  the  hundred  of 
Teignbridge,  ichich  teas  a  jwriion  of  his  honour  oj  Gloucester} 
In  common  with  the  rest  of  his  land,  Bickleigh  was  after- 
wards appropriated  by  Matilda,  the  wife  of  the  Conqueror, 

1  This  alienation  is  alluded  to  both  in  tho  Exeter  Domesday  and  also 
in  the  Exchequer  copy.  With  the  remark  in  the  former  that  it,  "  Biche- 
nelia  "  has  been  taken  away  from  Tavistock.  "Et  modo  est  injusto  m 
mansionc  quce  vocatur  Lichcntona."  In  the  Exchequer  Domesday  it  ia 
called  "  Bichenelie,"  and  the  entry  concerning  it  ends  "  Haec  terra  jacet 
injuste  in  Bichentone." 
B 


2  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

and  I  will  not  here  repeat  the  romantic  history  of  this 
alienation,  since  I  have  already  more  than  once  referred 
to  it  elsewhere.' 

In  the  year  1278,  Amicia,  wife  of  Baldwin  de  Eedvers, 
seventh  Earl  of  Devon,  and  daughta'  of  Gilbert  de  Clare, 
Earl  of  Gloucester  and  Hertford,  founded  the  Abbey 
of  Buckland  for  monks  of  the  Cistercian  order,  and 
endowed  it  with  the  Manor  of  Buckland,  and  with  the 
Hamlets  ("  cum  haraelettis  ")  of  Columpton,  Walkhamp- 
ton,  and  Bykeley.  The  foundation  deed,  printed  in^  the 
Monasticon  of  the  Diocese,  p.  382,  sets  forth  that  the 
Countess  had  founded  and  endowed  this  Abbey  for  the 
health  of  the  souls  of  Henry,  King  of  England,  and  his 
wife  Alianor  and  their  children ;  of  King  Edward,  son 
of  the  said  King  Henry,  and  of  his  wife  AUanor  and  their 
children ;  of  Gilbert  de  Clare,  formerly  Earl  of  Glou- 
cester and  Hertford,  her  father ;  and  of  the  Countess 
Isabel,  her  mother  ;  as  well  as  for  her  husband,  Baldwin, 
Earl  of  Devon  and  her  daughters,  Isabel,  Countess  of 
Devon  and  Albemarle,  and  Margaret,  a  nun  of  Lacock. 
Tlie  confirmation  by  her  said  daughter  Isabella  de 
Fortibus,  is  recited  by  "  Inspeximus."^  And  the  per- 
mission to  bestow  the  land  on  the  Abbey  had  been  duly 
obtained  from  the  Crown  by  deed  dated  8th  Aug.,  1276, 
still  to  be  held,  however,  "  de  nobis  et  heredibus  nosti'is  in 
capite."  This  interesting  document,  which  Dugdale  calls 
the  Charter  of  Edward  II,  may  be  thus  translated  : — 

"  Edward,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  King  of  England,  Lord 

^  History  of  ^Vinkloigll  (Devon  seat  of  Honour  of  Gloucester),  p.  10. 
»  Kot.  Pat.  9th  Hy.  IV,  pt.  2,  ra.  18.     Monas.  Dioc.  p.  383. 


PARISH    OF   BICK LEIGH.  3 

of  Ireland,  and  Duke  of  Aquitaine,  to  all,  &c.  Know  ye 
that  we  have  yielded  and  confirmed  to  Amicin,  cle  SeclverSj 
Countess  of  Devon,'  the  Manor  of  Bocland,  with  the 
hamlets  of  Columpton,  Walkhampton,  and  Bykele,  together 
with  all  and  singular  their  appurtenances  everywhere 
existing,  to  be  had  and  held  to  the  said  Amicia,  according 
to  the  form  and  tenour  of  the  deeds  which  she  holds  from 
hence,  from  the  gift  (or  concurrence)  of  the  Countess  of 
Albemarle,  her  daughter ;  and  if  it  should  happen  that 
the  aforesaid  Amicia  should  wish  to  give  and  assign  the 
said  manor  and  hamlets,  &c.,  to  certain  religious  men, 
and  hence  to  found  a  new  religious  house,  know  ye  that 
we,  for  ourselves  and  our  heirs,  would  esteem  the  said 
gift  grateful  and  acceptable,  so  that  however,  the  said 
house,  after  the  decease  of  the  said  Amicia,  ma}'  be 
held  from  us  and  our  heirs-in-chief.  And  we  promise  in 
good  faith,  when  it  shall  have  been  constructed  or  appro- 
priated, to  confirm  it  in  pure  and  perpetual  alms.  Of 
which,  &c.,  witness  ourself,  at  Odiliam,^  8th  Aug.,  in  the 
fourth  year  of  our  reign." 

1  The  Countess  died  in  1282. 

2  Odiham  Castle  in  Hampshire  the  residence  of  the  King's  aunt 
Alianore  wife  of  Simon  de  Jlontfort,  Earl  of  l^cicester,  and  widow  of 
William  ^Marshal  the  younger,  Earl  of  Pembroke.  The  houseliold  KoU 
of  tlie  Countess  in  the  British  JIuseum  which  commences  in  1265,  shows 
that  she  went  to  Odiham  on  the  22nd  of  February  in  that  year  and  on 
the  17th  of  the  following  month  she  was  joined  by  her  son  Henry,  wlio 
brought  with  him  his  two  cousins,  Prince  Edward,  and  the  son  of  the 
King  of  the  Romans,  escorted  by  a  strong  guard.  The  "  Countess  of 
Gloucester  "  was  also  one  of  the  visitors.  Isabel,  Countess  of  Gloucester, 
mother  of  Amicia,  was  sistcr-in-Iaw  to  the  Princess,  by  her  first  marriage 
as  she  was  one  of  the  daughters  and  ultimately  coheirs  of  William  ^lar- 
ehall,  1st  Earl  of  Pembroke  of  that  name. 

B- 


4  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

I  have  ventured  to  use  the  word  "  concurrence "  in 
connexion  with  Isabella  de  Fortibus,  although  the  usual 
expression,  "  de  dono,"  is  employed  in  the  original,  since 
I  believe  that  the  Bickleigh  property,  as  part  of  the 
honour  of  Gloucester,  was  the  paternal  inheritance  of 
Amicia. 

When  John  de  Lydeford,  Archdeacon  of  Totnes,"  visited  " 
Bickleigh  church  in  October,  1392,  he  found  the  chancel 
in  a  very  bad  condition,  and  recommended  extensive 
repairs  both  to  the  roof  and  windows.'  On  the  12th  of 
the  month,  the  Abbot  of  Buckland,  "  Walter,"  and  "  Sir 
Eichard,"  the  Vicar  of  Bickleigh,  appeared  before  him 
in  the  choir  of  the  Conventual  Church,  when  the  Vicar 
excused  himself  from  his  liability  on  account  of  his  poverty 
and  the  inadequacy  of  his  preferment.  But  the  Abbot 
exhibited  the  endowment,  or  composition,  of  the  Vicarage 
which  had  been  settled  by  Bishop  Grandisson  by  his  deed, 
dated  at  Chudleigh,  11th  Nov.,  1356  ;  and  from  which  it 
appeared  that  upon  the  admission  by  that  Prelate  of 
"  John  Day,  of  Shenesbi,"  Priest  to  the  Perpetual  Vicarage 
of  Bickleigh  upon  the  presentation  to  the  Abbot  and 
Convent,  it  had  been  arranged,  with  the  consent  of  the 
patrons,  that  the  Vicars  of  Bickleigh  for  the  time  being 
were  to  have  all  the  houses,  lands,  orchards,  courtlages, 
meadows,  pasture.s,  and  moors  which  "  Master  Eobert  Pye," 
while  he  lived  Rector  of  this  Church,  had  and  held  in  the 
name  of  the  Church.  That  the  said  Vicars  were  also  to 
have  twenty  acres  of  the  adjacent  laud  of  "  J3ickerigge," 
common  pasture  over  the  whole  waste  there  with  certain 
restrictions,  and  sufficient  timber   for  necessary    repairs 

1  Grandisson's  Keg.  vol.  i,  inter  fol.  30,  .31. 


PARISH   OF  BICKLEIGH.  5 

from  Bickleigli  wood  ;  the  tithe  of  wheat  of  Bickleigh  and 
Dedesham,  and  all  the  smaU  tithes  pertaining  to  the  Church 
of  Bickleigh  and  its  dependant  Chapel  of  "  Schetelestorre  " 
(Sheepstor).  The  Vicars  were  to  duly  celebrate  at  their 
own  expense,  to  repair  the  chancel,  books,  ornaments,  &c., 
and  to  be  responsible  for  all  other  burthens  which  usually 
belonged  to  the  Rector.  But  the  Monks  were  to  pay  any 
subsidies  to  the  King  or  to  the  nuncios  or  legates  of  the 
Apostolic  See,  and  they  were  also  to  supply  the  annual 
pension  of  20s.  due  to  the  Cathedral  of  Exeter.  By  virtue 
of  this  instrument  the  Patrons  were  adjudged  exempted 
from  making  the  requisite  repairs. 

Tlie  Chapel  of  Sheepstor  appears  to  have  been  always 
dependant  on  Bickleigh  ;  it  is  so  mentioned  in  the  Taxation 
of  Pope  Nicholas,  1288-1291. 

Dr.  Oliver,*  speaks  of  an  estate  known  as  "  Le  Torre," 
as  being  situated  in  JBicIdei</h.  The  Patent  EoU  9th,  Henry 
rV.,  however,  to  which  I  liave  already  referred,  clearly 
shows  that  it  was  in  the  neighljouring  parish  of  Sheepstor, 
"  Et  terram  et  viUanos  de  la  Torr  apiid  Shitestorr.'''  There 
were  certain  tithes  of  wheat,  (fee,  reserved  to  the  Patrons, 
and  on  October  25th,  ISSfi,  John  Toker,  the  last  Abbot  of 
Buckland,  leased  these  Kectorial  tithes  of  Bickleigh  with 
Sheepstor,  together  with  those  of  Walkhampton,  to  his 
brother  Robert  and  his  nephews  William  and  Hugh  Toker 
for  sixty  years,  at  the  annual  payment  of  £7  10s. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  the  tithe  of  "  Dedesham,"  a  farm 
now  known  as  "  Didham,"  in  the  parish  of  Buckland 
Monachorum,  was  appropriated  to  the  Vicar  of  Bickleigh. 
Although    somewhat    unusual,    this   endowment   of  one 

1  "  Monas.  Dioc."  p.  381. 


6  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

parish,  with  a  portion  of  the  tithe  of  another,  was  at  one 
time  occasionally  adopted  in  similar  cases  where  a  religious 
communit}^  were  the  common  patrons.' 

At  the  dissolution  of  Monasteries,  the  Manor  of  Bickleigh 
with  Shaugh,  was  valued  at  £30  18s.  4^d.  per  annum, 
after  deducting  the  pension  of  20s.  paj^able  to  the  Dean 
and  Chapter  of  Exeter.  Of  this  sum  Shaugh  contributed 
£9  18s.,  and  is  described  in  the  "Valor  "  as  being  situated 
in  the  Deanery  of  Tamerton.  It  is  referred  to  in  the 
"  Confirmation  "  "  with  metes  and  bounds  "  of  Isabella  de 
Fortibus  ;"-  "  per-transeundo  viam  que  ducit  de  ponte  de 
Cadaworth  ad  Pljanpton  ^)er  terrain  de  Schagh  versus 
orientem  usque  ad  Shitaburgh,"  It  must  not  be  con- 
founded, therefore,  with  the  neighbouring  manor  known 
as  "  Shaugh  Prior,"  which  was,  and  still  is,  in  the  Deanerj- 
of  Plympton,  and  which  belonged  to  the  Priory  of  the 
same  name. 

Eleven  lines  only  are  devoted  hy  Lysons^  to  the  parish 
of  Bickleieh.  *  Risdon  refers  to  it  in  the  following  words  : 
— "  This  manor,  with  other  lands,  was  given  to  the  Abbey 
of  Buckland  in  the  time  of  King  Edward  I,  A.D.  1278, 
and  after  the  surrender  was  sold  to  the  ancestors  of  Sir 
Nicliolas  Slannin",  Knight."  Westcote's  account'*  is  even 
more  unsatisfactory  : — "  Ryckley  alias  Buckley  is  not  to 
be  neglected,  although  we  had  almost  passed  it  unseen. 
The  Abbot  of  Buckland  held  it  together  with  Buckland 

1  Kelson,  "  Riglits  of  tlic  Clcrgj' "  p.  547. 

'  Kot.  Put.   9  Hon.  IT.  part  2.  m.  IS  per  iiispcx.   Printed  in  "  Mouas. 
Dice."  p.  383. 

^  Mag.  Erit.  Devon,  vol.  ii,  p.  46. 
*  Risdon  Edit.  1811,  p.  210. 
f*  Survey  of  Devon,  p.   375. 


PARISH   OF  BICK LEIGH.  7 

and  Walkhampton  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  In  King 
Edward  I's.  time  I  read  of  Sir  William  and  Sir  John 
Bickleigli,  but  whether  of  this  place  or  of  Bickleigh  by 
Tiverton,  or  of  both,  I  say  not." 

On  September  24th,  1546,  John  Slannynge,  of  London, 
gentleman,  and  Anthony  Butler  purchased  of  the  Crown 
the  capital  messuage  of  Heale,  with  the  land  of  Mayburgh, 
in  the  parish  of  Bickleigh,  the  land  which  had  belonged  to 
Buckland  Abbey  in  "  Shilstorre"  and  Rynmore,  and  the 
tithes  of  Bickleigh  and  Heale,  together  with  the  manor 
and  advowson  of  Walkhampton.  The  same  to  be  held  in 
fee  at  the  yearly  rent  of  6s.  4d.  for  the  property  in  Shil- 
storre (Sheepstor)  and  Eynmore  ;  15s.  for  Bickleigh  ;  and 
£2  4s.  7M.  for  Walkhampton. 

The  entry  in  the  "  Valor"  relative  to  a  portion  of  this 
purchase  may  thus  be  translated  : — 

"Ileyle,   Sliittistor,    and    Eynmore    in    the    aforesaid 
Deanery  and  Diocese." 
"  Return  of  Assize  of  Heyle  of  free  as    well 

as  of  customary  lioldings  in  the  same  p.a.  £7  Os.  Od. 
Eeturn  of  Assize  of  Shittistor,  of  free  as  well 

as  of  customary  holdings  p.a.  £2  13s.   3d. 

And  for  Guldage  of  the  same  manor,  8d. 

Eeturn   of  Assize   of  E3nimore   in  the  afore- 
said p.a.  10s.  Od. 


Total         £10  3s.  lid." 
There  was  an  annual  payment  of  a  fee   of  £1   6s.   8d. 
to "  Walter  Knyghton,  bailiff  of  the  aforesaid  manor  of 
Byklegh." 


DE  V0N8HIEE  PA  RISHES. 


CHAPTER  I.  PAET  11. 

The  Paiush   of  Bickleigh — Families   of  Slanning 
AND  Lopes. 

The  first  property  held  by  the  Slanuings  in  this  county 
seems  to  have  been  "  Leys,"  which,  according  to  Prince, 
and  others  who  have  followed  him,  was  situated  in  the 
parish  of  Plympton  St.  Mary.  This  author  corrects  the 
assertion  made  by  Westcote,'  who,  when  speaking  of 
Shaugh  Prior,  remarks,  "  Therein  is  Ley,  the  inheritance 
of  the  generous  tribe  of  Slanning.  This  gentlemen 
matched  with  Champernon,  his  father  Maynard  next  before 
Harestone."  But  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  in  his  pedigree 
of  Slanning,  Westcote  contradicts  himselP  since  it  com- 
mences with  "  Slanning  of  Ley,  in  the  parish  of  Bickleigh, 
gentleman."  There  is  a  foot-note  relative  to  Ley  in  the 
1810  Edit,  of  Prince,  p.  715,  which  expressly,  and 
erroneously,  states  that  "  Ley  is  in  the  parish  of  Plympton 
St.  Mary,"  to  which  I  shall  again  have  occasion  to  refer. 

The  Pedigree  inserted  by  Dr.  Colby,  in  his  Edition  of 
the  1564  Visitation  of  Devon,  commences  with  Nicholas 
Slanning,  who  married  the  d.  and  h.  of  Nicholas  At-Jjeye, 
issue  William  and  John.  William  Slanning,  eldest  son, 
had  a  wife  Joan,  d.  and  h.  of  "  William  Horstons,  of  De  la 


^5 


1  View  of  Devonshire,  p.  384. 
•  Pedigrees — Ibid.,  p.  563. 


PARISH  OF  BIGKLEIGH.  9 

Will,"  Co.  Devon,  and  had  two  sons,  Nicholas  and  John  ; 
and  two  daughters,  Nichola,  wife  of  Eobert  Snelling,  of 
Plj-mpton,  and  Elizabeth,  who  mai-ried  Thomas  Cliffe  of  S. 

Cliffe  (Westcote  calls  him  ClylT ).     I  believe  that  John 

Slanning,  the  yonnger  son,  was  the  purchaser,  24lh  Sep- 
tember, 1546,  from  the  Crown,  of  the  Bickleigh  property, 
and  that  he  also  bought  Maristow,  in  Tamerton  Parish,  of 
the  Champernownes  in  1550.  In  1546  he  is  described  as 
of  London,  gentleman  ;  and  in  1550,  as  John  Slanning,  Esq., 
of  Shaugh.  I  have  fonnd  no  record  of  his  marriage,  and  I 
presume,  therefore,  that  his  propertj^  passed  to  the  repre- 
sentatives of  his  elder  brotlier,  Nicholas  Slanning,  "  of 
Ley,"  who  married  Elizabeth,  d.  of  Thomas  Maynard,  of 
Sherford,  and  left  four  sons,  Nicholas  [Mi.  56  in  1579), 
William,  John,  and  Thomas.  Nicholas  married  Margaret, 
d.  of  William,  son  of  John  Amadas,  Sergt.-at-arms  to  King 
Henry  the  Eighth,  and  had  issue  one  daughter  Anne ; 
he  is  described  by  Prince  as  of  Bickleigh,  Esq.,  but  the 
assertions  made  by  Prince'  and  Westcote''  that  he  married 
Margaret  Champernoicn,  of  Modhury,  and  had  a  son 
Gamaliel,  who  continued  the  elder  line,  are  manifestly  quite 
incorrect.  His  second  brother  William  married  Wilmot 
Baldwyn,  and  had  a  son  Nicholas,  who  cannot  have  left 
issue,  since  heraldic  evidence  points  clearly  to  the  fact  that 
the  family  property  descended  to  the  sons  of  his  third  brother 
John,  whose  wife  was  Jane,  d.  of  Wm.  Cruse,  of  Crusa 
Morchard,  and  who  had  two  sons,  Nicholas  and  John.  It 
was  Nicholas,  the  eldest  of  these  {and  not  his  uncle  Nicholas) 
•who  married  Margaret,  d.  of  Henry  Champernown  ;  his 
younger  brother  John  appears  to  have  resided  at  Ley,  and 

1  Edit.  1810,  p.  713.  2  View  of  Devon,  563. 

C 


10  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

he  it  is  probably  who  is  referred  to  in  a  foot-note,'  to  the 
1810  Edit,  of  Prince  in  the  following  paragraph  : — 

"  Ley,  which  is  in  the  parish  of  Plympton  St.  Mary, 
continued  to  be  the  residence  of  the  family  of  Slanning 
after  the  purchase  of  the  Bickleigh  Estate  at  the  dissolu- 
tion of  monasteries ;  but  after  that  period  was  probably 
the  residence  of  a  younger  branch,  the  elder  having 
removed  to  Bickleigh  and  Maristow.  So  late  as  1632  died 
John  Slanning,  of  Ley,  who  had  married  Jane,  d.  of 
WiUiam  Woollcombe,  of  Pilton,  and  whose  armorial 
ensigns  were  distinguished  by  a  crescent.  How  long  this 
branch  continued  we  know  not,  but  their  estate  of  Ley 
became  the  property  of  the  Parkers,  and  was  latety  sold 
by  John  Lord  Boringdon,  to  Mr.  Snell," 

Nicholas  Slanning,  who  died  in  1580,  by  his  marriage 
with  Margarat  Champernown,  had  a  son  Gamahel,  who 
married  Maynard.  He  was  killed  in  a  duel  in  the 
year  1599  with  Sir  John  Fitz,  of  Fitz-ford,  near  Tavistock. 

It  is  related  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  encounter 
a  reconciliation  was  about  to  take  place,  but  Fitz,  in 
consequence  of  a  taunt  from  his  attendant  to  the  effect 
that  the  meeting  savoured  somewhat  of  "child's-play," 
again  drew  his  sword,  when  Slanning  tripped  over  his  spur, 
and  was  killed  unfairly  when  at  a  disadvantage.  Fitz  had 
interest  enough  at  Court  to  obtain  a  pardon  from  the 
Queen  for  the  death  of  Slanning,  whose  widow,  however,  is 
said  to  have  brought  an  action  against  him  for  the  loss  of 
her  husband,  and  to  have  procured  the  surrender  of  a 
portion  of  the  Fitz  Estate  to  herself  and  her  family.  Some 
time  afterwards  Sir  John  is  said  to  have  again  placed 

1  pp.  715-16. 


PARISH  OF  BICKLEIGH.  H 

himself  in  a  similar  predicament,  and  while  on  his  road  to 
London  he  halted  for  the  night  at  Salisbury  and   upon 
retiring  desired  to  be  called  at  daylight  in  order  that  lie 
might  continue  his  journey.     He  awoke  suddenly  from  his 
sleep,  and  heard  someone  knocking  at  the  door  of  his  room. 
It  was  quite  dark,  and  forgetting  the  orders  he  had  given 
on  the  previous  evening,  he  conceived  that  it  must  be  the 
officers  of  the  law  in  pursuit  of  him.     Acting  on  a  sudden 
impulse  he  armed  himself,  rushed  to   the  door,   struck 
wildly  around  him,  and  with  fatal  effect,  for  when  lights 
were  brought  he  found  that  he  had  killed  the  unhappy 
servant  who  had  been  endeavouring  to  fulfil  his  commands 
of  the  previous  evening.     The  dreadful  mistake  occasioned 
him  such  horror  and  remorse  that  he  at  once  terminated 
his  existence  by  throwing  himself  on  his  own  sword. 

The  Slanning  memorial  in  Bickleigh  Church,  and  which 
I  shall  again  mention,  has  several  shields  of  arms  which 
will  help"  to  prove  my  conclusion  as  to  the  genealogical 
mcorrectness  of  Prince  and  West  cote  : — 
1st.  Slanning  impaling  Cruse. 
2nd.  Slanning  impaling  Champeruowu. 
3rd.  Slanning  impaling  Maynard. 

I  would  further  remark  that  in  the  account  of  the  duel 
given  by  Mrs.  Bray'  it  is  stated  that  Fitz  fought  with 
Nicholas  Slanning. 

Gaiualiel  Slanning  left  issue  a  son,  Nicholas,  who 
became  celebrated  for  his  loyal  adherence  to  King 
Charles  I.,  and  for  his  frequent  acts  of  bravery  in  front 
of  the  enemy.      He   appears  to  have   been  educated  at 

1  Trad,  of  Devon,  vol.  ii,  323.  See  also  Prince,  Edit.  1810,  p.  715, 
Moore's  Devonshire,  vol.  ii,  p.  485. 


2  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

O-xfortl,  and  to  have  followed  the  law  as  a  profession,  since 
in  the  15th  Charles  1st  we  find  him  Eecorder  of  Plympton 
and  M.P.  for  that  borough  ;  in  the  next  year  he  represented 
the  borough  of  Penrj-n.  On  the  29th  May,  1621,  he 
married  Philippa,  d.  of  John  Coplestone  (Bap.  6th  Dec, 
1590) ;'  and,  secondly,  in  1631,  Gertrude^  daughter 
of  Sir  James  Bagge,  of  Little  Saltram,  so  that  his  first 
wife  cannot  have  long  survived.  In  the  latter  j-ear 
he  received  the  honour  of  knighthood,  and  is  described  by 
Lord  Clarendon  as  being  in  1643  "  the  gallant  governor 
of  Pendennis  Castle,"  and  in  conjunction  with  Sir  Bevil 
Grenville,  Sir  Ealph  Hopton,  John  Arundel,  and  Col. 
Trevanion,  he  undertook  to  raise  troops  at  his  own  expense 
for  the  Eoyal  cause.  Por  numerous  interesting  details  of 
his  career  I  would  refer  my  readers  to  the  accounts  of  him 
given  by  Prince,  to  Moore's  Biographies^  and  to  the  pages 
of  Clarendon.  Mrs.  Bray"*  gives  some  curious  extracts 
from  his  "  muster  roll,"  the  names  of  the  oflicei'S 
(Sir  Nicholas  Slanning,*  Lieut-Col. ;  Joseph  Drake,  Esq., 
Captain-Lieutenant ;  John  Jacob,  gentleman.  Ensign  ;  four 
sergts ;  eight  corporals ;  156  men  ;  of  which  about  two 

1  Ped.  of  Coiplestone. — She  was  Eister  of  Amias  Copplestone  of 
Tamerton  Foliot,  and  aunt  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  John  Elford,  of  Sheepstor. 

2  She  was  mar.  secondly  toEichard  Arundell,  Esq.;  her  son,  2sicholas 
Slanning,  was  a  minor,  April  1662. 

2  Jloore's  Devon,  vol.  2.  p.  484.     *  Trad,  of  Devon,  vol.  3,  p.  37. 

^  "  The  ^Muster  Roll  of  Sir  ^.'icholas  Slanning  is  still  in  existence,  in 
fact  it  is  at  this  time  in  our  house;  mj-  brother  copied  it  and  inserted  it  in 
his  notices  of  Tavistock  Abhej-,  in  the  "  G<:ntJcman's  Ma(jazine."  It  is 
entitled  "  a  perfect  Muster  Kcill,  containing  the  several  hundred  parishes 
and  hr.mlets,"  together  with  the  officers  and  souldicrs  within  the  said 
Stannary  — It  is  signed  Kicholas  Slanning,  Edw.  Yarde,  Josejih  Drake, 
and  another,  the  first  name  has  been  erased."    Ibid. 


PARISH  OF  BICK LEIGH.  13 

thirds  bore  luuskets  and  the  rest  pikes)  are  included  in 
this  document,  and  on  the  back  of  it  are  some  memoranda 
respecting  the  arms  of  the  company.  For  the  horse,  "  a 
backe,  brest,  and  pot,  pistol  proofe,  a  sword  and  case  of 
pistells,  the  barrel  not  under  14  inches  in  length."  Horse 
furniture,  "  a  great  saddle  or  pad  with  bars  and  straps  to 
affix  the  holster."  Footman's  arms,  "  musquett  ban-ell  not 
under  three  foot,  the  gage  of  the  bore  for  twelve  bullets 
(new),  but  ye  old  way  fourteen  to  ye  pound ;  a  collar  of 
bandaliers,  with  asworde."  Pikeman's  amies,  "  a  pyke  of 
ashe  not  under  15  foot,  head  and  foote  included,  with  a 
backe,  brest,  head  piece,  and  sworde,  ye  old  pyke  fifteen 
(feet).  Musquetier,  halfe  pounde  poudder,  and  three  yards 
of  matche,  half  a  pounde  of  bulletts." 

At  the  battle  of  Lansdown,  in  1()43,  Col.  Slanning  is 
recorded  to  have  performed  prodigies  of  valour,  to  have 
led  on  his  followers  in  the  mouth  of  cannon  and  musketry, 
and  to  have  apparently  borne  a  charmed  life.  lie 
accompanied  Prince  Paipert  to  the  attack  on  Bristol,  and 
fell  before  the  walls  of  that  city  2Glh  of  July,  1643.  Ilis 
friends,  Godolphin  and  Trevanion,  perished  in  the  same 
encounter,  Sir  Bevil  Grenville  had  been  mortally  wounded 
at  Lansdowne,  and  the  contemporaneous  verses  upon  the 
death  of  these  heroes,  of  which  Prince  has  given  us  two 
lines,  is  commented  upon  by  Mrs.  Bray,  who  truly  says, 
"Certainly  such  men  deserved  to  be  celebrated  in  better 
verse  " — 

"  The  four  wheels  of  Cbarle's  wain, 

Grenville,  Godolphin,  Trovannion,  Slanning  slain." 

The  body  of  Sir  Nicholas  is  supposed  to  have  been  buried 
on  the  field.     "  His  helmet,  gauntlet,  and  pennon   were 


14  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

suspended  in  Bickleigh  Church."*  I  saw  nothing  of  the 
pennon,  but  I  found  the  helm  and  glove  were  duly  hung 
over  the  Slanning  memorial  in  July,  1874. 

The  statement  made  by  Lord  Clarendon,  and  repeated 
by  others,  that  Sir  Nicholas  was  not  more  than  twenty- 
eiiiht  years  of  age  when  he  died  must  be  incorrect,  since 
his  father,  Gamaliel,  v-ns  killed  by  Sir  John  Fitz  in  1599, 
and,  moreover,  as  I  have  already  remarked,  he  married 
PhiUppa  Coplestone  in  1621,  when,  if  Lord  Clarendons 
statement  he  true,  he  could  have  only  been  six  years  old. 
He  left  two  children — Nicholas  and  Ehzabeth.  His  son 
had  to  pay  the  Roundheads  £1,197  13s.  lid.,  as  a  com- 
position for  his  estate,  but  upon  the  Eestoration  he  was 
made  a  Knisfht  of  the  Bath,  and  was  created  a  Baronet  in 
1662.  By  his  wife,  Anne,  he  left  a  son  Andrew,  who  suc- 
ceeded as  sf.cond  Baronet,  and  died  without  issue.  He 
was  killed  in  a  duel  at  the  "  Golden  Key,"  in  Fleet-street, 
in  1695.  His  mother,  Anne  Lady  Slanning,  married  after- 
wards Hugh  Stafford,  who  had  then  recently  purchased 
the  Pyne  Estate  from  the  Coplestones  which  passed  by 
the  marriage  of  Sir  Henry  Northcote,  15th  Bart.,  with 
Bridget  Maria  Stafford,  to  the  ancestors  of  its  present 
possessor  the  Earl  of  Iddesleigh.  Li  the  Church  of  Ui^ton 
Pvne  mav  be  seen  the  memorial  of  '•  Dame  Anne  Slannins 
reUct  of  Sir  Nicholas  Slanning,  Bart.,  and  third  wife  of 
Hugh  Stafford,  1697—" 

Upon  the  death  of  Sir  Andrew  Slanning,  Second  Bart., 
without  issue,  in  1695,  the  property  of  Bickleigh  and 
Sheepstor,  together  with  the  beaiitiful  estate  of  Maristow, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tavy,  and  just  above  its  confluence 

1  Moore,  vol.  ii,  486. 


PARISH  OF  BICK LEIGH.  15 

with  the  river  Tamar,  were  inherited  by  his  aunt  Eliza- 
beth {daughter  not  sister,  as  stated  by  the  editors  of 
Prince')  of  the  great  Sir  Nicholas.  This  lady,  who  had 
been  born  in  1633,  married  Sir  James  Modj^ord,  Lieut.- 
Governor  of  Jamaica,  who  was  created  a  Baronet  by  King 
Charles  II.  in  1661. 

In  the  indexes  to  the  Patent  Rolls  at  the  Record  Office  is 
a  notice  of  the  license  to  Sir  James  "  to  distintjuish  the 
island  of  Providence  alias  St.  Katherine,  into  counties, 
towns,  manors,  &c.*  Sir  James  left  at  his  decease,  in  1675 
{not  an  onli/  child  Grace,  as  stated  by  Burke),  but  two 
daughters,  co-heirs,  Grace  and  Mary ;  the  latter  married 
Dean.  She  died  in  1734,  and  her  arms,  impaled  with 
those  of  her  husband,  may  be  seen  at  Bickleigh,  where 
also  there  is  an  inscription  to  her  memory ;  and  also  to 
that  of  Lady  Modyford,  "  relict  of  Sir  James  Modyford, 
Bart.,  and  dawjhter  of  Sir  Nicholas  Slanning,  who  teas  killed 
at  the  siege  of  Bristol,  ob.  1724,  yJ-J.  91."  The  Bickleigh 
property  descended  to  Grace,  whose  husband  was  Peter 
Heywood,  of  a  Lancashire  family,  and  their  grandson, 
James  Modyford  Heywood,  had  a  son  James,  who  pre- 
deceased him  in  1784.  At  his  own  death  in  1798,  he  left 
four  daughters,  co-heirs — Sophie  Catherine,  Wife  of  John 
Musters  ;  Ennna,  wlio  married  Albemarle  Bertie ;  Maria 
Henrietta,  whose  husband  was  Lewis  Montolieu ;  and 
Frances,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Orby  Hunter.  The  Monto- 
lieus  came  from  Languedoc  and  their  coat-armour,  "  az. 
a  fleur  de  lis  or,  betw.  3  crescents  "  in  chief,  and  as  many 
mullets  in  base,  and  supported  by  two  eagles,  was  borne 
by  virtue  of  a  diploma  granted  by  the  Emperor  Joseph  in 

'  r.  716,  Xote,  Edit.  1810.  =  18th  Chas.  II.,  part  4. 


IG  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

1706  to  David  de  Montolieu,  Baron  de  Saint  Hippolite  of 
the  Holy  Eoraan  Empire,  and  a  general  in  the  British 
Arm}',  and  to  his  heirs  for  ever;  he  died  in  1761. 

The  four  co-heirs  above  mentioned  sold  the  whole 
property  in  Tamerton,  Bicldeigh,  Walkhampton,  Sheepstor, 
and  Shaugh,  in  1798  to  Manasseh  Lopes,  Esq.,  M.P.,  for 
the  borough  of  New  Eomney,  and  he  and  his  successors 
have  ever  since  resided  at  IMaristow. 

In  the  hst  of  the  "  Tickets,"  granted  out  of  the  Secre- 
tary's office  of  the  island  of  Barbadoes  in  the  year  1678-9,' 
and  preserved  among  the  State  papers  at  the  Eecord 
Office  is  the  license  for  the  departure  of  Abraham  Lope^ 
in  the  ship  Hope  for  London,  Joseph  Ball,  commander. 
On  the  31st  December,  in  the  same  year,  Telles  Abraham 
Lopez  is  permitted  to  leave  the  island  for  Jamaica  in  the 
ship  Recovery,  James  Brown,  commander.  In  the  list  of 
the  inhabitants  in  and  about  the  town  of  St.  Michael, 
Barbadoes,  with  their  children,  hired  servants,  negroes, 
&c.,  1680,  I  find  the  name  of  Abraham  Lopes,  who  had 
two  children  and  one  slave  ;  of  Eliah  Lopez,  with  a  family 
of  five  "  persons"  and  two  slaves,  and  of  Eachell  Lopez 
four  "  persons"  and  one  slave.  There  is  a  memorandum 
at  the  foot  of  the  hst  to  the  effect  that  the  town  of  St. 
Michael  only  had  returned  an  account  of  children. 

Mr.  Lopes,  M.P.  for  New  Eomney,  a  descendant 
of  the  Jamaica  family  referred  to  above,  was  created 
a  Baronet  1st  November,  1805,  with  remainder  to 
the  son  of  his  sister,  Esther  Franco.  He  married 
Charlotte,  d.  of  John  Yeates,  of  Monmouthshire,  and 
for  many  years  represented  Evesham,  Barnstaple,  and 
1  Edited  by  John  Camden  Hotteu,  1874. 


PARISH  OF  BICK LEIGH.  17 

Westbury  in  Parliament;  he  died  without  issue  26th 
March,  1831,'  when  the  Baronetcy  devolved,  according 
to  the  limitation,  on  liis  nephew,  Ealph  Franco  who 
assumed  by  sign-manual  the  surname  of  Lopes  only,  and 
the   arms  of  that  famih',  quarterly  with  those  of  Franco. 

Sir  Ealph,  2nd  Bart.,  who  was  born  10th  September, 
1788,  represented  Westbury  and  South  Devon  in  Parliament 
for  several  years,  and  was  a  Magistrate  and  Deputy- 
Lieutenant  for  Wilts  and  Devon.  He  married,  8th  May, 
1817,  Susan  Gibbs,  eldest  dau.  of  A.  Ludlow,  Esq.,  of  Hey- 
wood,  Wiltshire,  by  whom  he  had  issue  five  sons — Massey, 
present  Baronet ;  Ealph  Ludlow,  M.A.,  J.P.,  and  D.L., 
HighSherifffor  Wiltshire,  1869,  and  of  Sandridge  Park 
in  that  county ;  Sir  Henry  Charles  Lopes,  one  of  the 
Judges  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice,  and  at  one  time 
Eecorder  of  Exeter,  and  late  M.P.  for  Launceston  ;  Edmund 
Francis  Lopes,  b.  19th  October,  1833,  died  28th  February, 
1867  ;  and  George  Ludlow  Lopes. 

Of  the  four  sisters  of  Sir  Ealph,  Lydia  was  the  eldest. 
Eebecca,  the  second,  married  Captain  Barton,  E.N.* 
Abby  Emma,   the  third  was  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Walter 

^  !Manassch  Massey  Lopes,  Estj.,  crciited  a  Bait,  as  above  was  tlie  son 
of  Mordecai  Rodrigues  Lopes,  of  Clapham  (l)y  his  wife  Rebecca,  dau.  of 
Manasseh  Pnrera),  and  Grandson  of  Abraham  liOpcs,  of  Jamaica,  where 
he  was  born  27th  January,  1755.  He  was  High  Sherifi'  of  Devon  1810, 
Recorder  of  AVestbury,  and  Lieut-Col.  Commandant  Roborough  Volun- 
teers. His  sister  Esther,  m.  in  April  1785,  Abraham  Franco,  of  London, 
Merchant,  and  died  Februaiy  1795,  having  had  issue  Kalpli  tlio  2nd 
liart.  and  four  daughters  as  stated  in  thi;  text. 

-  Her  husband  is  buried  in  th(!  nave  of  Salisbury  Cathedral.  His  .stone 
is  inscribed   "  Robert  Oitts  Barton,  Captain  Royal  Xavj',  eldest  son  of 
Vice- Admiral  Robert  Barton,  ob.  23rd  October,  1S27.    .V.  39— 
1) 


18  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

liadcl'ifte,  of  Warleigh  ;  and  Esther,  the  youngest,  died  in 
1819.  Sir  Ralph  departed  this  life  26th  March,  1831, 
but  Lady  Lopes  survived  until  26th  March,  1870.  He 
was  succeeded  in  his  title  and  estates  by  Sir  Massey 
Lopes,  M.P.,  the  present  respected  Baronet  of  Maristow. 


PARISH    OF   BICK LEIGH.  1» 


CHAPTEE  L— PART  III. 

BicKLEiGH  Church. 

Bickleigh  Church  consists  of  a  chancel,  nave  separated 
from  north  and  south  aisles  by  an  arcade  of  four  bays 
supported  upon  octagonal  columns,  a  south  porch,  and  a 
tower  at  the  western  end  containing  six  bells,  five  in  the 
cage  and  one  suspended  over.  The  tenor  is  inscribed  with 
the  legend,  "  Ego  sum  vox  clematis." 

The  whole  of  the  structure,  with  the  exception  of  the 
tower,  was  rebuilt  by  the  late  Sir  Ralph  Lopes  in  1829, 
and  restored  by  the  present  Baronet  in  1861 . 

The  bell-shaped  octagonal  font  has  an  early  mouldmg 
and  is  enriched  with  carvhig ;  it  is  placed  opposite  the 

south  door. 

The   handsome    Perpendicular    tower    is   square    and 
embattled,  is  ornamented  with  gi'otesque  gargoyles,  and 
is  surmounted   by  four  handsome   crenelated   pinnacles, 
adorned  with  crockets  and  finials.     The  doorway  is  square 
headed  with  a  deep  moulding  in  the  jambs  and  has  quatre- 
foiled  spandrils,  and  the  staircase  in  the  north-western 
angle  is  supported  by  two  buttresses.     The  fittings  of  the 
church  are  neat  and  appropriate;  the  pulpit  is  of  stone. 
The  Slanning  memorial,  or  rather  what  is  left  of  it, 
is  preserved  over  the  south  door.   The  inscription  remain- 
incr  which  has  been  more  than  once  printed,   is  under  a 


D^ 


20  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

circular  arch  placed  against  the  wall,  and  commemorates 
the  death  of  Gamaliel  Slanning  by  the  sword  of  Sir  John 
Fitze— 

"  Idem  caedis  erat  nostras  simul  auctor  et  ultor, 
Trux  homicida  mei  mox  homicida  sui. 
Quemquo  in  me  primum,  mox  in  se  condidit  ensem. 
O  !  nostrum  siimmi  Judicis  arbitrium," 

which  has  been  thus  done  into  English  by  John  Prince — 

"  He  author  of  my  murder  was,  and  the  avenger,  too, 
A  bloody  murderer  of  me,  and  then  himself  he  slew. 
The  very  sword,  which  in  mine  first,  he  bathed  in  his  own  blood, 
0  !  of  the  highest  Judge  'twixt  us  the  arbitration  good." 

There  were  originally  arabesques  and  figures  in  plaster, 
among  which  was  a  skeleton  attacking  a  corpulent  person- 
age, and  a  label  with  the  words — 

"  Stout  as  thou  art, 
I  will  pierce  thy  heart. "^ 

But  when  the  tablet  was  removed  for  restoration  all  this 
fell  to  pieces.'  The  arms,  which  show  the  descent  of  this 
Gamaliel  from  John,  third  son  of  Nicholas  Slanning,  of 
Ley,  were,  however,  still  in  good  preservation  when  I 
visited  the  church. 

Above  the  inscription  I  noticed  the  arms  of  Slanning. 

1st. — Arg.  two  pales  engrailed  Gu.  over  all  on  a  bend 
Az.,  three  gryphons'  heads  erased  Or,  Impaled  wth  a 
bend  between  six  escallops.  Cruse,  of  Cruse  Morchard. 
(The  arms  of  tliis  old  Devonshire  house,  written  Cruse 
and  Cruwys,  are  Az.  a  bend  indented,  point  in  point 
Gu.  and  Arg.  betw.  G  escallops  Or.)' 

1  Murray's  "  Hand-book  for  Devon,"  1879. 

2  Harl.  MS.,  10i4,  f.  5. 


PARISH  UF  BICK LEIGH.  21 

2nd,  Slanning  as  before,  impaling  Champernowne,  Gu. 
a  saltire  vair,  betw.  1 2  billets  Or. 

3rd,  Slanning,  alone,  as  before. 

4th,  Champernowne  alone,  as  before. 

5th,  Slanning  as  before,  impaling,  Arg.  a  chevron  betw. 
3  sinister  hands,  couped  Gu. — Maynard. 

Overhead  is  the  helmet  and  gauntlet  of  Sir  Nicholas 
Slanning,  the  Royalist. 

Prince  speaks  of  a  "fair  altar  tomb,"  almost  come  to 
decay  in  his  time,  which  was  surmounted  with  two 
effigies  of  the  Slannings,  with  remains  of  almost  oblitera- 
ted inscriptions,  and  he  adds,  "  Only  under  the  arch  is 
fixed  in  the  wall  a  fair  marble  table  about  five  feet  square, 
upon  which  is  seen  a  death's  head,  having  the  following 
motto  around  it : — 

0,  man,  remeiiilier  tliy  enil." 

Underneath  are  these  English  verses  : 

"  As  time  with  swiftpst  wing  Joth  haste  and  make  no  stay, 
So  th'  life  of  man  is  short,  and  liasteth  soon  away."' 

I  noticed  an  old  altar  tomb  on  the  south  side  of  the 
exterior  of  the  church  without  date  or  inscription,  which 
appears  to  have  been  raised  over  an  ecclesiastic,  as 
the  Cross  flory  is  incised  upon  it. 

There  are  several  other  interesting  coats  of  arms  in 
various  parts  of  the  sacred  structure,  on  old  hatchments 
in  the  vestry,  and  in  the  eastern  window.  In  the  latter 
may  be  seen  the  arms  of  the  See  of  Exeter  {keys  reversed, — 
Impaling  those  of  the  late  Bishop  Phillpotts),  the  Royal 
arms,  and  those  of  Lopes.     Elsewhere  I  remarked  Mody- 

1  ""Worthies,"  p.  715.     Edit.  1810. 


22  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

ford.     Erin  on  a  bend  Az.  a  mullet  Arg.  betw.  2  garbs. 
Or.,  impaling  Slanning,  1724. 

And  Dean  impaling  Modyford,  1734. 
And  Dean  impaling  Sa.  a  fesse  Or.  betw.  2  mullets  in 
chief,  and  2  gates  is  base  (Yeates). 

Also  Lopes  impaling  Yeates,  as  above,   in  memory  oi 
Charlotte  (Yeates),  Lady  Lopes,  ob.  1833. 

I  likewise  remarked  two  finely-executed  mural  tablets 
to  members  of  the  present  Maristow  family. 

There  is  no  entry  of  Bickleigh  in  the    "  Valor  Eccle- 
siasticus  "  in  connexion  with   Buckland  Abbey,  probably 
because  the  last  Abbot  of  that  house,   Toker,  had  pre- 
viously leased  the  tithes   to   his  relatives;   tilthough  in 
the  case  of  Walkhampton  the  value  is  set  down,  and  the 
similar   alienation  is  mentioned.      The  latter,   however, 
is  bracketed  with  the  chapelry  of  Sheepstor,  with  which 
it  was  never  connected,  and  is  valued  at  £7  10s.     The 
mistake  may  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  when  the 
valuation  was  made  Wm.  Coles,  or  CoUe,  held  the  three 
parishes,   and   in  the  general  "valor"   Bycklegh,   "cum 
capella  ibidem"  is  estimated  at  £11  4s.  7d.  per  annum. 
The  patronage  of  the  Vicarage  is  in  the  hands  of  Sir 
Massey  Lopes,   and  the  present  Vicar  is  the  Rev.  G.  R. 
Scobell,  who  has  a  good  residence  and  32|  acres  of  glebe. 
Sir  Massey  erected  an  almshouse  here  in  1873  in  memory 
of  Lady  Lopes,  and  he  also  built  schools  in  1862. 

Elizabeth,  Lady  Modyford,  by  her  will,  dated  17th 
March,  1718,  gave  to  the  Vicar,  churchwardens,  and 
overseers  £50,  the  interest  to  be  bestowed  in  bread  every 
Sunday  among  the  poor  not  in  receipt  of  parochial  rehef. 
John  Hen-ing,  in  1778,  gave  £10  for  a  similar  purpose, 


PARISH  OF  BICKLEIGH.  23 

and  these  two   sums  have   been   consolidated,   and  the 
interest  is  spent  as  prescribed  by  the  donors. 

On  the  village  green,  west  of  the  church,  the  ancient 
cross  has  been  restored  and  re-erected  ;  the  upper  portion 
is  original,  but  the  lower  part  of  the  shaft  is,  I  believe, 
modern. 


/ 


24  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  II.— PART  I. 

The  Parish  of  Sheepstor — General  Descriptiox 
AND   History. 

The  magnificent  scenery  on  the  road  to  Sheepstor  can 
scarcely  be  surpassed.  The  contemplation  of  the  wooded 
valley  with  the  shining  river  winding  through  it,  and  the 
succession  of  abrupt  hills  each  sui-mounted  by  a  granite 
tor,  induces  the  hitherto  weary  pedestrian  to  forget  the 
roughness  of  the  path  and  the  steepness  of  the  ascent, 
although,  as  Mrs.  Bray  remarks,  the  aj^proach  certainly 
appears  to  have  been  constructed  "  to  bid  defiance  to  all 
things  in  this  world,  save  a  broad-wheeled  waggon  or  a 
pair  of  Irish  legs."  A  grand  panorama,  is  gwulually 
unfolded ;  which  includes  an  extensive  portion  of  the 
Dartmoor  range,  of  the  lovely  valley  of  Meavy,  and  of 
Roborough  Down,  and  the  waters  of  the  Hamoaze, 
while,  as  the  traveller  ascends  higher,  it  is  possible 
for  him  to  look  completely  over  Mount  Edgcumbe  and 
the  Cornish  hills  until  his  range  of  vision  becomes 
bounded  by  the  ocean  beyond  them.  The  hill  or  tor 
rises  immediately  over  the  village ;  and  the  ascent 
to  it,  although  rough  and  precipitous,  is  not  particulai-ly 
difficult ;  the  granite  of  which  it  is  composed  is  per- 
fectly bare,  except  where  it  is  covered  with  messes 
or   lichens  ;  and   it  lies   about   in  enormous  masses   for 


F ARISE  OF  SIIEEPSTOR.  25 

the  latter  portion  of  the  distance,  between  the  church- 
yard and  the  summit  of  the  liill,  Avhioh  is  flat  ;ind 
particularly  steep  towards  the  south. 

The  tradition  connected  with  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Elford  Cavern"  ov  Pixie  house  has  lonsf  attracted 
visitors  to  this  romantic  spot,  but  strangei-s  should  not 
fail  to  procure  the  service  of  a  guide  since  the  entrance 
is  not  easily  discoverable.  One  fissure  ia  {^articular  on 
the  north  side  of  the  Tor  has  been  more  than  once  mis- 
taken for  the  entrance  to  this  sino'ular  retreat,  which 
there  is  a  local  supei-stition  against  visiting  unless  a  pin 
or  some  small  offering,  be  left  to  propitiate  the  fairy  folk 
who  are  believed  to  make  it  their  abode.  A  very  small 
entrance,  on  the  further  side  of  some  especially  rugged 
rocks,  gives  admittance  to  a  hollow  about  six  feet  long 
and  four  wide,  which  is  formed  Ijy  two  boulders  which 
rise  ag-ainst  each  other  in  a  slanting  position.  It  has 
somewhat  the  appearance  of  a  hut,  and  the  form  is 
regular.  The  noise  of  dripping  water,  the  cause  of  which 
is  out  of  sight,  and  therefore  at  first  occasions  a  feeling 
of  surprise,  may  have  possibly  occasioned  the  belief  to 
which  I  have  referred  as  to  the  Cavern  being  the  resort 
of  invisible  beings.  But  here,  with  the  rock  to  serve  him 
for  a  seat,  we  are  told  that  John  Elford,  the  Lord  of  the 
Manor,  used  frequently  to  conceal  himself  from  the  search 
of  Cromwell's  soldiers.  Polwhele  informs  us  that  Mr. 
Yonge,  of  Puslinch,  had  been  told  by  a  friend  who  had 
seen  them  that  certain  pictures  on  the  sides  of  the 
Cavern,  which  Elford  is  said  to  have  painted  in  order  to 
pass  the  time  during  his  seclusion  here,  were  still  veiy 
fresh  v/hen  he  visited  the  cave,  but  there  are  no  remains 

E 


26  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

of  them  now.  '  Mrs.  Bray  concludes  her  account  of  her 
own  visit  there  by  remarking  :  "  Aloft,  amidst  the  most 
confused  masses  of  rock  that  looked  as  if  they  had  been 
tossed  about  by  the  fiends  in  battle,  in  a  place  which 
seemed  (so  it  appeared  to  me  at  least)  as  if  inaccessible 
to  any  mortal  creature,  there  was  seen  a  somewhat  pro- 
jecting stone  like  a  pent  house.  Beneath  was  a  cleft 
between  two  low  rocks.  This  is  the  entrance  to  the 
Palace  of  the  Pixies  and  the  Cavern  where  Elford  is  said 
to  have  found  a  retreat  from  persecution.  How  Elford 
■could  Uve  there  ;  how  food  could  be  conveyed  to  him  ;  or 
how  any  living  thing  but  a  raven,  a  crow,  or  an  eagle 
could  make  his  home  in  such  a  spot  is  to  me,  I  confess,  a 
puzzle,  and  had  not  the  paintings  on  the  interior  sides 
of  the  rocks  executed  by  Elford  been  seen  in  these  latter 
days  to  bear  witness  to  the  fact  I  should  have  doubted 
the  tradition  altogether."  The  Elfords  figiu-e  as  characters 
in  "  Warleigh,"  one  of  this  gifted  lady's  Devonshire  novels. 
A  wide-spread  superstition  as  to  the  existence  of  a 
minute  race  of  invisible  beings,  possessed  of  more  than 
mortal  power,  sometimes  exercised  for  good  and  often  for 
evil,  amid  those  who  inhabited  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
groves,  mountains,  and  hUls  among  which  they  were 
supposed  to  dwell,  was  prevalent  in  this  and  other 
countries  from  a  very  early  period,  Deduced  by  some  from 
the  Lares  and  Larvae  of  the  Romans,  it  has  been  con- 
jectured by  others  that  a  Ijelief  in  these  sprites  was 
introduced  into  Europe  by  the  Crusaders  from  the  East, 

1  Traditions  of  Devon,  vol.  iii.,  p.  108. 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR.  27 

as  they  iu  some  sort  resemble  the  Oriental  genii  with 
whose  wonderful  doings  the  "  Arabian  Nights "  have 
made  us  familiar. 

The  "  Lares,"  whom  mythologists  assert  to  have  been 
the  offspring  of  Mercury  and  of  the  Naiad  Laranda,  are 
with  good  reason  supposed  to  have  originated  from  the 
ancient  custom  of  the  Romans  and  other  nations  of 
burying  their  dead  in  their  dwelUngs,  and  from  the  belief 
that  their  spirits  continually  hovered  over  their  houses  for 
the  protection  of  the  inmates.  The  idea  as  to  these 
Roman  household  gods  being  the  spirits  of  the  departed 
appears  to  me  to  somewhat  accord  with  the  ancient 
Devonshire  belief  that  our  Pixies  were  the  spirits  of 
infants  who  had  died  before  baptism.  Brand,^  supposes 
the  word  "  Pixy  "  to  be  a  corruption  of  "  Puckles,  which 
anciently  signified  Uttle  better  than  the  devil."  Although 
Mrs,  Bray,  in  her  long  and  interesting  account  of  Devon- 
shire Pixies  questions  the  above  derivation,  yet  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  word  "  Psec,"  which  by  the  mere  change  of  the 
vowel  becomes  "Puc,"  is  the  past  participle  of  the 
verb  "  Psecan,"  which,  as  interpreted  Ijy  the  late  Dr. 
Richardson,  signifies  "  to  deceive  by  false  appearances, 
imitation,  or  resemblance  ;  to  counterfeit,  to  delude,  or  to 
impose  upon." 

The  Pixies  were  beheved  to  have  all  the  passions  and 
wants  of  human  beings,  to  have  been  great  lovers  and 
patrons  of  cleanliness  and  propriety,  and  for  the  observance 
of  it  they  used  frequently,  it  is  said,  to  reward  good 
servants  by  dropping  money  into  their  shoes  at  night,  or 


e' 


Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii,  p.  359. 


28  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

else  by  assisting  them  in  their  house-work  ;  while  on  the 
other  hand, 

"  If  by  maidens'  oversight, 
Within  doors  water  was  not  brought  at  night, 
Or  if  they  spread  no  table,  set  no  bread  ; 
Tliey  shall  have  nips  from  toe  unto  the  head." 

Some  of  the  Pixies  appear  to  have  been  of  a  benevolent 
disposition,  as  I  have  stated,  and  these  are  supposed  to 
have  passed  a  great  deal  of  their  time  in  dancing  in  the 
meadows  and  on  the  southern  sides  of  the  hills,  where  the 
traces  of  their  feet  were  considered  to  remain  visible  on 
the  grass  long  afterwards,  and  to  form  what  are  still  called 
"  Fairy  Kings." 

I  need  only  allude  to  the  numerous  plausible  attempts 
which  have  been  from  time  to  time  made  to  accoimt  for 
these  well-known  rings  ;  some  have  ascribed  them  to  the 
effects  of  electricity,  and  others  to  the  operations  of  moles. 
There  was  a  rooted  belief  that  the  good  Pixies  required 
to  be  propitiated ;  and  for  this  reason,  as  already  men- 
tioned, a  pin,  or  similar  small  offering,  was  usually  left 
in  the  places  they  wei'e  supposed  to  haunt. 

The  bad  Pixies  were  "  dwarfish  and  thievish  "  elves, 
who  were  believed  to  squint  horribly.  They  were 
credited  with  numerous  atrocities,  such  as  torturing  cattle 
then  said  to  be  "  Elf-shot,"  or  stealing  children  from  the 
cradle,  and  substituting  those  of  their  own  species. 
"  When  Elf-shot,  a  cow,  or  other  animal,  falls  down 
suddenly  dead  ;  no  pai't  of  the.  skin  is  pierced,  but  often 
a  little  triangular  flat  stone  is  found  near  the  heart,  as 
they  report,  which  is  called  the  EP"  arrow."  Mrs.  Bray 
has  given  us  so  many  entertaining  stories  about  the  Pixies 


PARISH   OF   SHEEPSTOR.  29 

and  their  doings  tliat  I  will  only  add  one  more  to  them 
here,  and  I  am  induced  to  do  this  on  account  of  its  con- 
nexion with  the  family  ti'eated  of  in  the  previous  chapter. 

A  rare  tract  concerning  Fairies,  being  a  letter  addressed 
by  Moses  Pitt  to  the  Right  Rev.  the  Lord  Bishop  of 
Gloucester;  (London,  printed  for  Richard  Cumberland, 
1696) 'contains  an  account  of  Anne  Jefferies,  living  in 
the  county  of  Cornwall,  and  of  the  strange  and  wonderful 
cure  she  performed  with  salves  and  medicines  she  received 
from  a  small  sort  of  airy  people  called  fairies,"  by  whom 
she  was  fed  for  six  months.  She  was  born  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Teath,  in  December,  1 62G  ;  and  was  living  in 
169G,  when  her  husband,  William  Wan-en,  was  hind 
to  Sir  Andrew  Slanning,  of  BicMeiijh. 

In  the  year  1645,  whilst  sitting  knitting  in  her  garden, 
there  came  over  the  hedge  "  Six  persons  of  small  sto.ture, 
all  clothed  in  green,  which  frightened  her  so  much  as  to 
throw  her  into  a  great  sickness."  The  narratoi-,  in  whose 
family  she  then  lived  as  a  servant,  proceeds  to  state  that 
these  elves  continued  to  frequently  appear  to  her  in  even 
numbers,  never  less  than  two  nor  more  than  eight  at  a 
time.  She  left  off  eating  her  usual  meat,  and  "  was  fed  by 
the  fairies  from  harvest  to  Xmas,  but  upon  Christmas 
day  she  came  to  tlie  family  table,  and  said  that  on  account 
of  the  day  she  would  eat  some  roast  beef,  which  she  did," 
says  Mr.  Pitt,  "  I  myself  being  present  at  the  table." 

"  One  day,"  he  adds,  "  she  gave  me  a  piece  of  her 
fairy  bread  which  I  did  eat,  and  think  it  was  the  most 
delicious  bread  that  ever  I  did  eat,  either  before  or  since. ' 

"  Again  he  says  "  these  fairies  gave  my  sister  Mary 
a  silver  cup  which  held  about  a  quart,  and  desired  her  to 


80  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

give  it  to  lay  mother,  but  my  mother  would  not  accept  it. 
I  presume  this  was  the  time  my  sister  owns  she  saw  the 
fairies  ;  I  confess  to  your  Lordship  (Dr.  Fowler,  BishoiJ  of 
Gloucester)  /  never  did  see  them.  I  have  seen  Ann 
dancinw  amon^  the  trees,  and  she  told  me  she  was  then 
dancincr  amoncj  the  fairies."' 

Despite  the  superstition  of  those  days,  however,  and  of 
the  wonderful  cures  which  she  is  said  to  have  effected  with 
her  ointments  and  nostrums,  and  for  which  she  never 
took  a  penny  from  her  patients,  poor  Ann  Jefteries  was 
ultimately  thrown  into  prison  as  an  imposter,  and  Bi'and 
says,'  whilst  commenting  upon  the  remarkable  circum- 
stances related  in  the  letter,'  "  even  the  friendly  nari'ator 
of  her  singular  story  fails  to  give  us  any  plausible  account 
why  the  fairies,  like  false  earthly  friends,  forsook  her  in 
the  time  of  her  distress." 

Sheepstor  is  situated  in  the  Deanery  of  Plympton  (late 
Tamerton)  and  Archdeaconry  of  Totnes,  and  is  variously 
written  Shittlestorre,  Shitistorr,  and  Schetilestorre  in 
ancient  documents,  and  takes  its  name  from  the  high 
"  Tor"  of  which  T  have  been  speaking  and  which  domi- 
nates the  village.  As  I  have  already  remarked,  the 
church  of  Sheepstor  was  from  an  early  date  a  chapelr 
attached  to  the  vicarage  of  Bickleigh,  from  which  it  was 
separated  as  recently  as  1877;  in  1871  there  were  but 
20  houses  in  this  little  moorland  parish,  with  I  OS  inhabi- 
tants. Although  the  Abbots  of  Buckland  were  the 
owners  of  property  in  Sheepstor,  yet  the  manor  never 

'  Popular  Antiquities,  vol.  ii,  p.  329. 

*  Reprinted  "  PhoJiiix  Britannicus,"  p.  545. 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR  31 

appears  to  have  belonged  to  them.  I  will  first,  however, 
refer  to  the  prhited  notices  of  this  parish,  contained  in 
the  pages  of  our  county  historians,  and  will  then  lay  be- 
fore my  readers  what  little  I  have  been  able  to  discover 
relative   to    the    ancient   proprietors   of  its  soil. 

The  authors  of  the  Magna  Britannia^  state  that  the  manor 
"  belonged  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  to  the  family  of 
Herbert  of  Combe,  who  were  succeeded  by  Scudamore.  A 
co-heiress  of  Scudamore,  about  the  end  of  the  15th  Cen- 
tury, brought  it  to  the  Elfords,  in  which  family  it  con- 
tinued till  after  the  death  of  the  last  heir  male  of  the 
elder  branch  in  1748."  Walter  North  more,  Esq.,  gave 
a  deputation  for  it  in  1792  ;  it  was  in  the  same  name 
in  1822.  Longstone,  the  ancient  residence  of  the  Elford 
family,  is  now  a  farm-house. 

When  speaking  of  Elford,  of  Bickham,  the  same  authors 
remark  :'■'  "  This  ancient  family  is  said  to  have  been  of 
Cornish  extraction.  Robert  de  Elford  was  Siieriff  of 
Devonshire  in  1302"  (I  presume  that  Cornwall  is  in- 
tended). "Before  the  year  1400  they  settled  at  Longstone, 
in  the  parish  of  Shipstor.  John  Elford  of  Longstone,  in 
1517,  married  the  heiress  of  Scudamore.  John,  thefottrth 
in  descent  from  the  last-mentioned  John,  married  a  co-heir 
of  Copplestone,  by  whom  he  had  four  daughters." 

Risdon  tells  us  :^ — "  Sheepstor  or  Shetlestor,  is  situated 
by  this  stream  (the  Plym),  the  old  inheritance  of  Herbert 
Combe,  where  the  name  of  Elford  enjoyeth  lands  ;"  and 
we  are  further  informed,  in  a  note  bv  the  Editors  of  his 


^  Devon,  vol.  ii,  p.  439.  *  Ibid.  vol.  i,  118. 

'  Survey,  p.  195. 


32  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

book,  that  Longstone  passed  from  the  family  of  Combe  to 
Scudamore,  and  from  the  latter  to  Elford,  towards  the 
latter  end  of  the  15th  Centnrj. 

Westcote  merely  says  :  ^On  the  left  side  is  Shepstor, 
alias  Shutstor,  possessed  by  Elford,  who  married  Gale, 
Copleston,  and  Northcote,  his  father,  Crocker." 


*  View  of  Devonsliiic,  ji.  S8-I 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR.  33 


CHAPTER  II.— PART  II. 

The  Elford  Pedigree. 

The  pedigree  of  Elford  at  the  Heralds'  College,  has 
three  extracts  from  deeds  attached  to  it,  with  copies  of 
seals. 

The  first,  which  is  dated  at  Shittistore  Friday  next, 
after  the  Feast  of  S.  Catherine  the  Virgin,  13th  Richard 
II.  (1390),  is  the  commencement  of  a  grant  to  Richard 
Middleworry,  by  John  Scudamore,  Lord  of  Shittistore. 
Witnesses — John  Millward,  Walter  Sacche,  and  John 
Wrendon. 

In  the  second,  dated  the  following  year,  John 
Scudamore,  on  Friday  next,  after  the  Feast  of  the  Con- 
ception, recites,  by  inspeximus,  the  grant  of  John 
Herbert,  Lord  of  Shittlestorre,  to  a  certain  John  Sanders. 
Witnesses,  John  Millward,  John  Coppinhed,  and  Walter 
Sacche. 

The  third,  of  the  date  of  the  10th  October,  llth 
Henry  VI.  (1483),  is  likewise  an  "  inspeximus"  by  John 
Scudamore,  Lord  of  Shittlestore,  of  a  grant  made  by 
Herbert  de  Cumba,  formerly  Lord  of  Shittlestore,  his 
kinsman,  and  ancestor  ("  consanguineus  et  antecessor 
meus")  in  favour  of  Ralph  de  Veterlponte  (Vipont). 
Witnesses,  Peter  Eggescumb,  John  CoUeworth,  and 
Henry  Winnisland. 

These  interesting  extracts,  which  are  merely  preambles, 

F 


34  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

and  therefore  contain  no  particulars  whatever  as  to  the 
land  conveyed  by  them,  nevertheless,  show  that  Herbert, 
de  Camba  was  at  an  early  date  the  Lord  of  the  Manor 
of  Sheepstor,  and  that  from  liim  it  descended  to  his 
relatives,  the  Scudamores,  before  the  year  1390,  and  that 
a  certam  John  Scudamore  was  the  owner  thereof  in  1483. 

There  are  seven  descents  given  in  this  pedigree  from  the 
Elfords  who  married  a  co-heir  of  Scudamore  to  John 
Elford,  of  Widecombe  and  Sheepstor,  alive  at  the  period 
of  the  Visitation  of  Devon  in  1620.  It  commences 
with  the  following  preamble.' 

"  The  pedigree,  arms,  and  creast  of  Walter  Elford,  of 
Shepstor,  in  the  County  of  Devon,  gentleman,  collected 
out  of  his  evidences  and  monuments,  belonging  to  his 
family,  by  which  it  appeareth  that  his  ancestors  married 
the  co-heii's  of  Scudamore  near  200  years  since,  by  Avhich 
marriage  they  became  possessed  of  the  manor  of  Shittis- 
tore,  alias  Shepstor,  which  they  possess  and  enjoy  to  this 
day,  all  which  is  approved  and  allowed  by  me  Ri  St. 
Geor'ge  Clarenceux,  King  at  Arms." 

"Examined,  J.  Heard.  Entered  by  order  of  Chapter 
19th  April,  1784." 

I  have  been  able  to  make  additions  to  this  pedigree, 
evei-y  quotation  from  which,  therefore,  is  'printed  in  italics, 
and  to  carry  it  from  1620  to  1837,  when  the  Baronetcy 
conferred  upon  WiUiani  Elford,  in  1800,  became  extinct. 

John  Scudamore  had  two  daughters  coheirs — Dionisia 

who  married  Cole,  and  had  issue  John  Cole,  of  Addiscombe, 

in  county  Devon,  and  Johanne,  who  man-led  John  Elford, 

and  had  issue  John  of  Shittistore,died  6th  Februai-y,  1517, 

1  Coll.  Ar.  C.  1. 


PARISH   OF   SHEEPSTOR.  35 

buried  under  a /aire  stone  in  Shittistore   Church.     Every 
trace  of  this  "  fliire  stone"  has  now  disappeared.     His 
arms,  on  the  family  monuments,  erected  at  a  later  date, 
and  to  which  T  shall  have  occasion  frequently  to  refer,  are 
impaled   with   a   bull  passant,  which  are  attributed  to 
Bevill,'    in  an    Heraldic   MS.,  which   gives    the  Blazons 
and   names   of  these  Elford  shields,   at  Sheepstor,  but 
it  is    more   probable  that    his   wife   was  a  daughter    of 
Cole,   althovigh  there  is  certainly  no  trace  of  the  bordure 
bezantce,  which  constitutes  the  difference   between  the 
arms  of  Bevill  and   Cole.     His  son   was    B.oger  Elford 
of  Shittistore,   who  married,   according  to  Heraldic  evi- 
dence,    a   daughter  of  Adams,    and    had   issue    John, 
whose    wife    was     Margery   Langsford,   and   their    off- 
spring,   John  Elford,  of   Shittistore,   married   Elizabeth 

Gregory. 

The  succession,  however,  from  Roger,  as  given  in  the 
pedigree  appears  to  me  to  be  incorrect. 

From  the  pedigree  of  Luppingcott  of  Wibbuiy.   Visit 

1564  (Colby),   I  find  that  Anne,  daughter  and  coh.  of 

Roger  Elford,  of  "  Shalesmere,"  gentleman,  married  John 

Luppingcott,  and  between  Elford   with   Langeford  and 

Elford  with  Gregory,  on  the  memorial  at  Sheepstor,  there 

is  a  shield  which  shows  Elford  impaled  with  Bury  or 

Bickleigh,  which  man-iage  the  pedigree  gives  no  account 

of.     I  think,  therefore,  that  Roger,  son  and  heir  of  John, 

had  no  male  issue,  that  he  was  succeeded  by  his  brother, 

{not  son,)  John,  who  married  Margery  Langford,  and  that 

his  son,  by  a  daughter  of  Bickleigh  or  Bury  had  issue, 

first  John   Elford,   son   and   heir;     second,    Thomas   of 

1  Coll.  Ar.  (I.  H.  Misc.  Peds.) 


36  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Mawnan  in  Cornwall,  alive  in  1620,  who  married  Alicia, 
daughter  of  Binney,  and  relict  of  Edward  Spry  ;  third 
Hugh  Elford,  who  was  probably  the  "  Hugh  Elford,  of 
Devon,"  "  fil-pleb."  who  matriculated  at  Exeter  College,' 
17th  November,  1581,  and  since  his  family  did  not  enter 
their  pedigree  before  the  year  1620,  I  am  not  at  all 
surprised  to  find  him  thus  described  in  the  register  of  the 
College. 

John  Elf ord,  son  and  heir,  who  died  20th  August,  1584, 
and  was  buried  at  Sheepstor,*  married  Elizabeth  Gregory^ 
of  Flympton  St.  Mary.  She  afterwards  married  Thomas 
Drake,  brother  and  heir  of  the  great  Sir  Francis,  died 
March  18  th,  1631,  and  was  buried  at  Sheepstor.^  Her 
will  was  proved  P.C.C,  23rd  June,  1632  (68  Audley),  and 
there  is  mention  in  it  of  her  issue  by  both  marriages.  By 
her  first  husband  she  had  two  sons,  Walter  and  William, 
the  latter  of  whom  resided  at  Bickleigh  ;  his  will  is  dated 
July  10th,  1641.  He  married  Marian,  daughter  of 
Anthony  Furlong,  and  had  issue  William,  John,  Walter 
and  Francis  Elfoi'd,  and  a  daughter. 

Walter  Elford  (eldest  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
Gregory)  married  Barbara,  daughter  of  John  Crocker  of 
Lynam.  He  died  May  9th,  1649,  M  12*  She  died  1655, 
M  83,  and  was  buried  at  Sheepstor.  They  had  nine 
children,  viz. ;  Francisca  who  married  Richard  Lang- 
worthy,  of  Hatch  ;  Anna  ;  Johanne,  wife  of  John  Barret ; 
John  Elford,  of  whom  presently ;  Hugh,  died  1 636,'" 
married  Francis  Watson  ;  Walter,  married  Anne,  daughter 
of  Mr.   Alderman  Chambers,  of  London  ;    William,  who 

^  Keg.  Coll.  Exon.  (Boase).  ^  Mem.  Insc.  at  Sheepstor. 

3  Ibid.  *  Ibid.  '  Ibi.l. 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR  37 

died  at  Smyrna ;  Elizabeth,  whose  husband  was  Arthur 
Shepherd,  and  Maria. 

John  Elford,  eldest  son,  yE  14,  1G20,  was  executor  to 
his  grandmother's  will.  He  did  not  succeed  his  father 
Walter  until  1648,  and  he  appears  to  have  resided  for  a 
period  at  Widecorabe-in-the-Moor,  in  which  parish  others 
of  his  name,  and  doubtless  his  connexions,  lived  for  some 
years.  He  is  chiefly  notorious  for  his  supposed  attach- 
ment to  Kintr  Charles  durinor  the  great  I'ebellion  and  for 
the  persecution  he  is  stated  to  have  experienced  on  that 
account  from  the  Puritan  soldiers,  and  it  is  said  by 
Polwhele  and  others  that  he  was  frequently  compelled  to 
hide  himself  from  their  pursuit  in  a  cavern  or  fissure 
among  the  rocks  which  crown  the  summit  of  the  lofty  liill 
which  overlooks  the  village,  now  called  the  Pixy  Cavern. 
He  has  certainly  left  a  curious  evidence  of  his  devotion 
to  the  lloyal  cause  in  the  registers  of  the  parish  of 
Meavy,  in  which,  beneath  his  JIagisterial  signature,  in  the 
year  1654,  he  has  added  the  v/ords  "  A  sasvitia  et 
ignorantia  Puritanica,  libera  nos  Domine." 

He  was  four  times  married.'  His  first  wife,  Elizabeth, 
third  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Amias  Coplestone,  of 
Warleigh,  in  the  parish  of  Tamerton,  was  baptised  14th 
Februaiy,  1607,  and  her  marriage  license  was  dated  2Gth 
March,  1631.  She  had  five  daughters,  four  of  whom  are 
mentioned  by  the  editors  of  Prince  and  others.  Susanna 
died  unmarried  1647, -^E  16.  Gertrude  married  Roger 
Wollocombe,  of  Combe  ;  Eli?;abeth,  Edmund  Forteseue, 
of  London ;  Barbara,  who,  by  lier  marriage  with  Arthur 
Forteseue,  of  Wear,  became  the  ancestress  of  the  present 

'  Episcopal  Registers. 


38  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

Lord  Fortescue  ;  and  Joan,  baptised  at  Widecombe,  18th, 
December,  1G36.  His  license  to  many  liis  second  wife, 
"  Anne  Northcote,  of  Newton  St.  Cyres  "  (sister  of  tbe 
1st  Sir  John  Northcote,  of  Hayne),  is  dated  28th  April, 
1637.'  By  her  he  had  three  sons,  Walter,  Jonathan 
and  Richard,  and  a  daughter,  Anne,  baptised  at  W:  de- 
combe,  16th  December,  1638  ;  of  Walter,  the  eldest  son, 
I  shall  treat  presently.  Jonathan,  second  son,  married 
Amy,  sister  and  co-heir  of  Matthew  Hals,  of  Keynedon, 
in  the  parish  of  Sherford,  and  had  three  sons  and  four 
daughters.  The  sons  wero  Jonathan,  M.P.  for  Saltash 
(who  married  a  daughter  of  Thomas  Neville,  and  died 
without  issue).  Matthew  and  William,  who  both  also 
died  s.p.  the  last  was  buried  at  Halwell,  near  Har- 
berton,  in  1670,^  from  which  I  conclude  that  his  father, 
described  by  the  editors  of  "Prince"  as  of  Bickham,  at 
this  time  resided  at  Washbourne  Bawson,  which  was  long 
the  jjroperty  of  the  Elfords.  Richard,  the  third  son, 
was  baptised  at  Widecombe  8th  August,  1641  ;  buried 
there  27th  December,  1G42.  John  Elford's  third  wife 
was  Mary  Gale,  but  she  died  in  childbirth,  just  twelve 
months  after  her  marriage,  February  16th,  1642.  She 
left  behind  her  twin  daughters,  Maiy  and  Sarah,  who 
soon  followed  her  to  the  grave.  I  have  already  described 
the  curious'  inscription  on  the  mural  tablet  which  was 
erected  to  her  memory  at  Widecombe  in  1650.  After 
the  melancholy  demise  of  his  third  wife,  "  the  staunch  old 
Royalist"  took  unto  himself  Sarah,  daughter  of  John 
Wollocombe,  of  Combe,  and  thus  allied  himself  to  another 
of  our  county  famihes,  with  which  his  second  daughter, 

'  Episcopal  Kegisters.  ^     Mem,  lusc. 

5  "  Ashburton  and  its  Neighbourhood,"  p.  68. 


PARISH  OF  SHEEP STOR.  3!) 

in  right  of  her  mother,  a  co-heir  of  Coplestone,  after- 
wards became  connected  by  her  marriage  with  Roger 
WoUocombe.  By  Sarah  AVollocombe,  John  Elford  had 
seven  sons.  John,  buried  at  Widecombe  2nd  September, 
1646  ;  Nathaniel,  Joseph,  Samuel,  ^yilliam,  who  carried 
on  the  line  after  the  extinction  of  the  elder  branch,  and 
who  will  be  again  mentioned  ;  Jonathan,  and  Benjamin. 
Before  I  leave  him  it  seems  necessary  to  remai'k  tliat 
Polwhele's  romantic  story  of  liis  persecution  daring  the 
Civil  War,  and  the  graphic  description  of  his  hiding-place 
among  the  rocks  of  Sheepstor,  included  by  the  late  Mrs. 
Bray  in  her  "  Traditions  of  Devon,"  together  with  the 
apparently  indisputable  evidence  tis  to  his  political  feeling 
insci'ibed  in  the  Meavy  Kegistei',  encourage  the  sup- 
position that  he  must  have  been  an  ardent  Royalist.  It 
is,  therefore,  rather  conflicting  to  find  that  his  name  is 
not  contained  in  the  Commission  of  1630,  the  quiet 
portion  of  the  reign  of  Charles  T,  nor  is  that  of  his 
father,  Walter  Elford.  But  ho  was  a  Magistrate  in  1G47 
when  power  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Parliament,  arid  again 
in  1653.  In  the  next  year  v.-c  find  his  signature  as  a 
Magistrate  at  Meavj',  when  the  Conmiissions  were  ad- 
dressed by  "  Oliver  Lord  Protector  to  his  trusty  and 
well-beloved."  Then,  again,  he  resided  at  Widecombe, 
many  miles  distant  from  Sheepstor,  until  1648,  when 
his  father  died  ;  and  as  he  was  a  Magistrate  in  1G47, 
he  could  not  have  been  oi^enly  opposed  to  the  Parlia- 
ment when  he  went  to  live  on  his  paternal  estate. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  no  existing  Register  at  Sheeps- 
tor until  1691  ;  and  I  have  been  hitherto  unable 
to    recover     the     date     of    his     death.       But     if    his 


40  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

pei'secution  and  consequent  seclusion  is  anything  more 
than  tradition,  it  is  quite  open  to  question  whether  he  was 
troubled  by  the  Puritans  or  by  the  Crown  after  the 
Restoration.  In  any  case,  were  he  Royalist  or  Puritan, 
he  must  have  "  sued  out  his  pardon "  when  the  King 
came  home  again,  for  having  served  a  Commission  during 
the  power  of  the  Parliament,  and  for  condonation  he 
would  have  had  to  pay  heavily.  If  he  failed  to  seek  such 
forgiveness  he  must  have  been  a  marked  man,  and  liable 
to  sequestration  and  imprisonment  and  to  a  heavy  fine  as 
well — a  very  serious  matter  for  one  with  a  rather  unpro- 
ductive property,  who  had  been  married  four  times,  and 
had  become  the  father  of  eighteen  children.  He  could 
have  only  been  54  years  of  age  in  1 660,  as  the  "  Visitation  " 
states  that  he  was  "aged  14  in  1620." 

His  eldest  son  Walter,  by  Anne  Northcote,  his  second 
wife,  married  Elizabeth,  only  daughter  of  John  Quicke 
of  Newton  St.  Cyres,  and  had  issue  John,  Walter,  (died 
1674),  and  Elizabeth.  John  Elford,  eldest  sou,  married 
Admonition  daughter  of  John  Prideaux,  of  Padstowe 
(according  to  Betham,  "Eng.  Barts."),  but  she  is  described 
as  of  Plymouth  in  the  Sheepstor  Register,  where  the 
wedding  took  place  July  29th,  1697.  She  was  interred 
there  16th  October,  1717,  but  her  husband  survived  her 
for  some  years,  and  was  buried  August  8th,  1748,  M.  78. 
His  death  terminated  the  elder  branch  of  the  family. 

He  had  two  sons,  Walter,  born  July  1st,  baptised 
July  22nd,  1698,  and  who  jn'edeceased  him  August  8th, 
1747  ;  John,  baptised  April  9th,  1708,  buried  February 
6th,  1710  ;  and  four  daughters — Elizabeth,  baptised 
November   2nd,   1699  ;  Bridget,  February   19th,    1701  ; 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR.  41 

Ann,   July  29tli,    1704  ;  buried   June   23rd,    1705  ;  and 
Susannah,  baptised  July  8th  ;  buried  October  4th,   1710. 

I  must  now  return  to  William  Elford,  third  surviving 
son  of  John  Elford,  by  his  Jourth  wife,  Sarah  Wollocombe 
(not  by  his  second  wife  Anne  Northcote,  as  stated  by  the 
editors  of  "Prince.")'  He  was  baptised  at  Widecombe, 
2nd  of  June,  1644,  and  is  afterwards  described  as  "of 
Plymouth,  merchant."  He  married  Mary,  daughter  of 
John  ToUard,  whose  family  subsequently  changed  their 
name  to  Trefry,  and  had  issue  John,  and  William,  captain 
K.N.  (who  married  Miss  Haviland,  and  had  issue  Harry 
Elford,  of  Hele,  in  the  parish  of  Cornwood,  who  was 
buried  there  July  23rd,  1748,  leaving  a  son,  William 
Harry  Elford,  born  1744,  married  May  lOth,  1769,  Frances 
daughter  of  Waltham  Saveiy,  of  Slade,  in  Cornwood  (she 
had  been  baptised  April  6th,  1748),  by  whom  he  had  seven 
children,  Robert  Elford  Saverij,  baptised  May  12th,  1768  ; 
buried  November  10th,  same  year,  Waltham,  December 
21st,  1770  ;  William  Harry,  March  '24th,  1776  ;  Robert, 
January  1st,  1784  ;  Luke,  June  6th,  1789  ;  and  two 
daughters,  Frances,  January  20th  1772  ;  and  Elizabeth, 
March  9th,  1777.) 

John  Elford,  eldest  son  of  William  and  Mary  Tollard, 
married  Jenny,  daughter  of  Thomas  Crapthorne,  and  was 
buried  at  Topsham,  March  26th,  1732  ;  (will  proved  May 
12th.)  They  had  issue  five  sons  and  two  daughters,  who 
all  died  in  infancy,  besides  Agnes,  who  married  William 
Wyatt ;  Jenny,  wife  of  Thomas  Seal,  of  Coffleet ;  Lucretia 
married  John  Bedford;  and  Lancelot,  baptised  at  Ply- 
mouth, September  6tb,   1718,  clerk  in  holy  orders  and 

1  Prince  Edit.  1810,  p.  457  n. 
*  Par.  Reg.  of  Comwood. 
Q 


42  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Vicar  of  Plympton,  who  became  the  head  of  the  family 
upon  the  death  (without  surviving  male  issue)  of  his 
father's  first  cousin,  John  Elford,  of  Sheepstor,  in  1  748.  • 

At  this  period  the  Sheepstor  property  appears  to  have 
been  sold,  probably  in  order  to  make  a  provision  for  his 
predecessor's  daughters,  and  the  Manor  was  for  some 
years  the  property  of  the  Northmores,  as  stated  by  Lysons ; 
it  now  belongs  to  Mr.  John  Bayly,  but  a  great  portion  of 
the  soil  to  Sir  Massey  Lopes. 

Longstone,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Elfords,  was  held  by 
Mrs.  Ames  in  l8ll,'  but  I  am  informed  that  a  daughter 
of  Elford  married  into  the  Crymes  family,  of  Buckland 
Monachorum,  and  the  latter  into  the  Crebers,  and  that 
Mr.  John  Creber  is  the  present  occupant  of  the  estate. 

The  Rev.  Lancelot  Elford  resided  at  Bickham,  and  was 
buried  at  Buckland  in  1782.  By  his  marriage  with 
Grace,  daughter  of  Alexander  Wills,  of  Kingsbridge,  he 
left  Jonathan,  of  Plymouth  Dock,  who  married  Mary,  dau. 
of  Heniy  Luxmore,  of  Okehampton ;  Jenny,  wife  of 
George  Leach,  of  Plymouth  ;  and  William  Elford,  his 
eldest  son,  M.P.  and  Recorder  of  Plymouth,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  South  Devon  MiHtia,  who  accompanied  the 
Regiment  to  Ireland  where  it  was  permanently  embodied 
duiing  the  Peninsula  War,  created  a  Baronet  November 
2Gth,  1800.  He  married  Mary,  dau.  of  the  Rev.  John 
Davies,  of  Plympton  St.  Maurice  by  his  wife  Mary,  dau. 
of  John  Chard,  and  had  issue  Jonathan,  born  November 
5th,  1776,  Grace  Chard,  and  Elizabeth.  Sir  William, 
who  married  secondly  a  dau.  and  co-heir  of  Humphrey 
Hall,  of  Manadon,  and  widow  of  Lieut-Colonel  Maine 
Swete  Walrond,  sold  Keynedon  about  the  end  of  the 
1  Additions  to  Eisdon's  "  Survey." 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR.  43 

eighteenth  century.  Jonathan  Elford,  married  Charlotte, 
dau.  and  heir  of  Wra.  Wynne,  of  Abercynlleth,  co. 
Denbigh.  He  for  some  months  represented  Westbury 
in  Parliament,  but  resigned  in  November  1820  to  make 
way  for  the  late  Sir  M.  M.  Lopes.  He  predeceased  his 
father,  and  died  at  Uplands,  in  Tamerton  Foliott,  March 
llth,   1823  -n^thout  issvie. 

Sir  William  Elford  survived  until  30th  November,  1837, 
when  be  died  at  the  age  of  89,  and  the  Baronetcy  became 
extinct. 

His  youngest  daughter  Elizabeth,  married  Sir  George 
Pownall   Adams,    K.C.B.     Then*  son    Henry   Cranstoun 
Adams,  Esq.,  of  Exmouth,  Lt.-Col.   1st  Devon  Artillery 
Volunteers  has  a  valuable  collection  of  family  porti'aits  by 
James  Northcote,  R.A.     They  include  : — 
Full  length  portrait  of  Sir  William  Elford  ; 
Another  of  John  Elford,  his  brother  ; 
Another  of  Mary  (Luxmore),  wife  of  the  said  Jonathan 

Elford ; 
Another  of  Jenny  his  sister,  wife  of  Mr.  George  Leach ; 
Another  of  her  husband  Mr.  George  Leach  ; 
Another  of  Sir  William  Elford,  in  advanced  age  ; 
Another  of  Mary,  wife  of  Sir  William  Elford,  and  of  their 

son  Jonathan  when  a  child  ; 
Another   of  the   Rev.    Lancelot    Elford,  Father    of  Sir 

William,  1718; 
And  another  of  Grace  Chard  Elford,  eldest  daughter  of 

Sir  William.     She  died  unmarried  1856. 

These  pictures  are  all  fully  desci'ibed  by  Mr.  Robert 
Dymond,  F.S.A.  in  the  Trans.  Devon  Association  vol. 
xviii.  p.  114-120. 


g' 


44  DEVONSflIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  II.— PART  III. 

Sheepstor    Church, 

The  Parish  Church,  which  stands  in  a  quiet  churchyard, 
pleasantly  situated  m  the  higher  part  of  the  village, 
consists  of  a  chancel,  nave  separated  from  south  aisle  by 
an  arcade  of  five  bays  supported  upon  clustei-ed  Per- 
pendicular, columns,  north  transept,  south  porch,  and  a 
western  tower,  containing  five  bells.  Tlie  ancient  screen, 
which  was  seen  by  Mrs.  Bray,  and  which  she  describes 
as  "  finely  carved,  painted,  and  gilt,"  has,  unfortunately 
been  removed,  but  the  exterior  projection  on  the  north 
side,  which  contains  the  stairs  which  once  led  to  the 
rood  loft  still  remains. 

There  is  a  Plain  Pointed  piscuia  of  Early  date  on  the 
south  side  of  the  chancel,  a  view  of  wliich  is  aftbrded 
from  the  north  transept  by  means  of  a  good  example  of 
a  hagioscope,  or  "  squint  "  as  it  is  usually  called.  The 
octagonal  font  is  ornamented  mth  shield.-,  and  with  the 
flat  four-leaved  flower  characteristic  of  the  Decorated 
period  of  Pointed  architecture,  and  there  are  deeply- 
moulded  chancel  and  tower  arches.  The  eastern  end  of 
the  south  aisle  at  one  time  contained  a  chantry  altar,  and 
the  cinque-foUed  piscina  may  still  be  seen  there. 

At  the  period  of  my  visit,  in  1874,  the  square-headed 
Perpendicular  window  which  lights  the  transept  was 
about  to  be  filled  with  stained  glass,  to  the  memoiy  of  a 


PARISH    OF   SHEEPSrOR.  45 

former  schoolmistress  of  the  village,  and  the  subject  was 
to  include  figures  of  S3.  Cecilia  and  Katherine.  The 
windows  generally  iire  of  Late  Decorated  or  Early  Per- 
pendicular date;  the  tracery  is  of  the  latter  period.  The 
entrance  into  the  porch  is  beneath  a  square-headed  door- 
way, with  a  deep  weather  moulding  and  quatre-foiled 
spandrils,  and  there  is  a  similar  doorway  to  the  tower, 
which  is  embattled  and  surmounted  by  four  pinnacles 
adorned  with  crockets  and  tinials.  The  belfry  staircase  is 
carried  up  in  an  octagonal  turret  on  the  north-eastern 

side. 

The  church  is  supported  by  strong  buttresses,  and  over 
the  porch,  in  a  recess,  which  may  have  at  one  time  con- 
tained the  figure  of  the  Patron  Saint,  is  a  "  death's  head" 
with  ears  of  corn  sprouting  out  of  the  holes  for  the  eyes  ; 
above  is  the  mscription,  "  Mors  Janua  Vitse,"  and  below 
an  hour-glass,  with  the  words  "  Anima  Pxesurgat  "  and 
"  Ut  Hora  Sic  Vita."     The  date  is  1640. 

There   are  two  interesting  )nemorials  to    the  Elfords 
here  ;  one,  at  the  western  end,    without  inscription,  cer-^ 
tainly    commemorates    Anne    Nortlicote  second    wife   of 
John  Elford,  and  sister  of  Sir  John  Northcote,  of  Hayne. 
The  principal  figure    represents   a  lady    in  a   rechning 
position,   with  a  child  beneath  her  arm  (her  youngest 
son,  Richard,  who  died  in  inlancy) ;  at  her  head  is  an 
angel ;  at  her  feet  a  skeleton  figure  of  Death  with  the 
scythe.     Three   children  kneel  at  the  foot  of  the  monu- 
ment (Anne,  Walter,  and  Jonathan),  and  in  front  of  them 
is  a  "  Pho3nix,"     It  will  be  seen  from  my  description  that 
the   composition  strongly  partakes  of  the  hideous   taste 
which  our  ancestors  of  the  seventeenth  century  were  so 


46  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

fond  of  displaying.  This  must  be  the  tablet  "  without 
date "  ascribed  by  Lysons  to  "  Elizabeth  Coplestone." 
Ai'ound  it  it  are  shields  of  arms  similar  to  those  I  have 
already  described  elsewhere^  as  existing  ou  the  tablet  at 
Widecombe,  and  which  was  placed  in  that  church  in 
memory  of  her  successor,  Mary  Gale  (John  Elford's  third 
wife). 

An  inscription  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  aisle  mentions 
earlier  members  of  the  Elford  family,  but  includes  the 
name  of  the  Royalist.  It  affords  much  valuable  informa- 
tion both  genealogical  and  heraldic  : — 

"  Here  lycth  the  bodies  of  John  Elforde,  of  Shitstor  gentleman,  who 
died  the  xxvii ;  day  of  August,  in  the  year  of  our  Lorde  God  one 
thousand  five-hundred  fourscore  and  foure. 

And  also  the  body  of  Elizabeth  Drake,  first  the  wife  of  the  said  John 
Elforde,  and  last  the  vnie  of  Thomas  Drake,  of  Buckland  Drake,  Esquier" 
Brother  and  heire  to  Sir  Francis   Drake,  Knight,  who  died   !March  ye 
18,  ye  year  of  our  Lord  God  one-thousand  six-hundred  31. 
And  also  the  bodye  of  "Walter  Elford,  gentleman,  sonne  and  heir  of 
the  foresayde  John  and  Ehzabeth,  who  died  in  the  yere  of  our  Lord  God, 

[May  ye 
9th,  one-thousand  six  hundred  48,  aged  72. 

(Tcmpora  ne  culpes  cum  sis  tibi  causa  doloris.) 
Who  married  Barbara,  daughter  of  John  Crocker  of  Lynam,  Esq.,  and 

[had  issue  by  her  foure  sons — 
John,  Hugh,  Walter,  William,  and  five  daughters — 
Frances,  Anne,  Joane,  Elizabeth,  and  Mary. 
She  died  1656.     Aged  83." 

Below  this  inscription  are  the  arms  of  Drake.  Sa.  a 
fesse  wavy  betw.  2  pole  stars  Arg.  Impaled  with 
Gregory  ;  Az.  within  3  increscents,  or  as  many  mullets 
Arg. 

Above  the  inscription  are  seven  shields — 

1  "  Ashburton  and  its  Neighbourhood,"  p.  68. 


PARISH   OF  SHEEPSTOR.  47 

1.  Quarterl}'  1  ami  4,  per  pale  wavy  Arg.  and  Sa.  a  lion  ramp.  Gu. 
(Elford),  2  and  3  Arg.,  3  stirrups  with  leathers,  Sa.  (Scudamore.) 

2.  Elford,  as  before,  impaling — a  bull  passant.     (Bevil.) 

3.  Elford,  as  before,  impaling — a  lion  rampant  between  five  crosses 
flory  fitehee.     (Adams.) 

4.  Elford,  as  before,  impaling — Paly  of  6,  on  a  chief  a  lion  passant 
guardant.     (Langsford.) 

.5.  Elford  as  before  impaling,  a  chevron betw.  3  ravens?  (Bury.) 

6.  Elford  as  before  impaling  Gregory,  as  above. 

7.  Elford,  as  before,  impaling  a  chevron  engrailed  betw.  3  crows. 
(Crocker). 

I  have  given  the  names  of  the  families  to  which  these 
arms  belong  from  the  MS.  collection  of  miscellaneous 
pedigrees   at  the  Heralds'  College  before  referred  to.* 

I  fancy,  however,  that  No.  5  Elford,  impelling  a  chevron 
betw.  3  ravens,  refei-s  to  a  marriage  with  a  daughter  of  a 
younger  branch  of  Bickley  instead  of  Bury.  The  arms 
of  the  latter  family,  originally  of  "  Buiy,"  in  Lapford, 
and  afterwards  of  Coleton,  in  Chuhnleigh,  and  of  Doniton 
in  Swymbridge,  were  Erm.  on  a  bend,  Az.  3  fleur  de  lis 
Or.  but  there  is  a  coat  of  the  Bickleys  which  gives  Ar.  a 
chevron  engd.  betw.  3  martlets  Su.,  while  the  old  family 
of  Bickleigh  of  Bickleigh,  whose  heiress  mamed  De 
Belfago,  bore,  according  to  Lysons,*  Ar.,  a  bend  engd., 
Sa.  between  3  crows. 

The  church-house,  at  one  time  used  as  a  school-house, 
is  situated  close  to  the  churchyard  ;  parts  of  it  are  sup- 
posed to  date  from  the  seventeenth  century,  but  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  it  appears  to  be  earlier.  It  retains 
its  ancient  panelling  of  oak,  and  possesses  other  interest- 

>  CoU.Ar.  I.  H.  iMisol.  Teds. 
'   Mag.  Brit.  Devon,  1,  clxii., 


48  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

ing  architectural  features.  The  present  parish  school 
was  built  in  1866. 

When  Sheepstor  was  separated  from  Bickleigh  the 
Kev.  Warneford  Gompertz  became  the  Vicar,  and  the 
patron  afterwards  arranged  for  the  purchase  (for  the 
Vicarage)  of  Bi'ook  Cottage,  close  to  the  church,  and 
which  was  the  property,  and  had  been  the  residence  of 
the  Rev.  W.  Y.  Daykin  (subsequently  Archdeacon  of 
Maritzburg),  who  was  the  Curate-in-charge  of  the  parish 
on  the  occasion  of  my  visit,  and  whose  courtesy  and 
attention  to  my  inquiries  I  have  by  no  means  forgotten, 
and   I  am  glad  to  be  now  able  to  acknowledge. 

The  house  known  as  the  Church-house  appears  to  have 
been  the  gift  of  John  Elford  about  the  year  1570.  Since 
by  a  new  trust  deed  made  in  1811  (between  the  only  sur- 
viving trustees,  Peter  Nicholls  and  Thomas  NichoUs,  and 
ten  others,  and  in  order  "  to  perpetuate  the  charitable 
disi^osition  and  intention  of  John  Elford  the  elder,  there- 
tofore of  Sheepstor,  mentioned  and  contained  in  a  certain 
deed  of  feoffment  dated  the  2nd  January,  12th  Eliza- 
beth.") The  Church-house,  and  a  piece  of  ground  called 
the  Church-place  or  Bowling-green  (on  the  south  side  of 
the  churchyard,  on  the  west  side  of  a  well  called  St. 
Leonard's  Well,  on  the  north  side  of  a  water  called 
Sheepstor  brook,  and  on  the  east  side  of  a  garden,  near 
the  Vicarage  garden)  are  reconveyed  for  the  only  use  of 
the  parishioners  of  Sheepstor  for  ever. 

This  deed  appears  to  me  to  furnish  two  fragments  of 
evidence  of  an  interesting  nature — 

First^That  the  church-house  was  not  built  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  I,  according  to  the  prevalent  idea,  but 


PARISH  OF  SEEEPSTOR.  49 

in  the   early  part  of  that  of  Elizabeth,  as  indicated  by 
the  style  of  the  architecture. 

Second -That  a  well,  called  St.  Leonard's  Well,  existed 
chse  to  the  church,  as  to  the  dedication  of  lohich  there 
is  no  reference  in  any  of  the  documents  I  have  seen. 
Mciy  it   not  have  been  named  after  this  saint  also  ? 

There  are  some  lands  called  Cawte  lands,  with  a  right 
of  common  upon  Yannadon,  which  belong  to  the  poor  of 
this  parish.  They  were  let  in  1826  for  £11  15s,  but  in 
1879  their  rental  was  only  £9  10s.  a  year. 

Before  I  conclude  this  chapter  I  should  like  once  more 
to  refer  to  the  Elfords,  so  long  the  owners  of  the  soil 
of  Sheepstor. 

It  is   certain   that  they  were   of  ancient   extraction, 
yet  their   pedigree   is   not  recorded  in  the    Visitations 
of  1531   or  1564,  and  it  is   noteworthy  that  a   certain 
Hucrh    Elford   of   Devon,    who   matriculated  at   Exeter 
Colt  17th  November  1581,  is  described  as  "plebei  filius.'' 
They  probably   resided    quietly   upon   their    land   at 
Sheepstor,  and  thought  little  of  coat  armour  or  heraldic 
fees,    until   they   began    to    form    alUances   with   such 
well-known   county  families   as     the    Crockers,    Cople- 
Btones,  and  Northcotes  ;  and  it  appears  more  than  prob- 
able that  all  the  shields  which  I  have  blazoned  in  this 
article  were  placed  at  Sheepstor,  as  they  certainly  ivere  at 
Widecombe,   by   John   Elford,   the    Royalist,    after    his 
father's  death  in  1648.     On    the  first  of  May,    1582,  an 
inquiry  was  held  at  Tavistock,  under  a  commission  from 
the  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter,  by  the  Vicars  of  Whitchurch 
and  Tavistock,  to  inquire  into  certain  scandalous  conduct 


50  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

which  had  been  alleged  against  Richard  Tooker  and  one 
Pascha  Elford,  both  of  Tavistock.^  With  respect  to  the 
Elfords  of  Widecombe-in-the-Moor,  it  is  to  be  remarked 
that  the  members  of  the  family  of  John  Elford,  of  Sheeps- 
tor,  have  their  names  written  "  Ihbrd  "  in  the  registers 
of  that  parish,  Peter,  son  of  Peter  Elford  was  baptised 
there  22nd  August,  1G47;  Eichard  Elford  was  buried 
there  15th  June,  1647  ;  Richard,  son  of  Richard,  16th 
April,  1667;  and  Richard  Elford,  22nd  April,  1673, 
A  certain  William  Elford  was  also  buried  at  Wide- 
combe,  January,  l2th,  1677. 

His  marriage  with  "  Richord"  (surname  not  given)  had 
been  solemnised  there  22nd  October,  1662,  and  they  had 
two  children:  John,  bap.  March,  1663,  and  Mary,  11th 
March,  1672.  They  may  have  been,  and  most  probably 
were  descended  from  a  younger  son  of  the  Sheepstor 
house,  but  I  am  unable  to  identify  them. 

Amongst  some  published  extracts  from  Mr.  James 
Hilton's  collection  of  ''  Chronogi'aphs "  is  included  a 
portion  of  the  inscription  at  Widecombe  to  the  memory 
of  John  Elford's  third  wife,  which  appears  to  have  been 
copied  from  "  Notes  and  Queries,"  5th  s.,  vol.  9,  p. 
337.  A  note  to  this  extract  states  that  "  the  date 
in  '  Notes  and  Queries'  is  erroneously  given  as  1642." 
I  would  therefore  remark  that  this  date  is  perfectly 
correct;  and  that  the  mistake  has  occurred  in  con- 
sequence of  the  omission  of  the  word  "  ex "  between 
"  Obiit  "  and  "  Puerperio."  Tlie  absence  of  tills  word 
would   make  the  date    1632,  but,  as  a   matter   of  fact, 

1  Bp.  Woolton'8  Reg.  P.R  Exon.  A.l. 
«  "  Western  Antiquary  "  October,  1882. 


PARISH   OF   SHEEPSTOR.  51 

John  Elford's  marriage  license  for  his  first  wife,  Eliza- 
beth Copplestone,  was  not  granted  until  March  26th, 
1631. 

In  the  parish  registers  of  Tavij  St.  Mary,  September 
12th,  1756,  is  the  following  curious  entry  "Robert 
Elford,  child  of  Susannah  Elford,  by  her  sister's  husband, 
to  whom  she  was  'married  with  the  consent  of  her  sister 
the  wife,  who  was  at  the  wedding." 

In  connexion  with  the  Elfords  of  Cornwood,  a  certain 
Thomas  Elford  (who  does  not  find  a  place  in  the  pedigi-ee 
was  buried  there  January  26th,  1790.  On  November  1 8th, 
1800,  BuiTington  Elford  mamed  there  Anne  Dodridge,  of 
the  same  parish,  and  it  is  worth  remarking  that  Maria 
Savery,  who  married  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Burrington  March 
1st,  1749,  was  the  aunt  of  Frances  Savery,  who  became 
the  wife  of  William  Harry  Elford  in  1 769,  "  Henry 
William  Elford,  of  Iv-ybridge,"  buried  at  Cornwood  July 
10th,  1834,  aged  five  months,  was  probably  their 
grandson. 

I  beo-  to  offer  my  cordial  thanks  to  the  Rev.  C.  H. 
Crooke,  the  Vicar  of  Sheepstor,  for  the  assistance  he  has 
so  readily  afforded  me  by  sendmg  me  extracts  from  his 
registers,  and  rubbings  from  the  Elford  shields  of  arms. 

He  tells  me  that  the  overseers'  books  were  signed  by 
"J.  Elford,  J.P."  between  the  years  1810  and  1822 
(Jonathan,  son  of  Sir  WQliam  Elford).  The  parish 
registers  date  from  1691,  but  are  in  bad  preservation. 

The  old  Vicarage  house,  with  the  date  1648,  still 
stands,  but  is  very  much  out  of  repair,  and  the  church- 
house,  which  was  habitable  when  I  visited  the  parish,  is 


52  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

now,  I  regret  to  hear,  in  ruins.  The  church  vessels  have 
nothing  very  distinguishing  about  them.  The  chalice  and 
flagon  are  of  beaten  silver,  the  former  with  a  plain  scroll 
pattei-n. 

Within  the  last  thirty  years,  Sheepstor  has  been 
distinguished  from  having  been  the  residence  of  a  very 
distinguished  and  remarkable  man,  who  displayed  as 
much  liberality  and  was  as  much  loved  and  valued  in  his 
remote  Devonshire  home  as  he  had  been  in  the  colony 
which  he  had  previously  formed,  and  which  has  become 
identified  -wdth  his  name.  Sir  James  Brooke,  better 
known  as  "  Eajah  Brooke,"  was  born  atBandel,  in  Bengal 
April  29th,  1803,  and  was  educated  at  Norwich  Granmiar 
School.  He  was  descended  from  an  ancient  Somerset- 
shire family,  and  commenced  life  with  a  commission  in 
the  Indian  Ai-my,  and  served  during  the  war  in  Burmah, 
where  he  was  wounded  in  tlie  lungs.  He  was  long  in  a 
precarious  state  of  health,  and  during  his  consequent 
furlcuo-h  in  1830,  he  made  a  voyage  to  China  and  in 
his  passage  through  the  Eastern  Archipelago  became 
convinced  that  if  the  Island  of  Borneo  could  be  acquired 
it  might  be  made  a  powerful  and  wealthy  dependency 
of  the  British  Crown.  He  afterwards  went  there  at  his 
own  cost,  assisted  the  Malay  ruler,  Muc':ili  Hassim,  in 
suppressing  an  insurrection,  and  became  Eajah  of 
Sarawak,  and  forthwith  exerted  himself  to  suppress  pii'acy, 
to  facilitate  European  commerce,  and  to  introduce  civiUsa- 
tion  among  the  Dyak  tribes. 

In  1647  the  British  Government  took  possession  of 
the  Island  of  Labuan,  and  Mr.  Brooke  was  appointed 
Governor   and   Commander-in-Chief,  and   was    made    a 


PARISH  OF  SHEEPSTOR.  53 

D.C.L.    by   the  University  of  Oxford,  and  a  Knight  of 
the  Civil  Division  of  the  Bath. 

During  his  long  residence  abroad  he  gradually  extended 
his  influence  and  authority  until  he  became  the  petty 
ruler  and  Prince  and  practically  the  King  of  Sarawak. 
He  was  the  pioneer  of  civiUsation  in  the  Eastern  seas, 
and  diffiised  through  these  Asiatic  tribes  a  reverence  and 
respect  for  the   British  name ;  and  the  administration  of 
the  province    having   been  ceded   to   him,    the   English 
private   gentleman   thus    became   virtually   a   monarch. 
There   is  no   second  opinion  as  to   the  judiciousness  ot 
his  mode  of  government,  which  was  eminently  successful. 
He  advised  and  guided  his  "subjects,"  but  he   neither 
governed  nor  directed  them  ;  he  placed  the  country  in 
a  position  of  the  most  perfect  freedom,    and  its  affairs 
in  the  hands  of  a   native  Council  for  the  benefit  of  its 
native  inhabitants.     He  had  to  run   for  his  life  during 
our    war     with   China,     when   his  house     and    valuable 
library,    together  witli  other   property,   were  seized    by 
the  enemy,  and  immediately  after  his  return  to  England 
in  18.58  he  was  seized  with  a   paralytic  stroke,  for  the 
second  time. 

A.  meeting  was  then  held  m  London,  and  a  large  sum 
was  collected  by  private  subscription  in  order  to  repair  in 
some  mes'.sure  his  great  losses  in  the  East.  With  the 
money  thus  raised  Sir  James  purchased  an  estate  in  the 
parish  of  Sheepstor,  known  as  Burrator,  to  which  he 
retired,  but  his  health  having  become  somewhat  restored 
he  found  himself  unable  to  remain  idle.  In  the  autumn 
of  18G1  he  again  returned  to  Boi-neo  to  suppress  a 
dangerous  rebellion  which  had  broken  cut  on  the  nortli- 


54  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

west  coast  of  that  country.  He  accomplished  it  and 
returned  to  his  adopted  village,  but  fresh  complica- 
tions in  his  government  necessitated  his  once  more 
crossing  the  seas,  when  he  received  the  reward  of  his 
life  by  obtaining  from  England  the  recognition  of  the 
independence  of  Sarawak,  and  by  having  a  British 
Consul  accredited  to  his  government.  He  was  spared 
to  return  to  this  country,  but  did  not  long  survive.  He 
died  at  Burrator  in  1868,  and  was  buried  under  a  large 
beech  tree  on  the  north  side  of  Sheepstor  Church.  The 
massive  tomb  of  red  Aberdeen  granite  was  erected  by  his 
nephew,  who  succeeded  him  as  Rajah  of  Sarawak. 


PARISH  OF     WALKHAMPTON.  65 


CHAPTER  III.— PART   I. 


The  Parish  of  Walkhampton — Description  and 
General  History. 

The  parish  of  Walkhampton,  pleasantly  situated  on  the 
western  escarpment  of  Dartmoor  and  in  the  valley  of  the 
little  river  Walkham,  includes  within  its  limits  6,600 
acres  of  waste  and  open  common  out  of  a  total  of  10,540 
acres  of  land.  In  1831  the  population  amounted  to  691  ; 
in  1871,  to  631  (312  males  and  319  females,  living  in  118 
houses),  and  according  to  the  last  census  the  population 
has  again  decreased  to  the  number  of  70.  A  portion  of 
this  parish,  however,  became  absoi'bed  in  the  new  district 
knowi:i  as  Horrabridge,  which  was  an  old  chapelry  depen- 
dent uponBuckland  Monachorum  until  1867,  when  it  was 
separated  from  the  mother  church. 

Walkhampton  is  in  the  Hundred  of  Roborough  and 
originally  belonged  to  the  suppressed  deanery  of  Tamerton. 
The  Manor,  which  appears  to  me  to  be  "  The  Wachetona" 
of  the  Exeter  Domesday,  written  Wachetone  in  the 
Exchequer  copy,  was  held  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Confessor  by  the  King,  who  held  there  one  "  ferling  " 
in  demesne,  and  there  was  land  for  four  ploughs.  The 
wood  was  one  league  in  length,  and  half  a  league  in 
breadth,    there  was  an  acre  of  meadow,  and  a   hundred 


56  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

acres  of  pasture.  The  description  in  the  Exchequer 
Domesday  is  hardly  as  complete  as  that  in  the  Exeter 
volume,   which   is   as  follows : — 

"  Rex  habet  i  mansion  em  qua3  vocatur  Wachetona  quam 
tenuit  rex  Edwardus  ea  die  qua  fuit  vivus  et  mortuus  et 
reddidit  gildum  dimidia  virga.  Hanc  possunt  arare  iiii 
carrucce.  Inde  habet  rex  i  ferlinum  in  dominio  et  viUani 
i  ferlinum  et  iiii  carructe.  Ibi  habet  rex  vi  viUanos  et  iii^ 
bordarios  et  ii  servos  et  iii  animalia  et  1.  oves  et  i  leugam 
in  longitudine  nemoris  et  diirddiam  leugam  in  latitudine 
et  i  agrum  prati  et  c  agros  pascua3  et  reddit  per  annum 
iii  libras  ad  pondus." 

This  land  for  many  generations  afterwards  was  in  the 
hands   of   the   powerful   family    of  Rivers,    or   Redvers. 
Richard   de   Ripariis,    or  Redvers,    brother   of   Baldwin 
known   as   the   Sheriff,  is  said  to    have  obtained   from 
King   Henry  the   1st,   the   whole   honour  of  Plympton. 
Plympton,  like  Walkhampton,  was  at  the  period  of  the 
Sul•^'ey,  Royal  demesne,  and    although   it   is  absolutely 
certain  that  it  was  soon  afterwards  the  property  of  the 
Earl  of  Devon,  yet  it  is  equally  apparent  that  Baldwin 
held  it  previously  to  its  coming  into   the   hands  of  his 
brother.       This  is  shown    by    an    entry   in  the    Exeter 
Domesday,   which  is  not   contamed    in   the   Exchequer 
Copy.      "  Rex   habet   i    mansionem  quse    vocatur   Plin- 

tone" "  Haec  reddit  xiii  Hbras  et  x  solidos  ad 

pensum,  et  quando  Balduinus  recepit  xii  hbras  et  x 
solidos  ad  pensum."  The  land  paid  geld  for  two  hides 
and  a  half  and  apart  from  these  the  Canons  of  Plymp- 
ton held  two  hides. 

Baldwin  the  eighth  Earl  incorrectly  called   "  William 


PARISH  OF   WALKHAMPTOX.  57 

de  Eipariis'"  presented  Elias  de  Herteford  to  WalkLamp- 
ton  Church,  August  1259  as  shown  by  Bishop  Brones- 
combe's   Register.      His  mother,   the   Countess   Amicia, 
ah-eady  mentioned  exercised  a  like  power   in  favour  of 
John  de  Mohun  in  December  1276,  and  two  yeai-s  later 
she    included    this   manor   and   the    advowson   of    the 
Rectory,    with   Bickleigh   and    Columpton    in    her  pro- 
vision for  the  Cistercian  monks  whom  slie  had  brought 
from  her  husband's  ancestral  property  at  Quarrer,  and 
settled  at  Buckland.     I  have  already  given  details  from 
a  grant  of  the  fovmdress,  m  which  her  son's  name  does 
not    occur.^      But   in   another  document'   I    find   these 
words,  in  addition  to  those  I  have  previously   quoted : 
"  pro  salute  animse   nostrie  et  animarum  Baldwini   fihi 
nostri  quondam  comitis  Devonie,"  &c.     The  confirmation 
by  Isabella  de  Fortibus  contains  the  metes  and  bounds 
of  the  three   adjacent  manors,  and  is  dated  at   Brom- 
mor,  St.  Edmund's  Day,   1291,  two    years   before    her 
death.    Another  charter  by  the  same  Isabella,  in  which 
she   grants  or   confirms  these   lands  to   her   mother,  is 
dated    1273,    and    is  wtnessed    by   Edmund,    Earl    of 
Lancaster,   the   King's  son,  Edmund   Earl  of  CornwaU, 
and  others. 

Thomas  Whyte,  Abbot  of  Buckland,  granted  December 
1st,  1511,  the  reversion  of  a  lease  to  William  and  Jane 
Dunster  of  an  estate  at  "  Lader  Torre  "  (Leather  Tor), 
with  a  stamping-mill—"  cmn  uno  molendino  pulsatih  ad 
stannum  pulsandum."  Lysons  says  that  "the  manor 
was  given  by  Amicia,  Countess  of  Devon,  to  the  Abbot 

1  Ante,  p.  2.  *  "Inspex."  9tli  Henry  IV. 

I 


58  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

aiid  Convent  of  Buckland  except  the  portion  of  Dittis- 
ham  Rowe  which  is  annexed  to  the  Vicarage  of  Bick- 
leigh.  The  present  Vicar  of  Bickleigh  tells  me  that  he 
receives  a  certain  sum  annually  from  the  Walkhampton, 
tithes  in  respect  of  this  apportionment. 

Ciyptor  (Criptor),  Middleworthy,  Le  Parke  (Parktown) 
Pyke  (Peek  Hill),  and  Dencombe  (Deancombe),  with 
several  other  estates,  are  noticed  by  Dr.  Oliver  as  occur- 
ring in  ancient  leases. 

The  church  of  Walkhampton,  in  the  Deanery  of  Tamer- 
ton,  was  valued  at  £4  per  annum,  and  taxed  at  8s.  by 
Pope  Nicholas  IV.  in  1291.  In  the  Valor  Ecclesiasticus 
of  Henry  VHI.  it  is  bracketed,  for  some  unaccountable 
reason,  with  Sheepstor,  and  the  Rectorial  tithes  are 
valued  at  X7.  The  manor  of  Walkhampton  returned, 
at  the  dissolution  of  religious  houses,  £21  13s.  3d  per 
annum. 

The  Rectorial  tithes  of  this  parish  together  with 
Bickleigh,  and  Sheepstor  were  leased  by  the  last 
Abbot,  of  Buckland,  October  25th,  1536,  to  his  brother, 
Robert  Toker,  and  his  nephews,  William  and  Hugh,  for 
sixty  years,  at  the  rent  of  £7  10s. 

On  September  24th,  1546,  John  Slannynge,  of  London 
gentleman,  purchased  of  the  Crown  the  manor  of  Walk- 
hampton and  the  advowson  of  its  church,  with  other 
property  in  Bickleigh  and  Shaugh,  the  estates  to  be 
held  in  fee  at  the  yearly  rent  for  Walkhampton,  of 
£2  4s.  7id. 

The  o^vner8  have  since  been  identical  with  those  of 


PARISH  OF   WALKHAMPTON.  59 

Bickleigh,  and  a  full  account  of  them  will  be  found  in 
my  previous  notice  of  that  parish.  Sir  Massey  Lopes, 
Bart.,  of  Maristowe,  is  the  present  owner. 


I' 


GO  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  III.— PART  II. 

The  Family  of  Eedvkrs,  Earls  of  Devon. 

Richard  "  Le  Bon,"  Duke  of  Normandy,  besides  his  sons 
Richard  and  Eobert,  the  latter  of  whom  was  the  father 
of  Wilham  the  Conqueror,  had  a  natural  son,  who  is 
known  in  history  as  Godfrey,  Earl  of  Ewe,  or  Owe  in 
his  native  country.  Godfrey,  Earl  of  Ewe,  had  a  son, 
Gilbert,  Earl  of  Brion,  first  cousin  to  the  Conqueror,  who 
was  the  father  of  Baldwin  De  Brion,  Lord  of  Okehamp- 
ton,  and  also  of  Richard  Fitz-Gilbert ;  the  latter  held  one 
manor  in  demesne,  that  of  Levaton,  in  Woodland,  at  the 
period  of  the  Domesday  Survey  (IDS'?),  besides  six  under 
his  brother  Baldwin,  one  under  William  Portitor,  or  the 
doorkeeper,  one  under  Ralph  de  Pomeroy,  and  five,  among 
which  was  Cotlega,  or  Cotleigh  (afterwards  given  to  St. 
James's  Prioiy),  under  Robert,  Earl  of  Moreton,  or  Mor- 
taigne,  the  uterine  brother  of  King  William.  This 
Richard  Fitz-Gilbert  assumed  the  name  of  De  Ripariis, 
and  was  the  same  Richard  de  Ripariis  who  received  from 
that  monarch  the  Lordships  of  Tiverton  and  Plympton. 

His  first  property  here  appears  to  have  been  the  impor- 
tant lordship  of  Tiverton  ;  he  was  afterwards  created  Earl 
of  Devon,  and  received,  in  addition  to  the  third  peimy  of 
the  county,  the  revenue  of  which  then  amounted  to  thirty 
marks,  a  concession  of  the  Barony  of  Plympton,  with  aU 


PARISH  OF  WALKHAMPTON.  61 

the  manors  and  other  property  belonging  to  it ;  ultimately 
he  obtained  large  possessions  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and 
his  style  and  title  was  Earl  of  Devon  and  Lord  of  the 
Isle,  as  is  shown  by  the  MS.  History  of  the  Foundation 
of  Ford  Abbey.  "  Post  hec.  insiilam  Vecte  a  dicto  rege 
obtinuit  unde  comes  Devonie  et  dominus  Insule  nuncu- 
patus  erat.^  This  Richard  de  Eedvers  died  in  the  year 
1107;  and  was  buried  in  Normandy  at  the  Abbey  of 
Montibourg.  By  his  wife,  Adeliza,  he  left  a  son,  Baldwin, 
who  succeeded  him  as  second  Earl  of  Devon,  and  whose 
wife  was  also  called  Adeliza  or  Adeline.  The  second 
Earl  was  the  illustrious  founder  "  Inclytum  fundatorem  " 
of  the  Cluniac  Priory  of  St.  James,  in  the  suburbs  of 
Exeter :  of  Christ  Church,  Hants,  which  is  described  as 
"  Timmor  {i.e.  Bremore)  canonicorum  et  Twina  ubi  est 
Christi  Ecclesia,"  of  the  Monastery  of  Quarrer,  in  the 
Isle  of  Wight ;  and  of  Lira  in  Normandy.  Upon  the 
death  of  King  Henry  I.  this  powerful  noble,  mindful  of 
the  favours  which  had  been  heaped  upon  his  father  and 
upon  himself  by  the  deceased  monarch,  was  the  veiy  first 
to  take  up  arms  in  the  cause  of  the  King's  daughter, 
Maud,  wife  of  the  Emperor  Henry  IV  of  Germany.  He 
shut  himself  up  in  the  Castle  of  Exeter,  and  hastened  to 
strengthen  its  foitifications  during  the  time  that  elapsed 
between  his  hostile  declaration  and  the  arrival  of  the 
beleaguering  army  imder  the  usui^per  Stephen,  who 
during  the  year  1 1 3G  pressed  the  siege  with  great  vigour 
for  three  months,  and  expended  thereon  the  enormous 
sum  of  over  15,000  marks.     We  are  told  that  the  garri- 

1  MS.  Hail.  Xo.  1176,  fol.  97. 


62  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

son  ultimately  capitulated  for  want  of  water,  and  King 
Stephen  is  said  to  have  treated  not  only  his  adversaries, 
but  the  citizens  generally,  with  the  utmost  clemency. 

He  indemnified  the  canons  of  the  Cathedi-al  for  the 
damage  which  their  property  had  experienced,  and  he 
permitted  the  Earl  himself  to  retire  to  his  Castle  of 
Nehon,  in  Normandy,  but  very  soon  afterwai'ds  allowed 
him  to  return  and  to  reassume  his  English  honours,  which 
he  enjoyed  until  his  death.  This  event  occurred  "pridie 
Nonas  Junii  "  (4th  of  June),  1155,  at  Quarrer,  where  he 
was  laid  to  rest  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  who  had  been 
previously  buried  there.  He  left  issue,  a  son,  Richard, 
who  succeeded  him  as  third  Earl ;  Henry,  who  died  in 
his  infancy,  and  was  also  buried  at  Quarrer  ;  William, 
usually  known  as  De  Vernon  "quia  Vernone  scolaris 
fuerat,"  and  who  succeeded  ultimately  as  sixth  Earl. 
Besides  these  sons,  I  find'  mention  of  two  daughters, 
Maud,  wife  of  Ralph  Avenel,  Lord  of  Okehampton,  and 
Avis,  mother  of  Mabilla  de  Solariis.  Richard  the  third 
Earl  confirmed  the  gifts  of  his  father,  Baldwin,  to  the 
Priory  of  St.  James,  and  he  was  also  a  considerable  bene- 
factor to  the  Abbey  of  Quarrer,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight. 
He  died  at  Cenemonia  (Le  Mans)  in  1162.  In  his  deed, 
dated  at  Exeter  and  execiited  in  the  presence  of  the 
Bishop  (Robert  Warelwast)  in  1157,  he  makes  mention 
of  his  wife  Dionisia  ;  Risdon  says  that  she  was  called 
Avice,  and  was  daughter  and  coheir  of  Reginald,  Earl 
of  Cornwall.  He  left  two  sons — Baldwin,  who  succeeded 
as   fourth   Earl,    and   who   man-ied   Alice,   daughter   of 

1  MS.  Harl.  Ull.f.  47. 


PARISH  OF  WALKHAMPTON. 


63 


(Kalph)  Dale,  of  Bovey'  de  Dolis,  according  to  Kisdon. 
He  left  no  issue,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother 
Kichard.  Westcote  says  that  his  widow  married  secondly 
Andrew  de  Chauvens. 

Richard  Rivers,  fifth  Earl,  married  Margaret,  daughter 
and  coheh'  of  John  Lord  Bisset,  but  according  to  West- 
cote, who  cites  "  The  Book  of  Plympton,"  Emma,  daughter 
of  Roger  de  Pont  Arches.      Westcote  also  says  that  he 
was  the   first  of  the  family  who  used  the  arms   (now 
quartered  by  the  Earl  of  Devon)— Or,  a  lion  rampant. 
Az.   and  "  that  his   predecessors  had    borne—"  Gu.,  a 
griffin   seizing  a   little  beast,  Or— "^    It  appears,  how- 
ever,'  that   the   original   coat— Gu.   a    griflin    segreant 
Or— a   coloured  sketch  of  which   is  given  in  the   MS., 
was  employed  by  the  first  seven  Earis,  and  that  Baldwin 
the  eighth  and  last  Eirl  of  his  name,  was  the  first  to 
adopt  the  blue  lion  on  the  gold  field.     He  seems  to  have 
been  a  benefactor  to  Tor  Abbey  ;  but  did  not  long  sur- 
vive his  brother,  dying  at  Le  Mans,  without  issue,  in 

1166. 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  uncle,  William  de  Vernon, 
as  sixth  Earl,  who  married  Mable,  daughter  of  Robert, 
Earl  of  Mellant,  by  ]\Iaud,  daughter  and  coheir  of 
Reginald,  Eaii  of  Cornwall.     He  died  on  the  4th  Ides 

1  MS.  Harl.  1411. 

»  Tkis  device  occurs  on  a  seal  attached  to  a  deed  of  Baldwin  the 
second  Earl,  (in  wliich  ho  describes  himself  as  "  Ego  Baldwinus  Exoui- 
ensis  Comes.")  The  legend  being  "  Sigillum.  Baldvini.  Com.  Xonib."— 
The  griffin  is  standing  on  the  smaller  animal  and  both  arc  towards  tho 
sinister.  This  seal,  copied  from  Dugdale,  Mon.  Aug.  is  reproduced  by 
the  late  CoL  Harding  in  his  history  of  Tiverton,  voL  i,  Book  2,  p.  22. 

9  MS.  Harl.  1411. 


64  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

of  September  (10th  of  that  month),  1217.  He  left  issue 
two  daughters.  Joan,  married  to  William  Briwere  the 
younger,  of  Tor,  to  whom  he  gave  land  "  apud  Crust  in 
manerio  de  Cruk  "  and  the  advowson  of  the  church  there  ; 
while  to  his  younger  daughter,  Maiy,  he  gave  the  residue 
of  the  said  manor,  with  the  hundred  and  chace  of  Crux, 
and  she,  by  her  marriage  with  Sir  Robert  Courtenay, 
became  the  ancestress  of  the  present  Earl  of  Devon. 

Besides  these  daughters,  Wilham  de  Vernon  had  a  son 
Baldwin,  who  predeceased  him  on  the  1st  September, 
1216,  and  who  by  his  marriage  with  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Warren  Fitz-Gerald,  Chamberlain  to  King  John,  left 
issue  a  son,  Baldwin,  who  succeeded  his  grandfather 
in  his  estates  and  honours.  He  probably  also  had  a 
daughter,  Constance,  wife  of  Sir  Richard  Worth,  of 
Worth,  in  Washfield,  who  was  in  possession  of  the  estate 
there,  on  which  his  descendants  still  reside,  in  the  year 
1243.  This  marriage  is  referred  to  in  the  Rawlingson 
MS.  {Visit.  Devon,  1564),  where  Sir  Richard  Worth, 
third  in  descent  from  Reginald,  is  stated  to  have  married 
Constance,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Devon. 

In  the  Visitation  of  1620  the  maniage  is  also  referred 
to  ;  but  in  the  latter  case  Sir  Hugh  Worth  of  Worth, 
Kt.,  fifth  in  descent  from  the  said  Reginald,  marries 
Constance,  daughter  of  the  Lord  Rivers,  afterwards 
Countess  of  Devon.  But  this  Hugh  Worth  is  given  as 
father  of  Sir  Richard  and  thii'd  in  descent  from  Reginald 
in  the  Visitation  of  1564.^  In  the  latter  MS.  she  is 
called  "Constants,  daughter  of  ye  Erie  of  Devon." 
The  dates  seem  to  show  that  she  must  have  been  the 

1  Coll.  Ar.  H.  18.  f.  88. 


PARISH  OF   WALKHAMPTON.  65 

daughter  of  Baldwin  and  grand-daughter  of  WilJiam 
de  Vernon  ;  but  if  so  she  was  sister,  not  daughter,  of 
the  seventh  Earl ;  and  in  any  case  there  is  abundant 
evidence  that  she  was  never  (Countess  of  Devon,  de 
facto,  although  she  may  have  been  so,  de  jure  and 
the  note  to  that  effect  in  the  Visitation  of  1620  must 
be  an  en-or. 

Baldwin,  the  seventh  Earl,  succeeded  his  grandfather 
in  1217.  He  was  created  lord  of  the  Isle  of  Wight 
by  the  King  at  Winchester,  but  not  until  Christmas 
Day.  1240.'  He  married  Amicia,  daughter  of  Gilbert 
de  Clare,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  died  in  1245,  and  left 
issue,  Baldwin  (8th  Earl),  Margaret,  who  was  a  nun 
at  Laycock  Abbey,  and  Isabella,  married  to  William  de 
Fortibus,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  and  eventually  Countess  of 
Devon. 

Baldwin  the  eighth  Earl  married  Avlce,^  a  relation  of 
Queen  Eleanor,  and  had  a  son,  John,  who  died  an  infant 
in  France  ;  consequently,  upon  his  own  death  in  1262  he 
was  succeeded  by  his  sister,  Isabella  de  Fortibus. 

Countess  Isabella  had  three  sons,  John,  Thomas  and 
WiUiam  all  of  whom  died  before  her,  and  without  off- 
spring ;  her  daughters  were  Ann,  who  was  never  married, 
and  Aveline  whose  first  husband  was  Ingram  de  Percie, 
and  who  consoled  herself  in  her  widowhood  by  an 
alliance  with  Edmimd,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  second  son  of 
Henry  HI.,  but  she  also  died  childless.  In  the  year 
1283,  therefore,  Hugh  Lord  Courtenay,  Baron  of  Oke- 
hampton,  in  right  of  his  descent  fi'om  Hawise  de 
Averanches,    claimed    to   be   ninth   Earl    of   Devon   by 

1  MS.  Harl.  1411.  f.  47.        ^  Dau.  of  Peter  of  Savoy. 
K 


66  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

inheritance  from  his  grandmother,  Mary,  daughter  of 
William  de  Vernon,  whose  sister,  Joan  Briwere,  had 
died  without  issue. 

The  claim  to  the  Earldom  of  Devon  was  by  no 
means  admitted,  and  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  Walter 
Stapledon,  Lord  Treasurer  to  Edward  II.,  utterly 
denied  it  and  it  was  not  until  the  9th  of  Edward 
III.,  1336,  that  Hugh  de  Courtenay  by  a  peremptory 
order  from  the  Crown  was  summoned  to  Parliament 
as  Ear]  of  Devonshire,  as  the  last  Earl  in  order  having 
been  that  year  only  restored  to  the  dignity  in  right  of 
his  Great  Grandmother  Mary,  dau.  of  William  de 
Redvers,  Earl  of  Devon."^  If  however  Constance  wife 
of  Sir  Richard  Worth  was  the  sister  of  Baldwin,  the 
seventh  Earl,  it  would  appear  that  she  and  her  des- 
cendants had  a  prior  claim,  to  the  Earldom  since  they 
were  a  generation  nearer  than  the  Court  enays  to  the 
last  possessor  of  the  title,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that 
with  all  the  powerful  influence  the  latter  had  at  Court, 
they  did  not  succeed  in  estabUshing  their  title  for  Jorty- 
three  years.  Although  Hugh  de  Courtenay  is  usually 
described  as  the  ninth  Earl,  yet  he  should  really  be 
styled  the  tenth,  since  the  Countess  Isabel,  who  held 
the  Earldom  in  her  own  right,  was  the  ninth  in 
succession   from  Richard  de  Ripariis. 

1  By  letters  patent  dated  Xowcastle-upon-Tyuo,  February  22nd  1336. 
The  King  declares  it  to  be  his  "  Royal  Pleasure  "  that  Hugh  Courtenay 
the  elder,  Earl  of  Devon,  should  thenceforth  assume  the  title  of  Earl  as 
his  ancestors  had  done,  and  he  ccmimanded  the  Sheriff  to  call  him  Earl  of 
Devon,  "  quod  tarn  in  comitatu  tuo,  quani  in  aliis  locis  in  Baliva  tua 
facias  publicari  quod  omnes  de  caetero  prajfetum  Huzenem  Comitem 
Devon  nominent,"  and  the  next  day  he  further  directed  the  Barons  of  hie 
Exchequer  to  cause  the  sum  of  £18  6s.  8d.  to  be  annually  paid  to  him 
"  nomine  comitis." 


PARISH    OF  WALKHAMPTON.  C7 


CHAPTER  III.— PART  III. 

The  Appropriation  of   WALKHAiiPTOX  Church,   and 
Description  of  the  Fabric. 

The  licenses  of  our  Bishops  for  the  appropriation  of 
the  rectories  of  benefices  to  religious  houses  are  con- 
stantly met  with  ;  these  were  more  especially  granted 
in  cases  where  the  monastic  community  happened  to  be 
the  patrons — all  such  appropriations  required  the  Royal 
Assent,  in  addition  to  the  Episcopal  sanction,  before  they 
coidd  become  valid  ;  and  the  reason  usually  assigned  for 
thus  diminishing  W\e  income  of  the  parochial  clergy  was 
to  enable  the  patrons  to  live  more  decently  and  to  exercise 
more  lil^eral  hospitality  and  charity  ;  and,  as  the  late  Dr. 
Oliver  truly  remarks,'  "  When  inns  were  rarely  met  with 
and  poor-rates  were  unknown,  this  practice  was  not  ^v^th- 
out  its  advantages."  The  lead  mines  of  Devonshire  and 
Cornwall  have  always  given  evidence  of  containing  an 
unusual  quantity  of  silver  ;  and  the  produce  of  the  mines 
of  Combmartin  and  Beer  Alston  is  said  to  have  been  very 
remimerative  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  In  the  year  1293  William  de  Wymondham 
accounted  to  the  Treasury  for  270lbs.  of  silver  raised 
in  this  county,  and  this  was  given  towards  the  portion 
of  Lady  Eleanor,  daughter  of  the  King  (Edward  I.)  then 

^  Monas.  Dioc.  p,  155. 


68  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

married  to  the  Duke  de  Ban*.  Lysons,  and  Fuller  both 
tell  us,  quoting  from  the  public  records,  that  in  the  year 
1296  thi-ee-hundred-and-sixty  men  wei'e  impressed  out  of 
Derbyshire  and  Wales  in  order  to  work  these  mines.  In 
the  year  1326  it  appears  that  the  mine  of  "  Byrlande  " 
(which  Lysons  identifies  as  Beer  Alston,  in  the  parish  of 
Beer  Fen-ers)  was  in  the  Kuig's  hands,  and  the  men  em- 
ployed there  appear  to  have  trespassed  considerably  upon 
the  Abbot  of  Buckland.  This  mine  was  situated  in  the 
immediate  neighbourhood  of  the  Abbot's  property  at 
Buckland  Monachorura,  who  in  the  31st  Edward  I. 
(1303)  appears  to  have  petitioned  the  Crown  on  account 
of  losses  which  he  had  sustained  on  this  account.  An 
inquisition  into  the  facts  was  ordered  under  the  Great 
Seal,  and  Richard  de  Abindon  and  Thomas  de  Raleigh 
were  appointed  to  adjudicate,  and  they  found  that 
the  Abbot  had  experienced  damage  to  the  amoimt  of 
£642  13s  4d.  The  Lords  of  the  Treasury  ordered  that 
he  should  receive  the  sum  of  £400  in  full  acquittance. 

The  matter  was  reopened  upon  a  writ  of  ''De  allocatione 
facienda"  in  the  following  reign,  13th  July,  1309,  when  it 
was  shown  that  Thomas  de  Sweyneseye,  the  custodian 
of  the  King's  Mine  in  Devon,  had  duly  paid  the  Abbot 
the  £400,  and  he  produced  the  receipt  for  the  amount. 
It  was  also  found  that  the  damages  to  the  Abbot  were 
occasioned  by  the  "  Lumbards  "  who  had  the  custody  of 
the  mine,  but  that  no  mention  of  them  was  made  in  the 
inquisition,  so  the  said  Thomas  was  asked  who  these 
"  Lumbards  "  were,  and  what  loss  they  had  occasioned. 
He  replied  that  they  were  merchants,  "de  societate  Frisco- 


PARISH  OF  WALKHAMPTON.  69 

haldorum,"  who  had  the  said  mine  at  farm  in  the  29th 
of  Edward  I.  (1301),  and  it  appeared  that  they  had  taken 
timber  from  the  Abbot's  Wood,  vahied  at  £313  7s.  4d. 
(out  of  the  total  amount  of  £400  awarded  him),  and  that 
they  should  be  answerable  to  the  Crown.    These  proceed- 
ings are  printed  in  Latin  in  the  Monasticon  of  the  Diocese 
and  Dr.  Oliver  remarks,  in  a  foot-note,  that  "  the  petition 
against  the  Crown  for  damages,  and  the  right  of  the  King 
to  recover  over  against  his  Lombard  lessees,  present  some 
curious  points  for  the  legal  antiquary."     The  proximity 
of  these  mines  formed  the  excuse  f<jr  an  application  to 
Bishop  Bitten  to  appropriate  the  Rectory  of  Walkharapton 
to  the  Abbot  and  Convent  as  patrons  of  tlie  hving.     The 
Bishop's  deed,  dated  30th  January,  1305,   at  Chudleigh, 
was  assented  to  by  the  Dean  and  Chapter  on  the  follow- 
ing day  ;  m  it  the  name  of  one  William  appears  as  Rector 
of  the  parish,  and  the  reasons  alleged  for  diverting  the 
income  of  the  living  were,  the  great  losses  which  had 
been  sustained  by  the  community  through  the    enormous 
devastation  of  their  woode  and  destruction  of  their  lande 
"  on  accoiuit  of  the  silver  mine,"  worked  by  the  hands  of 
a  large  multitude    of   artificers — "  ijisis  terrU   vestris  et 
circa  eas."    And  it  moreover  appeal's  that  the  community 
had  frequently  felt  bound  to  exercise  great   hospitality 
not  only  to  these  workmen,  but  to  the  King's  servants 
and  others  coming  into  the  neighbourhood  upon  matters 
connected    with    the    mine,    which,   as    will    be   readily 
imagined,    had   cost   the    Monks   a   very   great   deal   of 
fnoney. 

The  "  Taxation  and   Appointment  "    of  Walkhampton 
Vicarage    was   settled    by   Bishop    Bytton's     successor 


70  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

(Stapledon),  from  Tavistock,  3 1st  October,  1311,  when 
"  Sir  Walter  "  is  shown  to  have  been  the  Vicar. 

The  said  Vicar  and  his  successors  were  to  have  the 
whole  sanctuary  of  the  said  Church,  "  except  a  cei-tain 
close  piece  of  land  which  lies  near  the  Cemetery  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Church,  which  is  appropriated  to  the 
patrons  "  for  the  construction  of  a  tithe-barn.  The  Vicar 
also  is  to  have  the  small  tithes  and  the  tithe  of  hay  and 
the  alterlage,  except  the  small  tithes  of  Gnatham  and  the 
Manor  lands  adjacent,  which  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Pati'ons,  in  demesne,  at  the  time  of  the  institution  of  "  Sir 
Walter  "  to  the  Vicarage.  The  patrons  were  to  pay  the 
Vicar  a  half-mark  of  silver  every  year  at  Christmas.  The 
Vicar  and  his  successors  to  pay  the  "  procuration,"  to 
keep  up  the  books,  &c.,  and  the  glass  in  the  chancel 
windows,  after  it  had  been  once  put  in  proper  order  and 
repair  by  the  patrons.  But  the  patrons  were  to  bear  the 
other  expenses  connected  with  the  chancel  and  other 
bui'thens  imposed,  or  which  might  be  imposed,  upon  the 
church. 

It  is  to  be  noticed  that  Gnatham  is  particularly  men- 
tioned as  a  Manor  in  this  deed  (Lysons  and  others  call  it 
a  Barton)  "  excepto  manerio  de  Gnatham  ut  premititur 
volumus  comprehendi." 

The  parish  church,  which  stands  upon  high  ground  at 
a  little  distance  from  the  village,  is  situated  among 
some  pai-ticularly  fine  moorland  scenery.  It  consists  of 
chancel,  nave,  north  and  south  aisles,  supported  by 
arcades  of  four  bays,  with  clustered  Perpendicular  piers 
(the  north  aisle  rims  further  westward  than  that  on 
the  south  side)  a  south  porch,   and  a  fine  western  tower 


PARISH   OF   WALKHAMPTON.  71 

containing  six  bells.  I  noticed  two  image  brackets  re- 
maining in  the  interior,  one  on  the  north  side  of  the 
chancel  over  the  vestry  door,  and  another  at  the  junction 
of  the  chancel  with  the  nave.  The  font  is  octagonal,  and 
is  ornamented  with  shields  for  arms,  while  its  pedestal 
has  quatrefoiled  recesses. 

The  eastern  window  of  the  north  aisle  is  blocked  by  a 
modem  vestry. 

The  church  wfis  neatly  restored  throughout  in    1860, 
at  a  cost  of  £750,  of  which  sum  the  parish  raised  £400  by 
a  rate.  Sir  Massey  Lopes  gave  £300,  the  Rev.  David  G. 
Stone  (the  then   Vicar)   £25,  and  the   Trustees  of  the 
Charity  School  a  like  amount.      The  lofty    tower  arch 
springs  from  corbel  heads  which  represent  a  King  and 
Queen  ;  the    ancient    screen   has   been    removed.     The 
chancel    was  embellished  in    memory    of  the  late  Lady 
Lopes  in  1872.     The  Crucilixion  forms  the  subject  of  the 
eastern  window,  and  there  is  a  neatly  carved  reredos  of 
oak.  The  church  is  strongly  buttressed  on  the  north  side. 
The   south   porch   has   a  square-headed  doorway,    with 
quatrefoils  in  the  spandrllls  and  deeply  moulded  jambs. 
The  tower  has  a  pointed  doorway  and  good  Perpendicular 
windows,    and   a   grotesque  gargoyle  projects    over   the 
upper  window  on  its  western  face.     The  pinnacles  are 
excessively  efi'ective,  having  a  sort  of  corona  or  battle- 
ment out  of  which  they  spring  in  a  taper  form  ;  they  are 
octagonal,  ornamented  with  crockets  and  finials,  and  are 
Burmounted  with  crosses.     The  Vicarage  is  valued  in  the 
King's  Book  at  £9  14s.  7d.  per  annum  ;  the  small  tithes 
were  commuted,  in  1863,  for  £l41  a  year. 

The  present  Vicar  is  the  Rev.  Charles  Henry  Walker^ 


72  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

who  was  instituted  in  1863.     He  has  a  good  residence 
and  22  acres  of  glebe. 

In  the  church-house  near  the  churchyard  I  noticed  a 
gargoyle  which  had  apparently  been  brought  from  the 
Church.  I  saw  here  also  the  initials  K  S.  J.  W.,  with 
the  date  1698.  The  old  oak  roof  and  the  square-headed 
entrance  are  of  interesting  character. 

Lady  Modyford,  by  her  will  dated  17th  March,  1718, 
gave  £200  to  be  equally  divided  among  the  respective 
Ministers,  Churchwardens,  and  Overseers  of  the  four 
parishes  of  Buckland  Monachorum,  Walkhampton,  Bick- 
leigh,  and  Shaugh  Prior ;  the  interest  to  be  expended  in 
bread,  which  is  distributed  every  Sunday  after  morning 
ser%ace,  among  such  of  the  poor  as  are  not  in  receipt  of 
parochial  relief. 

She  also  founded  a  school,  in  1719,  and  endowed  it 
with  162  acres  of  land,  let  in  1879  for  about  £160 
a  year,  when  there  was  also  a  sum  of  £1,100  which  had 
arisen  from  surplus  school  income,  and  was  then  vested 
at  interest. 

Particulars  as  to  this  school  occupy  many  pages  of  the 
report  ot  the  Charity  Commissioners.  Its  affairs  appear 
to  have  been  the  subject  of  Chancery  proceedings,  the 
petition  to  the  Court  being  dated  4  th  of  December, 
1817.  The  Rev.  William  Gee  "  Mmister  of  Walkhamp- 
ton," was  a  party  to  the  first  trvist,  dated  9th  September, 
1719  :  and  the  Rev.  Richard  Hughes,  "Vicar  of  Walk- 
hampton," to  another  deed  of  the  16th  July,  1800. 

Mr.  Hughes  (afterwards  Sir  Richard  Hughes,  Bart.,) 
was  constantly  non-resident,  and  from  1812  to  1817  he 
had  not  lived  in  his  parish  at  all.    At  the  period  of  the 


PARISH  OF  WALKHAMPTOK.  73 

report  of  the  Commissioners  the  Uving  was  under  seques- 
tration. 

The  early  registera  have  been  lost ;  those  now  in  exis- 
tence were  commenced  by  the  Rev.  Charles  Pyper,  who 
was  the  Vicar  in  1675. 

This  moorland  parish  is  distinguished  as  having  been 
the  residence  of  the  immediate  ancestors  of  that  eminent 
lawyer  John  Dunning,  first  Lord  Ashburton.  John 
Dunning,  who  resided  at  Gnatham  (an  estate  to  which 
I  have  already  particularly  referred),  had  by  Mary  his 
wife  four  sons  and  three  daughters,  and  died  in  1706. 
The  second  son,  called  after  him,  was  born  in  1701,  and 
was  by  profession  a  solicitor.  Soon  after  his  mari'iage 
with  Agnes,  daughter  of  Henry  Jutsham,  of  Modbury — 
marriage  licence  dated  17th  May,  1726 — he  went  to 
practise  as  an  attorney  in  Ashburton,  where  he  remained 
until  liLs  death. 

Upon  his  fii'st  arrival  there  he  is  believed  to  have 
resided,  probably  for  convenience,  with  the  Perry's,  of 
Gulwell,  a  copyhold  estate,  which,  although  close  to 
Ashburton,  is  actually  in  the  parish  of  Staverton,  and 
has  been  for  many  centuries  in  the  Perry  family,  and 
here  his  son  John  (the  future  Lord  Ashburton)  was  born, 
and  baptized  in  Ashburton  church  on  the  29th  October, 
1781 — another  son,  also  called  John,  had  been  buried  at 
Ashburton  in  1729, 

The  house  in  which  Lord  Ashburton  is  said  to  have 
been  born  is  still  in  existence  behind  the  modern  residence 
of  the  Perry  family.     It  is  a  remarkably  good  example 

•  Epis.  Reg.  *  Ashburton  Registers. 


74  DEVOID  ^Hl  BE   FA  HI  SEES. 

of  a  yeoman's  house  of  the  olden  times,  and  portions  of 
it  date  apparently  from  the  fifteenth  eentuiy.     It  is  built 
partly  of  Devonshire  "  cob,"  and  the  whole  of  the  inteiior 
woodwork  is  of  oak.     There  is  a  good  Tudor  window  in 
one  of  the  rooms,  and  several  square-headed   Late  Per- 
pendicular  doorways  still   remain.     Some  of  the  wood- 
work bears  traces  of  elaborate   carving,   and  upon    the 
interior   of   one  of  the   partitions  there  are   still  signs 
of  chromatic  decoration  of  an  unusual  character.     Tliere 
are   remains  of  six  figures    in   all,   and  they  appear   to 
have  been  painted  on  leather,    and  fastened  afterwards 
to  the  panels  on  which  they  occur.      They  have  become 
very  indistinct  from  dust   and   neglect,    as  the   apart- 
ments in  this  old  building  have  been  for   many  yeai'S 
used  only  as  store-rooms.      Still,   I  was  able  to    make 
out  the  semblance  of  a  man  in  armour  holding  a  sword  ; 
another  vnth.  red  and  gold  crown,  and  a  winged   figure 
of  Justice,  with  scales  depending  from  the  neck.     After- 
wards John  Dunning  became  a  householder  in  Ashburton 
and  in  1836  I  find  his  name  on  the  rates  there  as  the 
owner  of  a  house  in  West  street,   in    which  he  resided 
for  the  rest  of  his  hfe,  and  which  has  descended  to  the 
Baroness  De  Verte  as  representative  of  the  last  Lord 
Cranstoun,  whose  family  succeeded  by  will   to  a  large 
portion  of  the  Dunning   property   upon   the   death    of 
Richard,    second    Lord  Ashburton,    without    issue,    in 
1823. 

John  Dunning,  the  younger,  was  sent  to  Ashburton 
Grammar  School  at  the  age  of  seven.  He  received 
his  instniction  from  the  Rev.  John  Bayly,  whose  Epis- 
copal  permit,   "ad  docendum  in  arte  grammatacali  in 


PARISH   OF    WALKHAMPTON.  7» 

libera  schola  in  AshbuHon    in   Com.   Devon,"   is  dated 
13th  Jamuuy,   1728.'     The   ''Master   Hugh  Smerdon," 
■to  wliom  has  been  accorded  the  honour  of  havmg  been 
the   early   instructor   of   the    future   Peer,    was    never 
Master   of  the  Grammar    School.       His  licence    for  an 
ordinary  school  (teaching   "permits"   from    the   Bishop 
of  the  Diocese  were   then  requisite),  is  dated  8th   Dec. 
1709,'  and  William    Gifford  was  sent   to   the  latter  to 
learn  to  read  and  write  and  cypher  in  1764.      In  1771 
Hugh  Smerdon  was  still  a  schoohnaster   at   Ashburton 
when   the   Rev.    Thomas   Smerdon  was    Master   of  the 
Gi-animar  School ;  and,  upon  his  death  a  year   or  two 
afterwards,  Gifford  remarks  ;'  "  Smerdon  ^v■as  succeeded 
by   a    person  not  much   older    than    myself." 

John  Dunning  was  taken  from  school  at  the  age  of 
thirteen  and  placed  in  his  father's  office.  He  never  pro- 
ceeded to  the  University,  but  by  the  liberality  of  Sh- 
Thomas  Clarke,  Master  of  the  Eolls,  he  was  brought 
to  London  and  entered  at  the  Middle  Temple  on  the 
8th  May,  1752.  He  was  called  to  the  Bar  on  the 
2nd  July,  1756,  and  went  on  the  Western  Circuit  for 
some  years  ;  until,  in  1765,  a  speech  he  made  on  the 
validity  of  general  warrants  established  his  reputation 
on  a  firm  basis,  and  he  became  the  acknowledged 
leader  among  his  compeers.  He  was  Eecorder  of  Bristol 
m  1766,  and  we  find  him  Sohcitor  General  and  M.P. 
for  Calne   in   1768. 

The    following  year   he   purchased    the  residue   of  a 

1  Epis.  Rog. 

»  Ibid. 

8  Gifford  Auto.  Biog.     Baviad.     Edit.  1828,  12rao. 


76  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

lease  of  99  years  (of  which  about  76  were  unexpked) 
of  the  Manor  of  Spitchwick,  about  three  miles  from 
Ashburton,  and  this  property  became  his  future  country 
residence.  On  the  3lst  March,  1780,*  he  mamed  Eliza- 
beth, daughter  of  John  Baring,  of  Larkbeare,  by  whom 
he  had  two  sons.  John,  who  died  before  him,  and 
Richard  Barre.  On  the  8th  of  April,  1782,  he  was 
raised  to  the  Peerage  as  Baron  Ashburton,  and  on  the 
14th  he  was  preferred  to  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet  as 
Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster.  But  his  frame 
never  veiy  robust,  was  worn  out  by  over-exertion,  and 
after  several  paralytic  attacks  he  died  at  Exmouth  on 
the  18th  August,   1783. 

His  remains  were  brought  back  to  Spitchwick, 
and  were  interred  at  Ashburton  in  a  vault  near  the 
eastern    end   of  the  south    aisle  of  the   parish   church. 

His  son  Richard  died  without  issue  in  February, 
1823,  when  the  title  became  extinct  ;  but  it  was  re- 
vived in  1835  in  the  person  of  Alexander  Baring^ 
nephew  of  Elizabeth,  1st  Lady  Asburton,  whose  elder 
nephew.  Sir  Thomas  Baling,  second  Bart.,  was  the 
grandfather  of  the  present  Lord  Northbrook. 

^  Keg.  S.  Leonard's,  Exon. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.        77 


CHAPTER  IV.— PART  I. 

The   Parish  of   Bucklaxd   Monachorum. — General 
History  and  Description. 

Buckland  Monachovum  in  the  hundred  of  Roborouwh 
the  deanery  of  Tavistock  (late  Tamer  ton),  and  the  arch- 
deaconry of  Totnes,  is  about  two  miles  distant  from  its 
post  town,  Horrabridge,  and  about  four  miles  from 
Tavistock.  The  parish,  which  extends  over  6,333  acres 
of  land,  and  includes  the  hamlet  of  Milton — remarkable 
for  its  singular  and  very  romantic  scenery — returned 
in  1881  a  population  of  1020  persons. 

A  portion  of  Horrabridge  was  formerly  included  in 
this  parish,  and  a  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  John  the 
Baptist  was  licensed  as  a  daughter  church  to  Buckland 
during  the  episcopacy  of  Bishop  Lacy  on  the  23rd 
January,  1438  ;  it  was  rebuilt  in  the  year  1835,  and 
is  now  separated  from  the  mother  church,  and  in  the 
patronage  of  the  Bishop  of  Exeter. 

There  are  no  less  than  sixteen  Manors  mentioned  in 
the  Exeter  Domesday  under  the  name  of  Buckland, 
variously  written  Bocchelande,  Bocheland  and  Boche- 
lant,  and  it  is  difficult  now  to  name  their  original 
owners  with  any  degree  of  certainty.  In  this  instance, 
however,  there  appears  to  be  every  probability  that  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor  this  particular  manor 


78  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

belonged  to  Alnod  or  Edwin,  the  king's  thane,  and 
that  it  passed  upon  the  redistribution  of  property 
at  the  Conquest,  to  the  redoubtable  Baldwin  de  Brion 
great  grandson  of  Eichard  I,  Duke  of  Normandy  and 
the  husband  of  Albreda,  niece  of  the  reigning  Sovereign 
of  England,  who  made  him  heveditaiy  sheriflE"  of  Devon 
and  settled  him  at  Okehampton  and  under  him  it  was 
held  by  Ansger,  the  king's  servant. 

Baldwin  was  succeeded  in  his  honours  by  his  son 
Richard  who  left  no  issue.  Upon  his  death  therefore 
his  sister  became  Viscountess  of  Devon  and  Lady  of 
Okehampton. 

Some  historians  aver  that  this  Adeliza,  icas  the  m'fe 
of  Richard  de  Redvers,  \st  Earl  of  Devon.  A  com- 
parison of  dates — to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  he  is 
sho%\Ti  to  have  been  her  uncle' — wUl  prove  the  incorrect- 
ness of  the  statement.  The  generally  accepted  account 
is  that  Adeliza,  sister  of  Richai-d  de  Brion,  died  ^^ithout 
issue,  and  that  she  had  a  sister  called  Emma,  who  was 
twice  married— 1st,  to  William  Avenel,  by  whom  she 
had  a  son  called  Ralph  ;  2nd,  to  Robert  de  Averanches, 
whose  issue  was  another  son,  called  Robert.  She  nomi- 
nated her  elder  nephew,  Ralph  Avenel,  her  successor  in 
the  Barony  of  Okehampton,  and  Reginald,  Earl  of  Corn- 
wall, offered  him  liis  daughter  in  maiTiage,  but  Ralph 
declined  this  proposal  on  account  of  his  prior  engagement 
to  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Dcvun.  The  Earl  of  Corn- 
wall, out  of  revenge,  brought  over  Matilda,  daughter  of 
Robert  de  Averanches  the  younger,  and  commenced  an 
action  of  ejectment  against  Ralph  Avenel,  on  the  plea 
that  Richard,  the  second  Baron  of  Okehampton,  had  in 

1  P.  60  ante. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.  79 

his  lifetime  caused  the  tenants  of  tlie   Barony  to  swear 
lealty  to  his  nephew   (the  aforesaid   Robert),  and  that 
therefore  MatUda,  .is  heir  to  her  father,  had  a  prior  claim 
to  that   of  Ralph.     The   action  at  law  was  successful  ; 
Ralph  Avenel  lost  the  Barony,  and  Matilda  was  after- 
wards twice  marrled-fii-st  to  the  Lord  D'Ayncourt,  by 
whom  she  had  a  daughter  called  Hawise,   who  brought 
the  Barony  to  her  husband  Reginald  Courtenay  (the  first 
of  his  name  in  this  country)  ;  and,  secondly,  to   Robert, 
Fitzroy,  a  natural  son  of  King  Henry  I.      By   this  last 
aUiance  she  had  a  daughter  called  after  her  own  name, 
whose  husband  was  WiUiam,  hrothei'  to  the  said  Reginald. 
The   further    assertion    made    by    Sir   William  Pole, 
and  Kennett,  that  Hawise,   the  elder  daughter,  was  the 
wife  of  William  Courtenay  (not  of  Reginald)  is  contra- 
dicted by  Bridges,'  and  by  Cleveland  in  his  Genealogy 
of  the  Courtemy  Family, 

Sir  William  Pole  expressly  affirms  that  the  careiully 
written  account  of  the  succession,  as  given  by  the  Monks 
of  Ford,  is  inaccurate;  still,  it  appeai-s  to  me  to  merit 
very  careful  attention. 

There  are  certain  discrepancies  in  both  his  account  and 
theirs  but  many  of  the  statements  in  the  latter  are  more 
probable  than  those  made  by  Sir  William  and  those  who 

have  followed  him. 

The  account  of  the  foundation  of  Ford  A.bbey  and  the 
history  of  the  founders  was  copied  by  Dugdale  from  a 
manuscript  in  the  Cottonian  Library,  which  has  been  lost. 
It  has  been  reproduced  by  Dr.  Oliver  in  the  Monasticon 
of  the  Diocese,  where  it  occupies  over  nine  closely-prmted 
columns.  It  is  printed  in  the  original  Latin,  and  contahis 
1  Okehampton,  pp.  16-17. 


80  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

a  few  slight  variations  from  the  MS.  in  the  Harleian 
Collection,'  from  which  one  or  two  trifling  corrections  have 
been  made.  I  propose  here  to  epitomise  this  history  and 
to  offer  a  few  i-emarks  upon  it.  It  commences  by  stating 
that  Sir  Baldwin  de  Brion,  an  illustrious  Norman  soldier, 
married  Albreda,  niece  of  William  le  Bastard,  Duke  of 
Normandy,  and  begot,  among  others,  one  son  called 
Richard,  and  one  daughter  called  AdeUcia ;  that  after  the 
said  Duke  had  conquered  England  he  gave  to  his  cousin 
Richard,  the  son  of  Baldwin,  the  whole  honour  and  Barony 
of  Okehampton,  the  Castle  of  Exeter,  and  the  custody  of 
the  whole  County  of  Devon. 

This  statement  does  not  agree  with  the  Domesday 
record,  in  which  we  are  told  : — "  Balduinus  vicecomes 
tenet  de  Domino  Rege  Ockmentum  et  ibi  sedet  casteUum 
et  habet  ibi  burgenses  qvxatuor,  et  mercatum." 

I  will  pass  over  the  foundation  of  the  monastery  at 
Brightley  by  Bichai'd  de  Brion.  The  monks  state  that 
he  died  and  was  buried  there  on  the  seventh  of  the 
Kalends  of  July  (June  25th),  1137,  and  that  after  the 
translation  of  their  community  to  Ford  his  bones  were 
removed  and  were  buried  in  the  presbytery  of  the  latter 
abbey  "  beyond  where  the  high  altar  is  now  erected." 
The  record  proceeds  to  state  that  Richai'd  had  no  off- 
spring, but  left  all  his  heritage  to  his  aforesaid  only 
sister  AdeUcia.  If  Adelicia  was  really  the  only  sister  of 
Richard,  the  fact  at  once  upsets  all  the  different  authors 
who  give  the  descent  from  Emma,  sistei'  of  Adelicia,  but 
it  will  be  remarked  that  the  monks  themselves  say  that 
Baldwin  had,  "  inter  alios,"  two  children,  Richard  and 
Adelicia,  and  they  seem  to  confine  their  attention  to  these 

1  Xo.  1178,  f.  97. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND   MONACHORUM.        81 

and  founders,  the  one  of  Brightley  and  the  other  of  Ford. 
The  expression,  therefore,  "eidem  AxleUcie  soli  sorori  sue," 
can  only  be  explained  by  the  assumption  that  the  lady 
Emma  mentioned  by  Sir  William  Pole,  if  she  existed 
at  all,  must  have  been,  as  he  says,  the  child  of  a  second 
marriage. 

The  chronicle,  after  relating  the  gift  of  the  Manor  of 
Thorncombe  by  Adelicia,  and  the  removal  of  the  monks 
to  Ford,  telLs  us  that  the  Lady  Adelicia  conceived,  by  the 
noble  man  her  husband  lohom  she  had  previously  married 
(he  is  said  to  have  been  a  "  Knight  of  Kent,")  and  bore 
one  dauofhter  called  Alice,  her  heir.  She  died  on  the 
ninth  of  the  Kalends  of  September  (24th  Aug.)  1142,  and 
was  buried  near  her  brother,  at  Ford.  It  will  be  remarked 
that  the  name  of  Adeliza's  husband  is  not  given — "  de 
nobili  viro  domino  suo  quern  prius  acceperat  in  conjugem 
et  peperit  unam  filiam  nomine  Aliciam  sui  ipsius  hei'edem.' 

"  The  Lady  Alice,  wife  of  Sir  Randolph  Avenell,  her 
aforesaid  daughter,  succeeded  her  in  the  lordship  of  Oke- 
hampton,"  and  had  an  only  daughter  called  Matilda. 
Although  Adeliza  could  not  have  been  the  wife  of  the  1st 
Earl  of  Devon,  for  the  reasons  I  have  already  given,  yet 
it  is  remarkable  that  Baldwin,  the  Second  Earl,  whose 
daughter  Maud,  is  stated  in  the  Bedvers  pedigree  to  have 
married  Ralph  Avenell,  should  have  fomi<led  the  Priozy 
of  St.  James  about  the  year  1143,  "pro  remedio  anime 
mee  et  precipue  pro  anime  uccoris  mee  Adelize — for  the 
safety  of  my  soul,  and  especially  for  the  soul  of  Adeliza, 
my  wife."  Adeliza,  of  Okehampton,  having  died  just 
previously,  and  her  daughter,  whose  paternity  is  un- 
discovered, being  mentioned  by   the  monks  as  the  wife 

M 


82  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

of  Ralph  Avenell  ;  and  although  they  give  her  name 
as  Alice,  and  not  Maud,  yet  they  tell  us  that  she  had 
an  only  daughter  called  Maud.  These  statements,  emanat- 
ing as  they  do  from  perfectly  different  sources,  would 
almost  seem  to  infer  that  the  nameless  husband  of  the 
Lady  Adeliza  must  have  been  Baldwin,  and  that  the 
confusion  has  arisen  from  the  similarity  of  names.  In 
his  grants  to  St.  James'  Prioiy  the  Earl  alienated  liis 
property  with  the  consent  of  Eichard,  his  son  ;  to  one  of 
these  grants,  his  other  sons,  Henry  and  WiUiam,  are 
witnesses.  Richard,  after  he  had  succeeded  to  the 
Earldom,  in  his  confirmation-deed,  dated  Exeter,  1157, 
mentions  his  mother,  Adelicia ;  but  it  is  noteworthy 
that  she  is  called  Adeline  in  the  Exchequer  Enrolment 
of  the  same  deed,  and,  in  any  case  his  mother  could  not 
have  been  the  lady  of  Okehampton,  for  had  she  been  so 
he  would,  of  course,  have  succeeded  to  her  Barony  as 
well  as  to  his  father's  Earldom. 

Upon  the  death  of  Alice  Avenell  her  daughter  Matilda 
or  Maud,  svacceeded  in  due  course  to  her  mother's 
Barony.  She  was  first  married  to  Robert  de  Aubrincis, 
or  Avarinches,  by  whom  she  had  a  daughter  called 
Ha  wise,  and  two  others,  afterwards  nuns,  which  last 
were  twins.  It  is  further  stated  that  after  her  husband's 
death  she  married  Robert,  son  of  King  Henry  T,  but 
that  she  continued  to  be  known  as  Matilda  de  Avarinches 
as  was  also  her  daughter  Matilda,  the  offspring  of  her 
second  marriage  with  the  King's  (natui-al)  son,  who  died 
"pridie  Kaleudas  Junii  "  (31st  May),  1172,  His  wife 
followed  him  to  the  grave  on  the  llth  of  the  Kalends  of 
October  (21st  September)  in   the    following   year.     The 


/ 


PARISH  OF  BUCK  LAND  MO  X AC  HO  RUM.  8$ 

Bang — Henry  II.  then  assumed  the  wardship  of  the  two 
daughters,  Hawise  and  Matilda,  and  gave  the  custody  of 
them  to  Sir  Reginald  de  Courtenay,  and  in  the  same 
year  that  their  mother  died  their  hands  were  bestowed 
upon  this  Reginald  and  upon  his  brother  William.  By  this 
man-iage,  Hawise  D'Avarinches  (whose  father  with  strong 
probability  is  said  to  have  been  the  son  of  the  Lady  Emma 
De  Brion  Baldwin's  youngest  daughter)  brought  the 
Barony  of  Okehampton  and  the  rest  of  her  estates  to  her 
husband  Reginald  Courtenay,  and  was  succeeded  in  them 
by  her  son  Robert*  Baron  of  Okehampton.  He  man-ied 
Mary,  daughter  of  William  Redvers,  sixth  Earl  of 
Devon,  and  by  this  maiTiage  the  estates  and  title 
of  the  latter  family  were  ultimately  acquired  by  the 
Courtenays,  after  the  death  of  Isabella  de  Fortibus  as 
I  have  shown  in  the   previous  chajster. 

It  is  remarkable  that  Powderham  (which  was  only 
acquired  by  the  Courtenay  family  through  marriage  with 
Margaret  Bohun,  wife  of  Hugh  Courtenay,  second  earl  of 
that  name)  was  given  to  WiUiam  de  Owe,  the  son  of 
Robert.,  Earl  of  Owe,  in  Normandy,  and  the  kinsman  of 
Baldwin  the  Sheriff;  it  was  then  written  "  Poldreham," 
and  was  forfeited  in  the  reign  of  William  Rufus,  or  it 
would  probably  have  descended  directly  to   the   above- 

1  Adeliza  died  Aug.  24th,  1142,  and  was  buried  in  the  Chapel  of  Ford 
Ahhey.  It  has  been  stated  that  she  appointed  Randolph  Avenell,  her 
sisfoi-  Emma's  elded  son  to  succeed  her  in  the  barony,  but  that  it  was 
found  at  an  assize  that  Richard  her  brother  had  made  the  knights  swear 
fealty  to  MawVs  father,  then  dead.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  descent  I 
have  given  difiVrs  from  Sir  Wm.  Pole,  who  absolutely  contradicts  the 
Monkish  Chronicle  and  makes  Maud  the  daughter,  not  wife  of  Rol)ert 
D'Avarinches ;  and  Hawise  therefore  his  grand-daughter. 


84  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

mentioned  Robert  Courtenay.  It  was  held  for  some 
descents  by  a  family  to  whom  it  gave  its  name,  under  the 
powerful  house  of  Bohun,  Earls  of  Hereford  and  Essex^ 
Upon  the  death  of  Margaret  Bohun,  on  the  16th  De- 
cember, 1391,  it  was  settled  on  her  younger  son.  Sir 
Philip  Courtenay,  and  the  heirs  male  of  liis  body.  It  is 
therefore  impossible  to  credit  Camden's  statement  "  that 
the  Castle  was  built  by  Isabella  de  Fortibus,"  to  whom 
it  never  belonged,  and  who  died  in  1293. 

Amicia,  widow  of  Baldwin  de  Redvers,  seventh  Earl  of 
Devon,  and  mother  of  Isabella  de  Fortibus,  founded,  as  I 
have  already  said,  at  Buckland,  upon  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  river  Tavy,  a  magnificent  monastery  for  monks  of  the 
Cistercian  Order  in  the  year  1278,  and  endowed  it  with 
the  manors  of  Buckland,  Biokleigh,  Walkhampton,  and 
CoUumpton.  She  perhaps  fixed  upon  Buckland  for  the 
site  of  her  abbey,  since  the  land,  both  there  and  at 
CoUumpton,  belonged  to  her  husband's  uncle,  by  marriage, 
Robert  Courtenay,  and  she  may  have  therefore,  obtained 
a  grant  of  it  upon  favourable  terms.' 

The  Cistercian  i-ule,  which  was  but  a  revival  of  the 
institution  of  St.  Benedict  in  its  ancient  purity  and 
primitive  rigour,  was  commenced  in  France  by  St.  Robert 
at  Molesme  as  early  as  the  year  1075  ;  and  twenty-three 
yeai's  later  a  Devonshire  man,  Stephen  Harding,  enrolled 
himself  under  his  standard,  retired  to  Citeaux,  a  marshy 
wilderness,  a  short  distance  from  Dijon,  and  became  abbot 
there  in  1109,  and  the  followers  of  the  order  were  thence- 
forward known  as  "  Cistercians."     Buckland  Abbey  was 

1  Dr.  Oliver  remarks  that  Amicia  probably  acquired  land  for  the  purposes 
of  her  new  foundation. 


PARISH  OF  BUCK  LAND  MONACHORUM.  85 

dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  and  to  St.  Benedict,  and 
was  colonized  from  Earl  Baldwin's  Monastery  of  Quarrer 
or  Quarr,  in  the  Isle  of  .Wight. 

The  abbot  and  community,  upon  their  arrival  at  Buck- 
land,  presumed  at  once  to  celebrate  mass  and  to  exercise 
other  spiritual  functions  without  applying  for  permission 
to  Walter  Bronescombe,  Bishop  of  Exeter  ;  that  proceed- 
ing entailed  the  displeasure  of  the  diocesan,  who  proceeded 
to  lay  the  community  under  suspension  and  interdict. 
At  the  intercession  of  Queen  Eleanor,  he  eventually  re- 
laxed the  sentence  until  Pentecost,  1280,  and  again  by 
letters,  dated  London,  May  27th,  until  Michaelmas  in 
that  year.  In  the  interim,  he  became  satisfied  with  their 
submission,  and  on  the  day  of  his  death  at  Bishopsteign- 
tou,  July  22nd,  1284,  lie  finally  authorized  them  to  follow 
their  rule  without  inter uption.* 

The  endowment  of  the  Countess  Amicia  was  confirmed 
by  her  daughter  Isabella  de  Fortibus,  and  also  by  King 
Edward  I,  and  in  process  of  time  several  other  estates 
accrued  to  the  community,  either  by  grant  or  purchase- 
Thus  the  rectory  of  Bampton,  near  Tiverton,  was  alien- 
ated from  the  priory  of  Bath  by  Act  of  Parliament  in 
1464,  and  given  to  the  abbot  of  Buckland  as  a  compensa- 
tion for  surrendei-ing  his  jurisdiction  in  Plymouth  as  lord 
of  the  hundred  of  Roborough,  and  the  burgesses  of  Ply- 
mouth agi-eed  to  pay  ten  marks  per  annum  to  the  prior 
of  Bath  as  an  acquittance.  The  right  of  embattling 
Buckland  Abbey  was  allowed  by  King  Edward  III.  in 
1328.* 

1  Bronescombe's  Reg  Fol.  SG,  97.   .Momis.  J)ioc.  p.  380. 
»  Rot.  Lit  Pat.  2ncl,  Ed.  iii. 


86  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

The  abbey  inserted  the  name  of  the  foundress  in  ita 
common  seal,  a  drawing  of  which  taken  from  an  impression 
attached  to  a  deed  dated  in  1310,  represents  the  blessed 
A-ii'gin  and  child;  underneath  is  the  word  AMICIA,  and  a 
shield  of  arms  bearing  a  lion  rampant.     The  legend  is 

SIGILLVM.    ECCLESIE.    LOCI.     SCI.   BENEDICTI 
DE    BOCLAN. 

As  lists  of  the  Abbots  of  Buckland,  and  particulars 
coimected  with  them  have  been  more  than  once  published 
it  is  here  only  necessary  to  refer  my  readers  to  the 
Monasticon  of  the  diocese,  and  to  the  seventh  volume  of 
the  Transactions  of  the  Devonshire  Association.' 

Robert  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  Abbot ;  his 
name  appears  as  defendant  in  an  action  brought  against 
him  by  Thomas  de  Gyreband,  forester  of  the  Abbot  of 
Tavistock,  who  stated  that  he  had  found  the  Abbot  of 
Buckland  and  others  felling  and  destroying  the  trees  at 
a  certain  place  called  "  Ivy  oak,"  and  that  he,  consideiing 
that  the  said  trees  were  the  property  of  his  master,  had 
endeavoured  to  hinder  him  from  so  doing,  whereupon  the 
Abbot  of  Buckland  and  certain  of  his  monks,  with  darts, 
hatchets,  &c.,  assaulted,  beat,  and  robbed  him,  and  with 
a  bow  and  arrow  made  of  ash,  and  headed  with  iron  and 
steel,  wounded  him  in  the  right  arm,  and  afterwards 
robbed  him  of  an  outer  garment  against  the  peace,  &c. 

The  Abbot  of  Buckland,  in  his  defence,  contended  that 
he  had  a  right  to  timber  from  the  said  wood,  to  repair 
his  weir  on  the  river  Tavy,  and  admitted  that  he  sent 
certain  of  his  monks  to  procure  the  said  timber,  upon 

1  Cistercian  Houses  of  Devon.    Brooking  Kowe.  F.S.A. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAXD  MONAGHORUM.  »7 

wliich  the  said  Thomivs  iissaxilted  them  and  "  drew  blood," 
and  that  they  therefore  defended  themselves,  and  that 
one  of  them  certainly  shot  his  assailant  in  the  arm,  upon 
which  he  left  his  coat,  bow,  and  hatchet  and  fled. 

The  monks  of  Buckland  then  carried  away  the  coat, 
bow,  and  hatchet,  not  as  a  robbery,  but  because  they  con- 
sidered that  they  had  been  left  in  their  custody,  for  the 
trespass  and  assault  committed  against  them.  The  court 
havino-  heard  all  the  evidence,  dismissed  the  charge 
againltthe  Abbot  and  community  of  Buckland,  and  com- 
mitted Thomas  de  Gyrehand  to  gaol  for  luaiiig  made  a 

false  claim.  . 

The  revenues  of  the  abbey  at  the  dissolution  were 
valued  at  £241  l7s.  O^d.,  the  last  abbot  was  John  Toker 
or  Tucker  who  w.is  a  native  of  Moreton  Hampstead,  and 
he  was  admitted  June  7th,  1528.  With  twelve  of  his 
monks  he  surrendered  his  abbey  to  King  Henry  VITI 
and  received  a  pension  of  £G0  a  year.  He  was  still 
living  in  1553,  and  in  receipt  of  his  pension.  He  is  not 
supposed  to  have  died  until  the  year  1564. 

The  lands  of  the  Abbey  ot  Buckland  being  ot  the 
yearly  value  of  £200  are  regarded  as  discharged  ot  tithes 
by  operation  of  the  statue  of  the  31st  of  Henry  VIII.   _ 

On  October  25th-27th  Henry  VIII.,  Abbot  Toker,  in 
order  to  prepare  for  the  evil  times  which  were  threatenmg 
his  house,  leased  for  sixty  years  to  his  brother.  Robert 
Toker  (afterwards  Mayor  of  Exeter),  and  to  his  nephews, 
William  and  Hugh,  the  rectorial  tithes  of  St.  Andrews 
Church,  Buckland,  tbr  £18  ;  and  of  Walkhampton,  Bick- 
lei£rh  and  its  dependent  chapel  of  "  Shittlestorre 
(Sheepstor)  for  £7   lOs-     On  July  24th  in  the  same  year 


88  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

(1536),  he  leased  to  the  same  parties  the  tithes  of  Bampton 
for  £14  12s.  7d.  per  annum. 

He  also  leased  various  property  ^vithiM  the  manor  of 
Collunipton,  together  with  the  watercourse  and  fishery 
there,  '"'  cum  omnibus  retibus  ac  aliis  ingeniis,"  for  a  term 
of  eighty  years,  at  the  yearly  rent  of  £3  4s.  4d. 

The  Abbey  had  also  property  at  Shaugh,  in  the  parish 
of  Bickleigh  ;  a  tenement  returning  £l  6s.  8d.  a  year  at 
Exeter ;  and  another  yielding  8s.  per  annum  at  Saltash 
in  the  comity  of  Cornwall.' 

The  site  of  the  Abbey,  together  with  its  vai'ious  build- 
ings, and  its  church,  belfry,  and  biu'ial  ground,  were  granted 
by  King  Henry  VIII.,  May  26th,  1541,  to  Sir  Richard 
"  Greynfeld,"  of  Bideford,  knight,  "  in  consideration  of  his 
true  and  faithful  services,  and  of  the  sum  of  £233  3s.  4d. 
which  he  has  paid  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Court  of  Aug- 
mentations."' 

The  name  of  "  Greynfeld,"  or  Grenville,  like  those  of 
all  our  older  famiUes,  has  at  different  times  been  variously 
written,  but  the  prevailing  usage  has  been  to  write  the 
first  syllable  with  an  E.  It  is  so  in  the  Roll  of  Battle 
Abbey,  and  in  the  list  of  the  knights  who  conquered 
South  Wales  in  which  his  ancestor  was  included. 

Sir  Richard  Grenville  (to  use  the  modern  spelling)  was 
born  at  Bideford,  where  his  race  had  been  settled  for  many 
generations.  He  was  of  Norman  origin,  being  descended 
from  "  Hamon  Dentatus,  Earl  of  Carboyl,  Lord  of 
Thorigny  and  Granville,  in  Normand}-  ;  who  was  lineally 

^  Valor  Ecclesiasticus. 

•  Pat.  Enlls  33r(l  Henry  VIIT. 


PARISH  OF  BUGKLAND  MONACHORUM.  89 

descended  from  the  warlike  RoUo,  sometime  duke  of  that 
temtory.' 

He  seems  to  have  closed  an  honourable  and  useful  life 
in  the  service  of  his  Queen,  and  country  for  as  vice- 
admiral  of  the  EngUsh  navy  he  commanded  his  ship, 
the  Revenge,  and  maintained  an  action  with  but  two 
hundred  men  against  fifty  Spanish  galleons.  Eighty 
of  his  crew  were  sick,  but  nevertheless  he  is  stated 
to  have  killed  over  a  thousand  Spaniards,  and  to  have 
sunk  four  of  their  largest  vessels.  At  last,  however, 
his  powder  was  aU  expended,  and  he  himself  mortally 
wounded,  so  he  was  compelled  to  strike  his  flag,  but 
he  died  two  days  afterwards,  and  his  ship  sunk  with 
numerous  Spanish  prisoners  on  board  of  her,  before  she 
could  an-ive  in  Spain.  His  portrait,  engraved  by  James 
Fittler,  A.R.A.,  and  published  Dec.  5th,  1809,  by  Messrs. 
Eees  and  Curtis,  of  Plymouth,  may  be  seen  in  the  last 
edition  of  the  "  Worthies  of  Devon." 

His  descendant,  Sir  Bevil  Grenville  (as  is  well  known), 
with  a  stand  of  pikes  repelled  a  charge  of  Puritan  cavalry 
at  the  battle  of  Lansdown,  and  by  this  means  all  historians 
agree  he  preserved  the  Royal  army  from  destruction  at 
the  most  critical  period  of  that  indecisive  battle.  He 
lost  his  own  life,  however,  and  a  spirited  representation  of 
him,  attired  in  a  cuirass  and  holding  a  truncheon,  may 
also  be  seen  in  Prince.  Above  him  on  a  scroll  are  the 
following  words,  equally  applicable  to  many  other  members 

s  I  shall  not  here  speak  at  any  length  of  his  illustrious  famil}-,  of 
which  I  have  already  treated  elsewhere.  See  notes  on  Bideford  with  a 
Genealogical  History  of  the  House  of  Grenville.     Trans.  Devon.  Assoc; 
1884.  Republished  Heard  and  Co.,  Chancery  Lane,  London,  1884 
N 


90  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

of  this  famous  Devonshire  house  :  "  Deo,  patriae,  auiicis, 
victima." 

On  December  1st,  1580,  Queen  EHzabeth  licensed  Sir 
Richard  Grenville  and  his  wife,  Mary,  to  alienate  the  site 
of  the  Abbey  and  the  demesne  lands  to  John  Hele  and 
Christopher  Hams  ;  and  eighteen  days  later  the  convey- 
ance was  made  to  them  for  the  sum  of  £3,400. 

Sir  Richard  Grenville,  in  the  year  1575,  converted  the 
Abbey  Church  into  a  dwelling  house,  and  the  present  hall 
appears  to  have  been  a  portion  of  the  ancient  building. 
Its  great  Central  Tower  remains  in  its  original  position, 
it  is  square,  massive,  and  emljattled,  and  its  arches  may 
still  be  seen  in  a  room  in  the  upper  part  of  the  dwelling. 
The  cage  of  a  large  beU  still  remains,  but  the  bell  itself 
has  been  re-hung  in  the  parish  church.  The  corbelled 
terminations  of  vaulting  shafts  on  the  south  side  appear 
to  indicate  the  former  existence  of  a  transeptal  projection. 
They  can  be  examined  from  the  exterior  of  the  house, 
where  a  fine  perpendicular  window  may  also  be  noticed, 
and  near  the  same  spot,  built  into  the  wall  over  a 
modern  doorway,  is  an  ancient  boss,  carved  into  the  simili- 
tude of  a  head  which  has  been  considered  to  have  been 
intended  to  represent  the  foundress  of  the  Abbey.  It 
once  formed  the  centre  of  some  groining.  The  hair  is 
plaited  on  both  sides,  and  the  head  is  encircled  with  a 
coronet  surmounted  by  a  low  mitred  head-dress.  The 
butti-esses  still  remain  and  support  the  eastern  wall  of 
the  building,  from  which  I  infer  that  it  is  included 
within  the  limits  of  the  Chancel  of  the  Abbey  Church. 
On  the  north  side  there  is  a  low  vaulted  building,  now 
used  as  a  larder,   which  appears  to  have  been  once  the 


PARISH  OF  BUCK  LAND  MONACIIORUM.  91 

entrance  to  a  side  chapel.  The  great  barn  of  the  Abbey 
8tm  remains.  It  is  180  feet  long  and  profusely  but- 
tressed ;  and  adjoining  the  stables  is  a  low  tower  ot 
Perpendicular  date  :  the  doorway  of  which  opens  beneath 
a  very  debased  arch,  but  another  in  the  upper  portion  has 
a  good  ogee  arch  and  a  deep  moulding  ornamented  with 
the  Tudor  rose. 

It  will  be  seen  the  gi^eater  portion  of  the  Monastic 
buildings  at  Buckland  have  been  removed,  and  it  is  said 
that  this  W.1S  effected  by  Sir  Richard  GrenvlUe  when  he 
adapted  them  to  residential  purposes  in  1575. 

John  Hele  and  Christopher  Harris  upon  the  3rd  ot 
October,  1581,  sold  Buckland  Abbey  to  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  the  celebrated  circum -navigator,  but  this  alien- 
ation having  been  made  without  license  from  the  Crown 
from  whom  the  estate  was  held  in  capite,  it  was  confirmed 
and  pardoned,  June  7th,  1583,  on  the  payment  of  a  fine 

of  £10.  .    1     c    f  Cl- 

in the  house  are  preserved  many  relics  of  the  first  bu 
Francis  Drake,  including  his  portrait,  by  Cornehus 
Jansen,  inscribed  "^tat.  su^  53,  anno  1594  ;"  his  ship 
drum,  and  another  drum,  painted  blue,  decorated  ^vath 
the  Fleur  de  lis  of  France  and  inscribed  "  Regiment 
D'Angoinois,  Compagnie,  Bordeaux  ;"  a  table  made  out 
of  his  ship  the  Pelican;  a  chair  made  out  of  the  planks 
of  the  same  ship,  and  presented  to  the  University  Library 
at  Oxford  by  John  Davies,  of  Deptford.  There  is  also  a 
paintincr  of  the  Sir  Francis  Drake  of  lfi62  ;  others  repre- 
senting" King  Charles  II ;  his  Queen,  Catherme  of 
Portucral,  and  his  favourite.  Nell  Gwynne,  in  the  stau:- 


case. 


92  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

An  engraving  (incoiTectly  called  the  "  Ruins  of  Buck- 
land  Priory ")  was  published  by  Messrs.  Samuel  and 
Nathaniel  Buck,  in  1734. 

In  addition  to  the  seal  already  refen-ed  to  as  pertain- 
ing to  the  Abbey,  there  is  another  extant,  bearing 
quarterly  Arg.  and  Gu,  a  crozier  in  bend  Or.  These 
arms  were  formerly  to  be  seen  in  Ottery  Church,  and  are 
mentioned  by  Scipio,  Squier,  A.D.  1607. 

The  Abbot  of  Buckland  had  power  of  Hfe  and  death 
within  the  manor  of  Collumpton. 


PARISH  OF  BUOKLAND  MONACHORUM.  93 


CHAPTEE  IV.    PART  11. 

BucKLA-ND   MoNACHORUM.— Sir  Francis    Drake,   Kt. 

Although  Camden  informs  us  that  Drake  personally 
gave  him  particulars  as  to  his  parentage  and  e.irly 
history,  yet  the  accoimt  of  him  by  that  author  is  very 
perplexing.  He  says  that  he  was  born  near  Tavistock  in 
Devonshire,  of  mean  parents,  that  his  Godfather  was 
Francis  Russell  afterwards  Earl  of  Bedford.  That  his 
father  was  in  trouble  during  the  reign  of  Henry  the 
VIII,  for  non-subscription  to  the  Six  Articles,  and  that 
on  that  account  he  left  the  county  and  retired  into  Kent. 
But  after  the  death  of  King  Henry  in  the  time  of 
Edward  VI,  he  obtained  a  place  m  the  Royal  Navy  to 
read  divine  service,  and  after  awhile  he  was  ordained 
deacon  and  made  vicar  of  the  Church  of  "  Upnor  "^ 
upon  the  river  Medway. 

As  Moore  remarks,  it  is  evident  that  there  must  be 
some  mistake  in  this  account  of  Camden's,  for  if  Drake 
was  a  boy  when  his  father  was  persecuted  on  account  of 
the  Six  Articles  he  must  have  been  born  a  considerable 
time  before  1539,  and  Sir  Francis  Russell,  who  was  born 
in  1527,  could  not  have  been  his  godfather. 

Drake  appears  actually  to  have  been  born  in  the  year 
1541  (as  shown  by  the  date  on  his  picture  at  the  abbey), 

'  Moore's  Devon,  vol.  ii,  185. 


94  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

at  Crowndale,  in  the  pavlsli  of  Tavistock ;  whatever 
might  have  been  their  connections,  or  real  social  position, 
his  parents  were  probably  veiy  poor,  and  his  father's 
finances  could  not  have  been  materially  imjjroved  by  his 
clerical  preferment,  for  it  has  now  been  ascertained  that  he 
died  vicar  of  Upchurch  (not  Upnor)  near  Sittingbourne,  a 
living  in  the  patronage  of  All  Souls'  College,  Oxford,  which 
was  then  worth  about  £ll  a  year  ;  probably  his  journey 
into  Kent  was  in  connection  with  his  duties  as  a  naval 
Chaplain,  to  which  his  son  refers  in  the  account  he  gave 
Camden  of  his  origin. 

It  is  undeniably  certain  that  Francis  Di-ake  owed  all 
his  success  in  life  to  his  own  energy  and  determination  of 
character,  and  it  is  not  surprising,  when  the  day  came 
that  his  country  was  proud  of  him,  and  his  Queen 
delighted  to  honour  him,  that  he  should  have  found  no 
difficulty  whatever  in  establishing  a  connection  with  the 
ancient  house  of  his  name,  whose  members  had  long 
flourished  in  Devonshire  in  the  position  to  which  he  had 
now  by  his  own  merits,  become  entitled  himself,  nor  is  it 
difficult  to  believe  the  written  statement  of  Cooke  then 
Clarenceux  King  of  Arms,  to  the  effect  that  he  had 
been  credibly  informed  by  Bernard  Drake  and  others 
of  that  family  of  worship  and  good  credit,  that  "  the 
sayd  Sir  Fraunces  Drake  may  by  prerogative  of  bu-th 
and  by  right  descent  from  his  auncester  bear  the  arms  of 
his  surname  and  family  to  wit  Ai'gent  a  waver  dragon 
Geules." 

It  is  equally  clear  too  that  the  great  Sir  Francis  Drake 
was  the  son  of  a  beneficed  clergyman,  with  an  income  of 
about   £55   a  yeai*   according   to   the   present    value  of 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.  95 

money,  and  as  one  author  teils  us,  a   family  of  twelve 
children  to  support — Francis,   the  eldest   wtis  naturally 
thei'efore  placed  out  eai-ly  in  life  to  seek  his  own  fortune, 
and  the  sea  was  fixed  upon  as  his  profession  ;  whether  he 
was  bound  apprentice  to  the  "  master  of  a  small  barge," 
or  whether  he  was  educated  and  ultimately  taken  to  sea 
by  his  kinsman  Su-  John  Hawkins   is  immaterial — that 
he  made  the  best  of  his  opportunities,  whatever  they  may 
have  been,  is  evident — he  seems  to  have    first  acquired 
celebrity'  in  the  year  1567,  as  Captain  of  the  "  Judith  " 
when   he  behaved    in    the    "most    gallant    manner"    in 
Hawkins'    action    with    the    Spanish    Fleet    at    S.    Jean 
d'Ulloa,  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.     Upon  this  occasion  the 
Spaniards  so  disgusted  him  by  their  treacherous  conduct, 
that  he  conceived  the  idea  that  reprisals  upon  the  king 
of  Spain   would  be  perfectly  justifiable,  and  as  soon  as 
this  design  became  known  in    England,   numbers    were 
found  ready  to  join  in  the  enterprise.     He  made  there- 
fore his  first  independent  expedition  in  1570  with  two 
ships  the  "  Dragon  "  and  the  "  Swan,"  and  the  next  year, 
another  with  the  latter  ship  alone.     He  obtained  so  much 
credit  from  his  conduct  of  these    two  voyages,   that  he 
experienced  no  difficulty  in  raising  men  and  money  for  a 
more  important  enterprise  in  1572,  when  he  was  wounded 
at  !N  ombre  de  Dios. 

'After  his  return  from  Ireland,  \vhere  he  had  distin- 
guished himself  as  a  volunteer  under  Walter  Devereux, 
Earl  of  Essex,  he  was  introduced  to  the  Queen  by  Sir 
Christopher   Hatton,   and,   with   her   Majesty's   consent 

1  Moore,  vol.  iL  187. 
-  Stow  >'s  Annals. 


96  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

he  acquired  the  means  of  undertaking  the  great  expedi- 
tion which  has  iramortahzed  him.  He  then  succeeded  in 
obtaining  sufficient  funds  to  fit  out  five  ships,  and  with 
them  he  left  Plymouth  Sound  upon  the  l5th  November, 
1577,  but  in  consequence  of  bad  weather  the  expedition 
was  delayed  until  the  13th  of  the  folio wmg  December 
when  it  finally  set  sail. 

Two  years  later,  in  the  year  1579,  Philip  of  Spain, 
though  he  had  not  yet  come  to  an  open  rupture  with 
England  was  every  day,  both  by  the  injuries  which  he 
committed  and  suftered,  more  exasperated  against  this 
country  and  that  he  might  retaUate  for  the  assistance 
which  Englishmen  had  given  to  his  rebels  in  the  Low 
Countries,  he  had  sent  under  the  name  of  the  Pope  a 
body  of  troops  into  Ireland  for  the  pui-pose  of  fomenting 
a  rebellion.  When  the  EngUsh  ambassador  complained 
of  this  invasion,  he  was  answered  by  like  complaints 
of  the  'piracies  committed  by  Francis  Drake,  who  had 
assaulted  the  Spaniards  in  the  place  where  they  deemed 
themselves  most  secure  in  the  new  world.  In  order 
to  explain  this  complaint,  it  must  be  admitted,  that 
Drake  when  he  left  Plymouth,  with  the  Queen's 
authority  in  1577  immediately  passed  into  the  South 
Sea  by  the  Straits  of  Magellan,  and  attacking  the 
Spaniards,  who  expected  no  enemy  in  those  quarters, 
he  took  many  rich  prizes,  and  prepared  to  return  with 
the  booty  which  he  had  acquired.  Apprehensive  of  being 
intercepted  by  the  ememy  if  he  took  the  same  way  home- 
wards by  which  he  had  reached  the  Pacific  Ocean,  he 
attempted  to  find  a  passage  by  the  North  of  California, 
and  failing  in  that  enterprise,  he  set  sail  for  the  East 


PARISH  OF  BUGKLAKD  MONAGHORUM.  97 

Indies,  and  returned  safely  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
He  was  therefore  the  first  Englishman  who  sailed  round 
the  globe,   for  Magellan  whose  ship  executed  the  same 
adventure,  died  in  his  passage.     Ehzabeth,  who  admired 
valour,  and  was  allured  by  the  prospect  of  sharing  in  the 
booty,  would  not  disavow  the  enterprise  in  accordance 
with  the  advice  of  her  council,  but  dined  with  him  at 
Deptford  on  board  his  flagship,  the  "  Pelican  "  on  the  4th 
April  1581,  on  which  occasion  she  confen-ed  upon  him  the 
honour  of  knighthood,  and  declared  her  unreserved  ap- 
probation of  all  he  had  done.     His   voyage    round   the 
globe  detained  him  from  this  country  for  two  years  ten 
months  and  twenty  days. 

It  was  during  this  voyage  that  he  exercised  a  power 
which  had  been  entrusted  to  him  by  commission,  although 
his  ships  did  not  belong  to  the  Royal  Navy,  and  tried  for 
insubordination  the  second  in  command  of  his  own  vessel, 
the  "  Pelican."  This  officer,  John  Doughty  by  name,  was, 
upon  his  court  martial,  found  guilty,  and  the  punishment 
awarded  was  death.  It  is  added  that  he  made  a  full 
confession,  and  Drake  gave  him  his  choice,  either  to  be 
executed  where  they  then  were,  in  the  harbour  of  S. 
Julian,  to  be  set  on  shore  on  the  continent,  or  to  be 
brought  back  to  abide  the  justice  of  his  country. 

After  due  consideration.  Doughty  accepted  the  first 
alternative,  and  after  receiving  the  Sacrament,  with  Drake 
himself,  he  was  beheaded  by  the  Provost  Marshal  of  the 
Fleet.  The  Madrid  Correspondent  of  a  daily  paper  recently 
made  interesting  reference  to  tins  execution  ui  the 
following  words  : — 

"  In  a  remarkable  historical  work  on  Central  Ameiica, 
o 


98  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

and  Its  early  annals  of  Spanish  Conquest,  about  to  be 
published  by  Don  Manuel  de  Piralta,  Minister  of  the 
Republic  of  Costa  Rica  to  several  European  Courts,  I 
have  read  several  documents  of  great  interest,  casting 
light  upon  our  naval  struggle  with  Spain  off  the  coasts  of 
the  Spanish  main,  and  one  remarkable  letter  from  a 
Spanish  officer  of  rank  who  was  a  prisoner  of  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  having  been  captured  with  his  ship  and  afterwards 
set  free.  He  describes  most  pithily  the  daring  exploits 
of  the  British  corsairs,  and  tells  how  he  heard  Drake 
himself  relate  that,  directly  after  passing  the  Straits  of 
Magellan,  he  was  obliged  to  put  in  irons  for  twenty-four 
hours,  and  then  to  behead,  his  Lieutenant — Doughtye — 
much  as  he  regretted  to  have  to  chastise  so  good  an  officer, 
for  giving  an  example  of  insubordination,  and  for  express- 
ing a  desire  to  turn  back  from  what  afterwards  proved  to 
be  a  voyage  round  the  world.  It  is  curious  to  read  in 
these  quaint  letters  of  eye-witnesses,  the  tale  of  the  wild 
and  roving  adventures  of  our  Somersetshire  and  Devon- 
shire seamen  on  the  Pacific  shores  of  America,  braving 
such  seas  in  vessels  of  200  tons,  with  80  scurvy-stricken 
and  fever-ridden  hands.  Their  Spanish  prisoner  gloomily 
deplores  at  the  end  of  his  epistle  that  if  the  Corsair 
heretic  is  not  caught,  he  will  take  home  at  least  40  pilots 
for  others  to  follow  in  his  wake.  Senor  de  Piralta  assiu-es 
me  that  the  archives  of  the  Indies  at  Seville  and  the 
Royal  Library,  are  full  of  unexplored  data  of  interest  to 
Englishmen  ;  and  he  believes  years  would  be  necessary  to 
classify  and  catalogue  the  treasures  of  Spanish  archives  at 
Seville,  Alcula,  Simancas,  and  Madrid,  to  say  nothing  of 
private  collections,  hkethat  about  to  be  sold,  of  the  Duke 
de  Ossuna." 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAXD  MOXACHORUM.  09 

The  adventures  of  Drake,  both  real  and  mythical,  have 
been  so  frequently  enlarged  upon,  that  it  is  unnecessary 
to  o-ive  more  than  a  very  brief  sketch  of  them  here.     As 
is  well  known  he  was  vice-admiral  in  the  attack  on  the 
Spanish  Armada,  under  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham.     He 
was  instrumental  in   bringing    water   from  a  spring  on 
Dartmoor,  more  than  seven  miles  from   Plymouth,   by 
means  of  a  leat  upwards  of  seventeen  miles   long,   for 
which  benefit,  whatever  may   have  been  his  motive,  the 
inhabitants  of  Plymouth  are  still  indebted  to  him.'    He 
died  at  sea,  and  his  remains  were  enclosed  in  a  leaden 
coffin   and    thrown    overboard    amidst    the   thunder   of 
cannon  on  the  26th  January,    1795. 

The  old  barn-looking  cottage  in  which  he  was  born 
with  its  antique  windows,  and  all  its  character  of  past 
times  about  it,  was  pulled  down  some  years  since  by 
some  workmen  of  a  late  Duke  of  Bedford.  A  slight 
sketch  of  the  house  was  made  by  the  late  Mr.  Bray,  not 
long   before    its   destruction,   and  this   was   incorrectly 

1  Mr.    K.  N.  Worth  has  conclusively  proved  (Trans.  Devon    Associa 
tion.   vol.    xvi.    p.    525.)  by   reference  to  the   Receiver's   Accounts  of 
the  Corporation   of   Plymouth,   which   were   missing  some    years,  and 
were   not  recovered   until     1881,   that   Sir  Francis  Drake,   was  him- 
self   much    interested    in  the  matter  of    the    Plymouth    water   works 
since  he   was   the    lessee  of   the   ancient   Manor   MiUs   of    Plymouth. 
He   was  not  the  donor  of    the  water  as  has  been  generaUy    supposed 
but  under  an   Agreement  or   Composition  with  the  municipal  author- 
ities he  undertook  to  carry  out  the  necessary  operations  for  £200,  and 
he  also  agreed  to  procure  the  necessary  land  for  the  sura  of  £100  more. 
"Also  this  yere,"  1589-90,  the  composyton  was  made  betweene  the 
towne  and  Sir  Francis  Drake  for  the  bringinge  of  tlie  river  of   Mewe  to 
the  town  for  w"^  the  towne  have  paied  hym  ijc"  ;  and  more  c"  for  w«^ 
he  is  to  compounde  w"'  the  11'  of  the  land  over  w'"  it  runneth. 


100  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

copied  in  the  etching  which  appeared  in  Lewis's  Views 
of  the  Tavy. 

Sir  Francis  Drake  who  was  twice  married,  left  no 
children  and  Buckland  passed  to  Thomas  Di-ake,  of  Ply- 
mouth, gentleman,  his  brother,  who  died  April  4th,  1606 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Francis,  by  his  wife  Eliza- 
beth Gregory,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  pedigree. 

Pedigree  of  the  Drakes  of  Buckland  Abbey. 

Edmond  Drake,  of  Tavistock,  subsequently  Vicar  of 
Upchurch,  in  the  co.  of  Kent,  married  and  had  with  other 
issue,  Francis,  John,  and  Thomas — Francis,  knighted  by 
Queen  Ehzabeth  in  1581,  married  first  in  1569,  Mary 
Newman,  of  S.  Budeaux,  in  the  Co.  of  Cornwall ; 
secondly  he  married  (post  nuptial  settlement,  dated  25th 
Aug.,  1595)  Eliz.,  dau.  of  Sir  Geo.  Sydenham — Sir  Francis 
died  without  issue,  Jan.  28th,  1596.  He  was  the  owner 
of  Buckland  Abbey,  and  was  succeeded  in  his  estate  by 
his  brother  Thomas,  who  married  Elizabeth  Gregorie,  of 
Plympton  S.  Mary,  and  widow  of  John  Elford,  of  Slieeps- 
tor.  She  died  Mar.  18th,  1631,  and  was  buried  at 
Sheepstor.'  They  left  issue,  a  son,  Francis,  and  a  daughter 
Elizabeth,  married  to  John  Bampfylde,  of  Poltimore. 

The  son,  Francis  Drake,  of  Buckland  Abbey,  born  Sep- 
tember 16th  1588,  was  sometime  M.P.  for  Devon.  He 
was  created  a  Bai-t.  1622,  and  died  March  11th,  1637. 
His  descendant,  Mr.  Francis  Drake  Pearce,  of  Kings- 
bridge,  hfis  a  picture,  of  him  taken  the  year  before  his 

1  Her  will  was  proved  P.C.C.  (68  Audley),  23rd  June,  1632,  and  in 
it  mention  is  made  of  her  issue  by  both  marriages. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHOEUM.        101 

death  and  which  gives  his  age  as  48.  He  was  twice 
married.  By  his  first  wife,  Jane,  daughter  of  Sir  Amyas 
Bampfylde,  of  Poltimore,  settlement  dated  22nd  Sept. 
1602,  he  had  a  daughter,  Dorothy,  who  died  in  infancy. 
He  man-ied  secondly,  Joan,  daughter  of  Sir  Wm.  Strode, 
of  Newnham,  knight.  Their  marriage  licence  is  dated 
5th  Oct.  1615,  and  their  post  nuptial  settlement  twelve 
years  later,  17th  Jan.  1627.  She  survived  her  husband 
and  married  secondly,  John  Trefusis.  By  Sir  Francis  she 
had  issue,  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 

First,  Sir  Francis  Drake,  M.P.  born  1G17,  who 
succeeded  to  the  title,  and  married  Dorothy,  daughter 
of  John  Pym,  of  Brymore,  co.  Somerset,  in  1640.  He 
died  without  issue  6th  Jan.,  ]662, 

Second,  Thomas  Drake,  bapt,  at  Buckland  Monachorum 
13th  July,  1620,  he  married  Susanna,  daughter  of  Wm. 
Ciymes,  of  the  same  parish,  marriage  licence  dated  19th 
July,  settlement  21st  of  the  same  month,  1641,  and  had 
issue.  Sir  Francis  Drake,  third  bart.,  of  whom  presently. 

Third,  John,  Drake,  of  Ivy  bridge,  who  married 
Prudence — and  had  issue,  two  sons,  Francis,  Captain 
R.N.,  and  Henry.    This  branch  is  believed  to  be  extinct. 

Fourth,  Wm.  Drake,  of  Netherton,  died  unmarried. 
Will  proved  20th  June,  1709. 

Fifth,  Joseph  Drake,  of  Buckland  Monachorum,  whose 
painting  is  also  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Francis  Drake 
Peai'ce  aforesaid.  He  was  married  twice.  By  his  first 
mannage  with  Margaret  Crymes,  of  Buckland  Monachorum 
Februarj'  11th,  1668  (she  died  1682),  he  had  issue, 
Bampfylde  Drake,  Clerk  in  Holy  Orders,   who  was  the 


102  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

father  of  John  Drake,'  Mayor  of  Plymouth,  whose  son, 
John  Savery  Drake,  claimed  the  baronetcy  upon  the 
death  of  the  fifth  baronet  in  1794,  and  died  March 
4th,  1810.  His  sister,  Anne  Pollexfen  Drake,  married 
Captain  Prosser,  of  the  Royal  Marines,  and  their  daughter, 
Sarah  Anne  Prosser,  was  the  wife  of  Wm.  Lyfe  Pearce, 
of  Killaton,  in  the  parish  of  Stokenham  in  this  County. 
They  had,  with  other  children,  the  late  Francis  Drake 
Pearce,  whose  son  of  the  same  name,  and  to  whom  I 
have  referred  above''  is  now  of  Brook  House,  Kingsbridge. 

The  two  daughters  of  the  first  Bart,  were  Sarah  and 
Joanna.^ 

Upon  the  death  of  Sir  Francis  second  bart.,  without 
issue,  in  1662,  his  nephew,  Francis  (son  of  Thomas 
Drake  and  Susanna  Crymes),  succeeded  to  the  title  and 
to  Buckland  Abbey.  He  married  first  Dorothy,  daughter 
of  Sir  John  Bampfylde,  of  Poltimore, — post-nuptial 
Bftttlement  30th  Aug.,  1673, — and  by  her  he  appears 
to  have  had   a  daughter  of  the  same  name. 

His  second  wife  was  Anne,  daughter  of  Thos.  Boone  of 
Mount  Boone,  and  by  deed  dated  lOth  Jan.,  1683.  He 
makes    provision    for  his    "  three    daughters,    Dorothy, 

1  John  Drake  Mayor  of  Plymouth,  married  Anne,  daughter  of  James 
Spicer,  by  Jane  daughter  of  John  Pollexfen,  of  Wembury ;  she  died 
October  21st,  1786  and  Admon.  was  granted  to  her  daughter,  Anne 
Pollexfen  Prossor. 

s  Joseph  Drake,  married  secondly  Grace — of  the  parish  of  Menhoniot, 
CO.  of  Cornwall,  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter  Elizabeth,  bapt.  at  Buck- 
land,  May  17th,  1705.  He  was  buried  at  Buckland,  October  12th,  1708, 
and  his  will  was  proved  in  London,  October  13th,  1709. 

'  Joanna  married  Sir  Hugh  Windham,  and  had  issue  seven  daughters, 
■who  each  had  legacies  of  £50  from  their  uncle  William  Drake,  of 
Netherton. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONAGRORUM.        103 

Gertrude  and  Francis,"  and  of  these  Gertrude  afterwards 
married  Henry  Pollexfen.  Sir  Francis,  by  his  third  wife, 
EUzabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Henry  Pollexfen,  of  Nutwell 
Court,  in  the  parish  of  Woodbury,  in  this  county.  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  (settlement  dated 
17th  Jeb.,  1G89),  had  issue,  three  sons,  and  a  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Martin. 

The  eldest  son  was  Francis  Henry,  to  whom  reference 
is  made  below.  The  second,  George,  married  Sopliia 
Bugden,  and  had  three  daughters  who  all  married,  and  a 
son  Dawsonne  Drake,  Governor  of  Madras,  who  died 
unmarried.' 

The  third  son  was  Henry  Drake. 

Sir  Francis  died  in  1714.  He  had  represented  Tavis- 
tock during  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  He  was  succeeded 
in  his  estates  and  title  by  his  eldest  son.  Sir  Francis 
Henry  Drake  as  fourth  Bart.,  who  married  Anne,  daughter 
of  Samuel  Heathcote,  died  26th  January,  1784^0.  and  left 
issue  three  sons  and  a  daughter  Anne  Pollexfen,  who 
married  Sir,  G.  A.  Eliott.  His  eldest  son,  Sir  Francis 
Henry  Drake,  fifth  Bart.,  was  bom  25th  August,   1722. 

1  The  daughters  were  Anne,  Jane,  and  Sophia ;  Anno  married  Samuel 
Barlow,  and  their  only  child,  Cornelia  was  the  wifo  of  James  Bean, 
whoso  daughter  and  co-heir  Sophia,  became  in  1804,  th*  second  wife  of 
the  Rev.  Robert  Stronge,  of  Notherstronge,  and  had  with  other  issue 
George  Stronge,  Esq.,  j\I.D.  now  of  the  Chase,  co.  llercford.  Jane, 
married  CoL  Temple  West,  and  their  son,  Admiral  Sir  John  West,  K.C.B 
died  18th  March,  1872. 

Sophia,  who  married  first  Commodore  Digby  Dent,  was  afterwards  the 
wife  of  Admiral  Sir  George  Pocock,  K.B.,  by  whom  she  had  a  son  Sir 
George  Pocock,  created  a  Bart,  18th  August,  1821,  Grandfather  of 
the  present  Sir  G.  F.  C  Pocock,  Bart.,  and  a  daughter  Sophia  married 
to  John,  fourth  Earl  Poulett. 


104  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

He  was  Clerk  Comptroller  of  the  Board  of  Green  Cloth  in 
the  reigns  of  George  II  and  George  III,  and  for  the  last 
twenty  years  of  his  hfe  filled  the  dignified  position  of 
Master  of  the  Household.  His  memorial  in  Buckland 
Church  which  has  "  Truth  depicted  upon  it  leaning  upon 
an  Urn  "  was  erected  by  his  nephew  the  second  Lord 
Heathfield.  The  inscription  upon  it  however,  erroneously 
states  that  his  "  descent  was  illustrious  since  he  was 
lineally  descended  fi'om  the  great  Naval  warrior  of  the 
sixteenth  century."  He  died  unmarried  on  the  19th 
February,  1749,  aged  70. 

The  second  son,  Francis  William  Drake,  of  Hilhngdon, 
CO.  Middlesex  vice-admiral  of  the  red,  was  baptised  22nd 
August,  1724.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir 
William  Heathcote,  Bart.,  by  whom  he  had  two  daughters: 
viz.  Marianne  who  married  Mr.  Evance,  and  Sophia 
eventually  heir  to  her  father's  property.  The  latter 
became,  1st  June,  1797  the  first  wife  of  Jerome,  Count 
de  Salis,  H.R.E.  and  died  in  1803  leaving  issue,  a  son  and 
heir,  Peter,  who  succeeded  his  father  as  Count  de  Salis, 
20th  Oct.  1836,  and  was  a  Deputy-Lieut,  for  the  co. 
of  Armagh  and  J.P.  for  Middlesex.  He  died  in  1870, 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  title  by  his  son,  John  Francis 
William,  who  only  survived  him  a  few  months,  and  was 
the  father  of  John  Francis  Charles  Fane,  present  Count 
de  SaUs. 

The  third  son.  Rear  Admiral  Francis  Samuel  Drake, 
was  himself  created  a  Bart.  I2th  of  August,  1782.  He 
married  the  only  daughter  of  George  Onslow,  M.P.,  in 
1788,  but  upon  his  death,  without  issue,  in  1789  his 
baronetcy  expired. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.        105 

The  daughter  Anne  Pollexfen  married  as  I  have  already- 
mentioned  Sir  George  Augustus  Eliott,  K.B.,  celebrated 
for  his  gallant  defence  of  Gibraltar,  and  who  was  created 
Baron  Heathfield  6th  July,  1787.  She  never  became  Lady 
Heathfield,  but  died  l3th  Feb.,  1772,  leaving  two  children 
a  son  and  a  daughter.  The  son  Francis  Augustus, 
succeeded  his  father  as  second  Lord  Heathfield  in  1790, 
and  died  unmarried  26th  Jan.,  1813,  when  the  title  became 
extinct. 

His  sister,  Ann  Eliott,  married  John  Trayton  Fuller, 
of  Ashdown  House,  Sussex.  She  died  24th  Feb.,  1835, 
leaving  six  sons ;  the  eldest  of  these  took  the  name  and 
arms  of  Meyrick  by  Royal  licence,  the  second  and  fourth 
died  without  issue,  and  the  sixth  had  no  male  issue— to  the 
third  and  fifth  of  these  sons  I  shall  have  to  refer  again. 

Upon  the  death  of  Sir  Francis  Heniy  Drake,  fifth 
bart.,  in  1794,  Buckland  Abbey,  with  other  property, 
passed  by  devise  to  his  nephew,  the  second  Lord  Heath- 
field, only  son  of  his  sister,  Anne  Pollexfen  Eliott.  The 
title  was  claimed  as  I  have  already  said  by  John 
Savery  Drake,  great-great-gi'andson  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
the  first  Bart.,  as  the  right  heir  of  line  failing  issue, 
male  of  Admirals  Francis  Wilham  or  Francis  Samuel 
Drake,  brothers  of  the  fifth  bart.  This  gentleman  who 
was  bapt.  at  St.  Andrews  Plymouth  September  2nd,  1737, 
was  a  Lieut.  33rd  Regt.  and  is  said  to  have  received  the 
freedom  of  the  city  of  Glasgow  as  heir-at-law  of  Sh' 
Francis  Drake,  fifth  Bart,  who  gave  him  his  Commission. 
He  died  unmarried  March  4th,  1810,  and  was  buried  at 
Dodbrooke,  in   this  county.' 

*  His  claim  of  course  could  only  have  been  established  by  proving  the 

P 


106  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

The  title  seems  to  have  been  assumed,  by  a  certain 
Francis  Henry  Drake,  who  is  described  in  Stockdale's 
Baronetage  of  1806  "as  the  sixth  and  present  bart." 

1  beheve  that  he  asserted  himself  to  be  the  son  by  a 
first  marriage  of  Admiral  Francis  William  Drake,  of 
Hillingdon,  whose  property,  however,  went  to  his  daugh- 
ters, and  the  late  Count  de  Salis  when  applied  to  for 
particulars,  stated  that  this  claim  was  never  admitted,  nor 
did  these  ladies  ever  acknowledge  such  a  marriage.  He 
married  and  resided  at  Cheltenham,  and  died  without  issue 
in  1839,  Sir  Bernard  Burke,  in  his  pedigree  of  Drake, 
does  not  carry  out  the  Ime  of  Joseph  Drake,  fifth  son  of 
the  first  Bart.,  but  merely  remarks  that  he  left  a  son, 
"  Francis,"  nor  does  he  mention  the  Francis  Henry 
Drake,  whom  Stockdale  describes  as  sixth  bart.,  at  all, 
but  merely  remarks  that  upon  the  death  of  the  fifth 
Bart,  in  1794,  the  title  expired. 

The  second  Lord  Heathfield  dying  unmarried  in 
1813  his  sister  became  his  heir,  and  her  third  son 
Thomas  Trayton  Fuller,  was  ultimately  the  owner  of 
Buckland  Abbey,  and  resided  at  Nutwell  Court,  in  the 
parish  of  Woodbury.  Mr.  Fuller,  who  as  an  officer  in  the 
army  served  with  distinction  during  the  Peninsular  war 

extinction  of  the  male  line  of  John  Drake,  of  Ivybridge,  who  had  several 
sons,  William,  John,  Francis,  Henry,  and  another ;  bapt.  June  24th, 
1673.  As  well  as  the  extinction  of  that  of  William  Drake,  of  Netherton, 
who  is  believed  to  have  died  unmarried  at  the  age  of  83.  Besides  which 
John  Drake,  Mayor  of  Plymouth,  1m  father,  was  only  the  fourth  son  of 
the  Rev.  Bampfylde  Drake  the  Rector  of  Farway,  his  elder  brothers  were, 
Joseph,  bapt.  at  Buckland  August  11th,  1694 ;  Francis,  bapt.  at  Farway, 
August  21st,  1701  ;  and  Bampfylde,  bapt.  at  Farway,  October  23rd, 
1704,  and  who   was  residuary  legatee    under   the   Rector's   will 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.        107 

assumed  by  sign  manual,   under   the  settlement  of  Sir 
Francis  Henry  Drake,  Bart.,  the  additional  surnames  and 
arms  of  Eliott  and  Drake,  and  was  himself  created  a  Bart. 
22nd  August,  1821  with  remainder,  failing  male  issue,  to 
his   brothers  WiUiam   Stephen  Fuller  and  Rose  Henry 
Fuller.     Sir  Trayton,  as  he  was  usually  styled,  married 
5th    August,    1819    Eleanor,    only   daughter   of  James 
Halford^Esq.  of  Laleham,  Middlesex  ;  she  died  in  1841, 
without  issue.  Sir  Trayton  survived  until  the  6th  June, 
1870,  when  he  had  attained  the  ripe   age  of  S.-j,  having 
been'born  18th  February.  1785.     He  was  succeeded  in 
his   title  and  estates  by  his   nephew,  only   son   of   his 
brother  Captain  Rose  Henry  Fuller,  E.N.,  who  had  pre- 
deceased him  in  1860.     Sir  Francis  George  Fuller,  second 
and  present  Bart.,  was  born  24th  December,  1837,  and 
was  a  Captain  in  the  Royal  Horse  Guards  ;  on  the  3rd 
October,  1870  he  assumed  by  Royal  Licence  the  surname 
and  arm's  of  Ehott  and  Drake.     He  is  the  present  owner 
of  the  ancient  abbey  of  Buckland,  but  resides  at  Nutwell 
Court.      He  married  m  1861  EUzabeth,  daughter  of  the 
late  Sir  Robert  Douglas,  Bart.,   of  Glenbervie,  and  has 
had  issue  a  daughter,  Elizabeth  Beatrice  who  married  at 
S.   Paul's,   Knightsbridge,  June  22nd,   1887,  The  Hon. 
John  Reginald  Upton   Colborne,  eldest   son   of  James, 
second  Baron  Seaton,  of  Seaton,  in  this  county. 

The  great  Sir  Francis  Drake  previously  to  his  being 
knighted  by  Queen  Ehzabeth,  appears  to  have  used  for 
his  arms  a  red  "  waver  dragon"  upon  a  silver  field, 
and  for  his  crest  an  eagle  displayed.  These  charges  I 
beheve  occur  upon  two  ancient  deeds  to  which  principal 
members   of  the  Drake   family   were  parties,  and   which 


108  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

were  seen  and  copied  by  Le  Neve.  Subsequently  when 
he  had  acquired  distinction  by  his  circum-navigation  of 
the  globe,  a  new  coat  was  assigned  to  him  (which  he 
appears  to  have  considered  as  an  augmentation  of  his 
origmal  coat),  Sa.  a  fesse  wavy  between  two  pole  stars 
Arg.  and  for  crest,  a  ship,  her  sails  reefed,  drawn  round 
a  globe  with  a  cable  rope  by  a  hand  issuant  from  the 
clouds  all  ppr. 

Sir  Francis,  however,  never  seems  to  have  used 
this  crest,  but  to  have  retained  the  eagle,  and  to 
have  quartered  the  wyvem  with  the  fesse  and  pole  stars, 
and  his  right  to  do  this  has  been  recently  seriously 
questioned.  After  his  death  the  grant  of  Robert  Cooke, 
Clarenceux,  which  I  have  blazoned  above  was  adopted 
by  his  brother  Thomas  and  his  descendants,  and  the  dragon 
as  well  as  the  eagle  crest  have  been  ever  since  abandoned. 
There  appears  to  be  Indisputable  evidence  that  the  Heralds 
of  1581  considered  that  Sir  Francis  was  authorized  to  use 
the  wyvem,  cadenced  with  a  mullet,  which  was  of  course 
intended  to  show  his  descent  from  the  third  house  of  the 
Drakes  of  Ash,  of  which  family  Bernard  Drake  was  then 
the  head.  The  words  which  I  have  quoted  at  a  Ibrmer  page, 
and  which  substantiate  Drake's  claim  "  to  bear  the  arms  of 
his  surname  and  family"  do  not  occur  in  the  original  draft 
of  the  grant  itself  which  is  still  preserved  at  NutweU, 
and  this  omission  would  seem  to  point  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  evidence  of  descent  could  not  ultimately  be 
established  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Kings  of  Arms. 
But  an  original  memorandum  of  Cooke's  has  been  found 
in  the  Bodleian  library  amongst  Ashmole's  MSS  (Ash- 
mole,  was  Windsor  Herald  in  1660,  and  this  note   pro- 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.      109 

bably  found  its  way  out  of  the  coUege  amongst  his  private 
collections  when  he  resigned  his  office  in  July,  1C76.)  In 
it  Cooke  states  that  he  had  dehvered  one  grant  to  Sir 
Francis,  and  that  he   next  day   personally  handed  hun 
another  jn-operly  interpolated— thut  is  to  say,  that  a  final 
copy  of  the  grant  containing  Bernard  Drake's  evidence  as 
to  the    connection  between  himself  and  Sir  Francis  had 
been  given  to  the  latter  in  place  of  the  one  still  preserved 
at  Nutwell.      Unfortunately  this  amended  gi-ant  cannot 
now  be  discovered  ;  it  may  have  been  destroyed,  or  it  may 
very  possibly  be  stUl  in  existence,  and  like  the  memoran- 
dum which  refers  to  it,  will  perhaps  some  day  be  discovered 
in  some  totally  unexpected  quai-ter.     In  the  mean  time  m 
the  face  of  the  Kecord  at  the  Heralds'  College  substan- 
tiated by  Cooke's  memorandum,  I  think  that  there  can  be 
no  reasonable  doubt  but  that  the  "coat  of  everlastmg 
honour"  as  Prince  calls  it,  was  merely  an  augmentation  of 
a  coat  to  which  Sir  Francis  had  established  his  right  by 
virtue  of  his  name  and  descent. 

Sii-  Francis  Drake  (the  second  Bart.)  having  been 
engaged  on  the  side  of  the  Parliament  in  the  Civil  War, 
his"  estates  were  sequestrated,  and  BucUand  was  given  to 
Sir  Richard  GrenviUe  (grandson  to  the  former  owner  of  the 
same  name),  who  made  it  his  occasional  residence  during 
the  blockade  of  Plymouth.  The  house,  which  was  garri- 
soned by  Sir  Richard,  was  quitted  after  the  capture  of 
Dartmouth,  and  Sir  Francis  recovered  possession  of  it. 


110  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  IV.— PART   III. 

S.   Andrews. — Buckland  Monachokum. 

The  lordship  or  manor  of  Buckland  with  its  rectory  and 
church,  were  purchased  of  the  Crown  April  12th,  1546, 
by  Richard  Crymes,  of  London,  haberdasher,  and  his  wife 
for  £1,551  Os.  lOd.  By  his  will,  dated  September  12th, 
1565,  and  proved  January  2nd  following,  he  left  this 
property  to  his  eldest  son,  Ellis  Crymes,  then  aged  24 
years  or  more. 

Queen  Elizabeth  presented  William  Vaughan  to  the 
vicarage,  April  8th,  1564.  His  Institution  is  recorded  in 
Bishop  Alley's  Register.  Ellis  Ciymes  presented  Edmund 
Lyll  at  the  next  avoidance,  June  27th,  1573.  Wilham 
Crymes  died  in  1621,  seised  of  this  manor:  he  is 
mentioned  in  the  will  of  his  brother  Phillip  Crimes,  of 
Me\'y,  in  Cornwall  (proved  October  8th,  1595),  with 
whom  he  held  in  fee  an  estate  in  Islington,  London,  and 
to  whom  he  granted  a  lease  of  Lower  and  Higher  Elford, 
Shiptor  Wood  and  Maber. 

Thomas  Drake,  the  second  son  of  Sir  Francis  Drake 
(the  first  baronet),  by  his  second  wife,  Joan  Strode, 
having  married  in  1641  Susan,  daughter  of  Elizseus 
Crymes,  settled  the  manor  by  deed  on  his  nephew, 
Sir  Francis  Drake,   Baii/.,  but  afterwards  revoked  it. 

The  patronage  of  the  vicarage  continued  in  the  Crymes 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.        Ill 

family  certainly  down  to  1710,  and  according  to  Lysons, 
Amos  Ci-ymes,  Esq.,  was  the  patron  in  1822.  In  1850  it 
was  in  the  patronage  and  incumbency  of  the  Ilev.  W.  L. 
Nichols,  M.A. ;  it  is  now  vested  in  the  family  of  Hayne, 
The  manor  in  1660  passed  from  the  Crymes'  to  the 
Slannings,  and  by  the  marriage  of  Elizabeth  Slanning  it 
went  to  Sir  James  Modiford,  Bart ,  and  by  their  daughter 
Grace's  marriage  it  passed  to  the  Heywoods.  On  the 
death  of  James  Modyford-Heywood,  Esq.,  in  1798,  it  was 
sold  by  his  four  daughters  and  co-heirs  to  the  late  Sir 
i\I.  M.  Lopes,  Bart.,  and  is  now  the  property  of  the 
present  Sir  Massey  Lopes,  of  Maristow. 

The  charter  rolls  prove  that  a  market  at  Buckland  on 
Tuesday,  and  a  fan-  for  three  days  at  the  festival  of  the 
Nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  were  granted  to  the 
abbot  in  the  year  1317. 

This  market  has  long  been  discontinued,  but  a  cattle 
market,  held  at  irregular  inteivals,  was  established  about 
the  year  1822.  I  believe  that  the  ancient  fair  is  still 
held  on  Trinity  Monday. 

Bickham,  in  this  parish,  was  for  several  generations  the 
residence  of  the  Elfords.  Crapstone,  the  residence  of  the 
Crymes,  was  sold  by  the  Rev.  Amos  Crymes  to  John 
Elford,  at  the  commencement  of  this  century. 

The  parish  church  dedicated  to  St.  Andrew,  and  stand- 
ing in  a  large  churdiyard,  is  situated  in  the  centre  of  the 
village,  and  is  about  a  mile  distant  from  the  abbey.  It  is 
a  very  handsome  cruciform  structure,  and  comprehends 
chancel,  nave  opening  into  north  and  south  aisles  beneath 
five  narrow  pointed  arches,  supported  upon  clustered 
colimins,  north  and  south  transepts,  south  porch,  and  a 


112  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

fine  tower  at  the  western  end,  containing  six  bells.     The 
eastern  window,  of  Perpendicular  date,  is  very  fine,  and 
was  originally  filled  with  painted  glass,  representing  the 
life  and  mai-tyrdom  of  the  patron  saint.    A  few  fragments 
of  the  ancient  glass  are  included  in  the  new   window, 
which  tixhibits  the  figures  of  our  Blessed  Lord,  with  the 
legend   "  Ego  Sum   Pastor   Bonus,"   those    of   the   four 
Evangelists,  and  of  St.  Andrew.     The  south  window  of 
the  chancel  is  also  of  third  Pointed  date,  but  much  later 
and   much  inferior  to   the   other   in   style.     The   south 
chancel  chapel  which  has  a  groined  roof  of  stone,   and 
which  is  lighted  by  very  debased  windows,  is  supposed  to 
have  been  either  erected  or  rebuilt  in  the  reign  of  James  I. 
The  nodi  in  the  roof  of  this  chapel  appear  to  be  of  Late 
Decorated  or  very  Eai-ly  Perpendicular  character,  and  I 
should  think  it  probable  that  the  end  of  the  aisle,  having 
fallen  into  a  state  of  decay,  was  rebuilt  by  some  member 
of  the  Drake  family,  and  that  the  roof  was  constructed 
out  of  stone  brought  from  the  ruins  of  the  abbey.     It  is 
quite  different  from  any  other  portion  ot  the  church,  but 
there  are  evidences  on  the  outside  which  clearly   prove 
that   it  must   have  been  erected  at  a  very  much   later 
period  than  the  rest  of  the  structure. 

On  the  south  side  there  is  a  priest's  door  of  the  same 
debased  character  as  the  windows,  and  at  the  eastern  end 
is  a  large  white  marble  monument  by  the  elder  Bacon  to 
the  memory  of  the  gallant  Sir  Gilbert  Eliott,  created 
Lord  Heathfield  in  1787  for  his  bra"ve  defence  of  the  im- 
portant garrison  of  Gibraltar.  There  are  two  life-size 
allegorical  figures  :  one  holds  the  fortress  of  Gibraltar 
over  his  lordship's   arms   (Gu.   on   a   bend   Or,   a   baton 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.        113 

Az.),  whilst  the  other,  representing  Victory,  carries  the 
laurel  wreath.  There  is  a  large  medallion  of  the  deceased 
warrior,  and  a  fine  has  relief  representing  the  memorable 
destruction  of  the  gunboats.  Beneath  is  a  long  inscrip- 
tion, which  is  printed  m  Lyson's  "  Magna  Britannia," 
which  states  that  he  was  the  seventh  son  of  Sir  Gilbert 
Eliott,  Bart,  of  Stobs,  co.  Koxbiu-gh. 

The  chancel  arch  is  curiously  stilted  on  this  side  of  the 
church,  perhaps  to  afford  entrance  to  the  rood  loft,  which, 
together  with  the  screen,  has  been  removed. 

The   organ   occupies   the   north   chantry   chapel  ;  the 
windows  here  also  are  very  debased,  and  the  one  at  the 
eastern  end  is  blocked,  and  the  recess  filled  with  a  paint- 
ing of  the  Royal  arms  of  King  Charles  II.  bearing  date 
1660,  and  it  appears  to  me  that  at  this  time  the  present 
vestry  was  built  in  prolongation    of  this  aisle.     In  the 
south  transept  which  is  lighted  by  two  good  third  pointed 
windows  there  are  three  image   brackets.     The  roof  of 
this   part   of  the  church   retains  some  bosses  carved  in 
foliage  and  one  or  two  grotesque  heads.     There  are  image 
brackets  also  in   the  north  transept  and  in   the  south- 
eastern angle  of  the  nave.     The  church  has  been  lately 
restored,  and  the  plaster  which  for  some  years  covered 
and  concealed  the  handsome    perpendicular  roof  of  the 
nave  has  been  happily  removed.      It  is  ornamented  with 
handsome  bosses  at  the  intersection  of  the  ribs,  one  of 
them  representing  our  Saviour  with  the  Blessed  Virgin 
crowned  Queen  of  Heaven. 

At  the  extremity   of  the  hammer  beams   are  sixteen 
singularly  curious  corbels,  representing  angels,  each  bear- 
ing a  musical  instrument  of  antique  form. 
Q 


114  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

The  ancient  stall  ends  of  carved  oak,  and  fifteenth, 
century  date,  enriched  with  ogees,  trefoils,  and  square- 
headed  recesses,  are  preserved  in  both  the  aisles  and 
transepts.  On  the  north  side  I  noticed  a  figure  of  a 
bishop  with  his  pastoral  staff,  and  another  of  St.  Andrew 
the  patron  saint  of  the  church,  leaning  on  his  saltire. 
The  initial  letters  which  occur  amongst  the  carved  work 
in  this  aisle  are  modern.  In  the  tower,  which  has  a  good 
pointed  arch  and  an  ancient  oak  ceiling,  I  found  evidences 
of  an  earlier  roof  of  higher  pitch  than  that  which  now 
covers  the  nave. 

I  was  told  that  the  ancient  Norman  font  had  been  re- 
moved to  the  new  church  at  Horrabridge.  The  present 
one  is  of  Perpendicular  date,  and  stands  at  the  western 
end  of  the  south  aisle.  It  is  octagonal,  and  adorned  with 
Perpendicular  flowers,  human  faces,  and  armorial  shields 
within  quatrefoils.  The  stem  is  ornamented  with  square 
headed  trefoiled  recesses.  The  ancient  and  richl}'^  carved 
rood  screen  of  Sheepstor  Church,  was  removed  here  a  few 
years  since,  and  is  placed  across  the  tower  archway. 

The  tower  is  possibly  of  earlier  date  than  the  present 
church,  and  appears  to  have  been  altered  to  the  Perpen- 
dicular style  when  the  church  was  rebuilt  in  the  fifteenth 
century.  It  is  rather  nan-ow,  but  is  well  buttressed  to 
the  second  string  course.  It  is  also  embattled,  and  has 
four  handsome  crocketted,  and  finialed  pinnacles,  sur- 
mounted with  crosses.  The  belfry  windows  are  large 
and  handsome,  and  of  third  pointed  character,  as  are  also 
the  great  western  window  and  doorway.  The  latter  is 
square-headed,  with  quatrefoiled  spandrils. 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONACHORUM.        115 

The  south  porch,  which  may  have  once  had  a  parvise 
over  it,  has  an  image  recess  with  rather  a  curious  canopy 
on  its  southern  front.  The  doorway  is  square-headed 
and  is  ornamented  on  both  sides  with  quatrefoiled  span- 
drils  and  deep  mouldings. 

The  ancient  stone  seats  are  covered  with  wood,  and  a 
low  pedestal  from  which  the  aspersorium  has  been  re- 
moved, still  remains  on  the  eastern  side.  I  remarked  here 
several  gravestones  belonging  to  the  family  of  Crymes  viz. 
William  Crymes,  1641  ;  another,  with  the  date  effaced,  but 
exhibiting  the  arms  of  Crymes  ;  another  has  the  arms  of 
Drake,  impaled  with  those  of  Crymes'  ;  from  their  position 
at  the  en '..ranee  of  the  church  these  stones  have  become 
so   much  worn  that  they  are  very  difficult  to  decipher. 

The  interior  doorway  is  also  square-headed,  with 
ornamented  spandriis,  and  is  also  surmounted  by  an  empty 
image  tabernacle  the  chestnut  door,  with  massive  hinges,  is 
probably  of  fifteenth  century  date.  The  church  is 
strongly  buttressed,  the  buttresses  running  off  into  hand- 
some pumacles,  ornamented  with  crockets  and  finials 
The  chancel  is  well  defined,  and  the  north  door,  which  is 
square-headed  with  foliated  spandriis,  has  deeply  moulded 
jambs.  The  string  course  around  the  church  is  bold, 
high  and  well  executed  until  it  reaches  the  south  chancel 
chapel,  where  it  is  much  lower  and  of  inferior  workman- 
ship. In  the  south-western  corner  of  the  churchyard  I 
noticed  a  portion  of  a  slender  pillar  with  the  cable  mould- 
ing, forming  a  pedestal  for  a  small  sundial ;  it  does  not 

1  Cryiues,  Or.  on  three  bars  Gu.  as  many  martlets  of  the  field,  on  a 
chief  Arg.  Two  bars,  nebulae  Az. 


]  1 6  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

appear  ever  to  have  been  a  portion  of  a  cross.  There  is 
a  fine  yew  tree  on  the  north-western  side  of  the  church- 
yard, and  an  excessively  ancient  chestnut.  The  lower  part 
of  the  ancient  village  cross,  needed  some  attention  when 
I  visited  the  parish  which,  it  has  T  hope,  since  received. 
The  base  is  octagonal  and  very  massive,  but  I  could  not 
perceive  any  signs  remaining  of  the  shaft. 

There  are  considerable  remains  of  the  ancient  vicarage 
still  standing  in  tha  gardens  of  the  present  house,  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  a  tower  and  a  portion  of  the  lower  part  of 
the  walls.  It  was  still  occupied  as  a  residence  at  the 
latter  end  of  the  last  century  and  the  present  stables 
are  almost  entirely  constructed  of  the  old  materials, 
and  many  good  Perpendicular  windows  and  doorways  are 
there  preserved.  In  a  building  now  used  as  a  barn,  but 
which  was  once  a  kitchen,  there  is  an  enormous  fireplace. 
This  house  is  beheved  to  have  been  the  ultimate  residence 
of  John  Toker,  the  last  Abbot  of  Buckland,  who  was 
admitted  to  the  vicarage  of  Buckland  Monachorum  on  the 
presentation  of  its  new  patron,  Richard  Crymes,  April 
4th,  1557. 

In  the  taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas  IV,  1288,  the  vicarage 
of  Buckland  is  valued  at  £6  13s.  4d.  per  annum  ;  accord- 
ing to  the  "  Valor  Ecclesitisticus  "  of  King  Hem-y  VIII. 
Richard  Hals,  the  then  vicar,  received  XI 9  8s.  B^d.  less 
£1   IBs.  10|d.  for  tithes. 

The  present  vicar,  who  is  also  the  patron,  is  the  Eev. 
Richard  J.  Hayne,  to  whose  attention  and  kindness  I  am 
much  indebted.  He  has  a  glebe  of  over  49  acres.  The 
registers  are  amongst  the  earliest  in  the  diocese,  and  com- 
mence in  the  same  year  in  wliich  the  record   was  fii'st 


PARISH  OF  BUCKLAND  MONAGHORUM.        117 

ordered  to  be  kept  duriiig  the  episcopacy  of  Bishop 
Veysey.  They  are,  moreover,  in  good  preservation. 
Burials,  commence  December  3rd,  1538,  Marriages, 
October,  24th,  1540,  Baptisms,  December,  18th,  1552. 
In  the  first  page  of  the  book  is  the  following  curious 
record  in  Latin,  of  a  post  Reformation  licence  to  eat 
flesh  meat,  granted  during  the  reign  of  King  James  I. 
by  Bishop  Cotton. 

"  Let  it  be  remembered  that  on  the  27th  day  of  March, 
1614,  there  was  shewn  to  us  a  licence  or  dispensation, 
"■ranted  under  the  seal  of  the  Reverend   Father  William, 

o 

Bishop  of  Exeter,  to  William  Cryines,  of  this  parish,  and 
Margaret  his  wife,  for  eating  flesh  meat  in  this  Lenten 
time,  which  licence,  is  now  ex])ired,  it  was  granted  on 
the  14th  of  tins  month. — Ed.  Lawrey,  Minister  of 
the  Word  ;  John    Dunrige,  Warden." 

The  parish  of  Buckland  was  early  celebrated  for  its 
cider,  and  some  writers  contend  that  orchards  were  first 
planted  here  in  England,  but  it  appears  to  have  been 
clearly  proved  that  cider  was  the  ordinary  drink  of  the 
labourers  on  the  manor  of  Axmouth  as  early  as  the  year 
1286.  I  noticed,  however,  at  Buckland,  several  ancient 
stone  trouofhs,  in  some  instances  built  into  walls  which 
were  doubtless  once  used  in  its  manufacture. 

There  was  an  ancient  inscribed  stone  also  in  this  village 
which  was  removed  some  years  since  by  the  late  Mrs. 

The  following  note  in  rcforence  to  this  license  is  copied  from  ])ishop 
Cotton's  Act  Book  : — 

1  "  Eininavit  licensia  vescenJi  carnibus  concessa  Willielmo  Crymes 
de  Buckland  Monachorum.  Armig.  et  IMargarcto  ejus  uxori  haud 
aliquos  quos  convocare  volueiint  14th  March,  1G13." 


118  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Bray  (to  \yhom  it  was  given  by  the  lord  of  the  manor), 
and  it  now  stands  in  the  Vicarage  garden,   at  Tavistock. 

By  indenture  dated  2nd  March,  1702,  between  Dame 
EHzabeth  Modyford  of  Marysto^ve  of  the  one  part,  and 
Henry  Drake  (youngest  brother  of  the  4th  Bart.),  and 
five  others,  trustees  of  the  second  part,  the  former 
conveyed  a  messuage  called  the  C4reat  House,  or  Church 
house,  and  another  called  "  David  Kennard's  house,  and  a 
yearly  sum  of  £10  issuant  from  the  manor  of  Buckland, 
for  1,000  years  upon  trust,  to  appoint  a  Schoolmaster 
during  good  behaviour,  who  was  to  have  the  eaid  tene- 
ments and  an  annual  salary  of  £7  10s.,  out  of  the  said 
£lO,  as  part  remuneration  for  instructing  children  of  the 
parish  in  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  and  in  the 
Church  Catechism.  The  schoolmaster  was  to  keep  his 
school  in  the  village,  and  was  to  repair  the  premises  left 
by  the  donor.  The  children  were  to  remain  at  School  for 
three  years.  The  donor  or  trustees  were  to  have  the 
power  of  nominating  six  poor  children  whose  parents 
might  be  unable  to  pay  for  their  education,  and  the 
annual  residue  of  the  said  £10  was  to  be  spent  in  buying 
for  each  of  the  said  scholars,  "  A  Bible  with  the  Common 
Prayers  of  the  church  of  England  in  the  same,"  at  the 
end  of  every  three  years,  and  "  a  coat  and  breeches  of 
good  blue  woollen  cloth,  with  a  towel  or  cravat  for  each 
of  them  once  in  three  years  ;  the  overplus,  if  any,  to  be 
given  amongst  the  parents  of  the  said  six  poor  scholars 
for  their  use. 

This  educational  provision  was  added  to  in  the  year 
1859  by  the  erection  of  a  new  Girls'  School  at  the  cost  of 
£400  raised  by  subscription. 


PARISU  OF  BUGKLAXD  MONACUORUM.        119 

Matthew  Elford,  Esq.  by  will  dated  5th  March,  1723, 
gave  to  the  poor  of  this  parish  £20  for  ever,  the  Interest 
to  be  laid  out  every  year  at  Christmas  in  bread,  and 
distributed  among  them.  He  also  bequeathed  to  the 
Buckland  School  £100,  the  interest  to  be  paid  yearly  for 
ever  towards  the  clothing  of  four  of  the  Scholars  at  the 
nomination  of  the  Churchwardens. 

This  charity  was  established  by  a  decree  of  Chancery 
12th  November,  1740.  Previously  to  179G  the  sum  of 
eleven  shillings  and  sixpence,  as  the  interest  ot  £20,  which 
had  been  absorbed  together  with  the  said  £100  and 
accumulations  in  the  purchase  of  £200  stock,  was  annually 
given  in  bread  ;  subsequently  to  this  date  the  ivhole  sum 
was  spent  in  providing  clothes  for  the  children,  which,  as 
the  commissioners  remark  was  not  in  accordance  with  the 
bequest. 

Catherine  Ilbert,  widow,  by  a  codicil  to  her  will  dated 
17th  August,  1759,  gave  £100  to  the  poor  of  this  parish 
to  be  invested  at  the  discretion  of  the  Vicar  and  Vestry ; 
the  interest  to  be  given  annually  to  such  poor  house- 
holders as  are  not  in  receipt  of  parochial  relief. 

John  Burrows,  Lieut.  R.N.,  by  will  dated  22nd  June, 
1818,  gave  the  interest  of  £100  (less  legacy  duty)  to  the 
poor  of  the  parish,  which  is  laid  out  in  bread  and 
distributed  according  to  the  necessity  of  the  applicants. 

Another  sum  of  £27,  wliich  was  stated  in  the  return  of 
1786  to  have  been  given  to  the  poor  of  the  parish,  was 
then  vested  in  the  parish  stock.  Entries  of  the  annual 
payment  of  £1  7s.  supposed  to  be  m  respect  of  this 
sum  are  found  in  the  overseer's  accounts  for  nearly 
100  years,  and  continued  down  to  Lady-day  1815,   when 


120  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

it  was  resolved  at  a  vestry  meeting  to  discontinue  the 
payment,  as  no  one  knew  how  it  originated.  It  was 
usually  distributed  to  the  poor  in  small  sums  at  Lady-day. 

Lady  ]\Iodyford  by  her  vnll  gave  the  sum  of  £50,  the 
intei-est  of  which  was  to  be  bestowed  weekly  in  bread 
amongst  poor  people  not  in  receipt  of  parochial  rehef. 

The  ecclesiastical  district  of  Horrabridge  was  formed  in 
18G7  out  of  the  parishes  of  Sampford  Spiney,  "Whit- 
church, Walkhampton,  Buckland  Monachoram  and 
S.  Peter  Tavy.  It  had  748  inhabitants  in  1881  living 
upon  726  acres  of  land.  The  Church  of  S.  John,  was 
erected  in  lS35,  but  was  not  consecrated  until  1866; 
its  cost  amounted  to  £700  which  was  raised  by  subscrip- 
tion. It  is  now  a  vicarage  in  the  patronage  of  the 
Bishop  of  Exeter, 

A  new  district  Church,  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  erected  by  the  vicar  the  Eev.  E.  J.  Hayne,  in  1S7S, 
in  the  hamlet  of  Milton.  It  is  a  handsome  building  with 
bell  turret. 


PARISH  OF  MEAVY.  121 


CHAPTER   V.    PART    I. 


The  Parish   of    Mea.vy.— General   Description 
AND   History. 

The  village  of  Meavy,  lying  in  a  picturesque  valley  at 
the  foot  of  Ringmore  Down,  and  (as  Mre.  Bray  says) 
"  watered  by  a  stream  so  clear  that  every  pebble  may  be 
seen  in  its  bottom,"  takes  its  name  from  the  little  river 
Mew,  or  Meavy,  a  tributary  of  the  Plym. 

It  is  situated  in  the  hundred  of  Roborough  and  the 
Archdeaconry  of  Totnes,  and  inclusive  of  the  hamlets 
of  Loveton  and  Brisworthy,  has  a  population  of  234 
.  persons,  distributed  over  3,289  acres  of  land.  This  parish, 
like  those  described  in  the  preceding  chapters,  belonged 
until  the  commencement  of  187G  to  the  ancient  deanery 
of  Tamerton,  and  is  now  included  in  that  of  Tavistock 
from  which  it  is  about  seven  miles  distant. 

Lysons  says,  that  "  the  manor  of  Meavy,  under  the 
name  of  Metwi,  belonged  to  Robert  Bastard  at  the  time 
of  the  Domesday  survey."  This  information  is  manifestly 
copied  from  an  assertion  contained  in  Risdon,  sines  the 
latter  author  makes  "  Turgis  "  hold  the  land  "  anciently  " 
(I  presume  him  to  mean  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Confessor),  and  Robert  le  Bastard  in  "William  the 
Conqueror's  time." 

B 


122  DEV0N8HRIE   PARISHES. 

I  can  find  no  evidence  to  substantiate  either  of  these 
statements.  In  the  first  place  "  Metwi "  which  is  not 
referred  to  at  all  in  the  Exeter  Domesday,  is  declared  in 
the  Exchequer  copy  of  that  record  to  have  been  the 
pi'operty  of  Alwin,  the  Kinsj's  Thaue,  tempore  regis 
Edwardi,  and  not  of  Turgis.  At  the  Conquest  this 
particular  property  was  certainly  bestowed  upon  Robert 
Bastard  (the  ancestor  of  Mr.  Bastard,  of  Kitley  and 
Bucklanid),  but  I  fancy  that  it  was  that  manor  and 
parish  now  known  as  Meeth  or  Meethe,  in  the 
hundred  ot  Shebbear,  the  early  history  of  which  is 
not  referred  to  by  our  historians,  but  which  seems  in  the 
reign  of  Edward  the  Third  to  have  been  held  by  the 
Giffards,  who  may  have  succeeded  the  Bastards  there. 

Meavy,  Good-a-Meavy,  High  Meavy,  and  Maker  Meavy 
seem  to  be  identical  with  four  manors  known  as  Meavy, 
written  "  Mewi "  and  referred  to  in  the  Exeter  Domes- 
day as  being  all  the  property  of  Jidiel  or  Judhsel, 
Baron  of  Totnes  under  whom  they  were  held  by  sub- 
tenants ;  one  of  these  latter  being  Turgis.  In  the 
Confessor's  reign  these  estates  had  been  respectively 
owned  by  four  Saxons,  namely  Alward  and  Alwin  two 
of  the  King's  Thanes,  Edward  and  Osolf. 

Juhel  of  Totnes  was  a  trusted  servant  of  the  Conqueror 
but  does  not  appear  to  have  been  equally  favoured  by 
that  monarch's  successor,  for  having  laid  himself  open  to 
suspicion  during  the  reign  of  Rufus  he  was  banished  the 
kingdom,  and  his  confiscated  estates  in  this  part  of  the 
county  were  bestowed  on  Roger  de  Nunant  or  Novant. 
A  charter  deed  of  Henry  II.,'  reciting  and  confirming  the 
^  Inspeximus,  2nd  Ed.,  iii. 


PARISH  OF  MEAVY.  123 

various  grants  of  property  which  had  been  made  from 
time  to  time  to  the  priory  of  Plymptim,  shews  that  Roger 
de  Novant  w;is  a  considerable  benefactor  to  that  monas- 
tery, and  amongst  other  gifts  he  yielded  to  them  the  right 
of  the  sluice  on  the  river,  a7id  the  whole  of  Briiworthy 
within  the  parish  of  Heavy,  "  et  exclusagium  de  aqua  de 
Mewy  et  totam  Brutereswurdam,  ita  liberas  sicut  carta 
Kogeri  eis  testatur."     The  Priory  of  Plympton,  dedicated 
to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  was  founded  in  the  year  1121 
by  Bishop  Warlewast,  and  under  the    auspices  of  that 
prelate's  successors  it  acquired  so  much   property  that  it 
exceeded  even  the  Abbey  of  Tavistock  in  annual  value, 
and  was  found  at  the  dissolution  of  such  houses  to  possess 
a  revenue  of  £912   12s.   8d. 

Heavy  gave  name  to  an  ancient  family  whose  ancestors 
at  a  period  subsequent  to  the  Conquest  obtained  possession 
of  the  property  and  resided  there  for  seven  generations  ; 
they  appear  to  have  had  a  large  estate  in  the  parish  of 
Maker  which  Westcote  says  was  in  his  time  called  "  Maker 
Meavy,  after  the  sometime  possessor  thereof;"  and  they  are 
likewise  said  to  have  been  the  owners  of  Good-a-Meavy 
and  High  Meavy ;  they  also  appear  amongst  the  early 
benefacrors  to  Plympton  Priory,  and  a  deed  is  in  existence 
which,  although  undated,  was  probably  executed  during 
the  superiority  of  Robert  de  Ilsington,  who  was  elected 
prior  of  this  house  in  the  year  1202. 

This  document  is  a  confirmation  only,  and  recites  the 
gift  of  a  former  donor,  one  "  Walter  de  Mewi,"  and  it  is 
particularly  interesting  inasmuch  as  it  proves  that  the 
descendants  of  '•  Alwine,"  the  Saxon  Thane,  were  stiU 
resident  upon  the  land  which  had  belonged  to  then-  fore 


124  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

father  many  years  after  it  had  been  aHenated  from  him  by 
force  of  arms.  It  has  been  pubUshed  in  the  original 
Latin  both  in  the  "  Archaeological  Journal ;  "  and  in  the 
Monasticon  of  the  Diocese' 

Tlie  following  is  a  translation  : — 

"  To  all  the  faithful  to  whom  the  present  writing  shall 
have  come,  William  de  Mewi  health  in  the  Lor.1.      Your 
community  should  know  that  Walter  de  Mewi,  the  grand- 
father of  Gilda,  my  wife,  by  the  assent  and  consent  of 
Wido,  his  son  and  heir,  the  father  forsooth  of  the  afore- 
said G.,   my  wife,  for  his  safety  and   for  that  of  all  his 
ancestors  and  successors  gave  to  the  church  of  the  Holy 
Apostles,  Peter  and   Paul  of  Plimton,  and  to  the  canons 
serving  God  there,  two  furlongs  of  land  from  his  manor  of 
Mewi,  in  free  and  in  all  respects  quiet  and  perpetual  alms, 
and  eight  acres  of  land  which  ought  to  do  the  service  of 
the  King  only.      Forsooth  as  much  as  eight  acres  of  the 
same    manor  of  Mewi    ought  to  make.     And  four   men 
then  holding  the  same  land,  forsooth  the  sons  of  Alwin, 
whose  names  are  Osbert,  Sti'eswold,  Edwin,  and  Seward, 
with  their  wives  and  children.     But  T,  WUliam  de  Mewi, 
now  with  the  consent  and  assent  of  the  said  G,  my  wife, 
by    the  intuition  of  charity   yield   the   donation  of  the 
same  Walter  to  the  aforesaid  church  and  canons  of  Plym- 
ton,  and  by  this  deed  being  sealed  with  my  seal  confirm 
it  in  perpetual  alms.     By  this  agreement  that  I,  AVilliam, 
and  my  heirs  ought  to  hold  the  same  land  from  the  church 
of  Plymton  for  six  shillings,  quietly  and  honestly  to  be 
paid  to  the  same  church  yearly  at  the  two  terms,  forsooth 
at  the  feast  of  St.  Micha3l  three  shUhngs,  and  at  Easter 

^   Additional  Supplement,  p.  15,  No.  2. 


PARISH  OF  MEAV7.  125 

three  shillings.     From  thence  also  I  have  made  homage 
to  Robert,  prior  of  Plymton.     Moreover,  I  have  taken  a 
corporal  oath  that  I  will  return  or  cause  to  be  returned 
the  same  six  shillings  annually  at  the  same  terms  faith- 
fully and  honestly.     My  heirs  also  after  me  shall  make 
Uke  homage  to  the  prior  of  Plymton  for  the  time  being 
and  shall  perform  the  same  security  of  faith  and  oath,  and 
shall  return  a  reUef  fiom  thence,  forsooth  twelve  shillings 
and  sixpence  as  a  recompense  to  the  prior.     And  I  like- 
wise,  as  well  as  my  heirs,   by  our  deed  will  acquit  the 
same  land  from  every  burthen  which  by  whatsoever  means 
shall  happen  to  fall  upon  the  same    land.      But   if  by 
chance  it  should  happen  tliat  the  three  shillings  at  the 
term  of  Easter  should  not  have  been  paid  before  the  feast 
of  St.  John,  or  the  three  shillings  at  the  tevm  of  St.  Michael 
before  Christmas,  the  prior  and  canons  of  Plymton  shall 
receive  into  their  jurisdiction   without  any  contradiction 
or  hindrance,  the  aforesaid  two  furlongs  and  eight  acres  of 
land,  and  afterwards  may  retahi  them  as  their  proper  pos- 
session to    their  peculiar  uses,   or  may  deliver  them  to 
whom  they  will,  without  hope  of  regaining  them,  to  me, 
William,  or  my  heirs  for  ever.     Of  this  agreement  the 
Avitnesses  have  been  Samson,  clerk,  Wido  de  Bretevilla, 
Andrew   lenfont,     Robert   de    cnolle,    William   talebot, 
William  de  langewis,  Helias  de  leiga  Benedict  bonenfont, 
Hugo  oisun,  and  many  others." 

With  respect  to  the  decendants  of  Alwine,  the  ancient 
lord  of  the  soil,  together  with  their  wives  and  children 
having  been  given  with  the  land  to  the  prior  of  Plympton, 
I  A\ould  remark' that  between  the  thane  and  the  serf,  or 
slave,  was  the  churl  or   freeman  (sometimes  also   called 


126  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

frigman ;  in  Latin,  villanus ;  Norman,  villein).  Every- 
man -was  bound  to  place  himself  under  the  protection  of 
some  lord,  failing  which  he  might  be  seized  as  a  robber. 
The  ceorls,  or  churls,  held  a  recognized  estate  in  the  land 
to  which  they  belonged,  and  were  not  to  be  I'emoved  from 
it  or  to  have  a  higher  rent  imposed  on  them  ;  they 
cultivated  it  for  their  lords,  and  were  bound  to  reside 
upon  it  and  could  not  quit  it,  though  in  other  respects 
they  were  freemen,  but  as  pai't  of  the  propei'ty  they 
might  be  given  bequeathed  or  sold  along  with  it  as  in  this 
instance.  There  were  several  conditions  of  chui'ls,  who  in 
the  Domesday  Book  form  two-fifths  of  the  registered 
inhabitants  ;  they  were  permited  to  acquire  lands,  and  if 
they  obtained  as  much  as  five  hides  they  forthwith 
became  thanes.  There  are  seventeen  Saxon  thanes  and 
three  Saxon  ladies  mentioned  in  Exeter  Domesday  as 
holding  land  in  demesne  in  this  county  after  the  Norman 
redistribution  of  property,  but  they  appear  to  have  only 
been  permitted  to  occupy  one  or  two  manors  respectively, 
excepting  in  the  cases  of  Colvin  and  Godwin,  the  former 
of  whom  acquired  eleven,  and  the  latter  eight.  To  obtain 
this  concession,  however,  they  all  doubtless  had  to  give 
up  the  greater  portion  of  their  original  inheritances,  since 
(with  the  exception  of  those  belonging  to  ecclesiastics) 
nearly,  if  not  all,  the  estates  in  Devonshire  changed  hands 
immediately  after  the  Conquest.  I  believe  that  the 
family  of  Mewi  became  extinct  about  the  tenth  year  of 
the  reign  of  Richard  II  (1387).  Their  ai-ms  were  Gu,  3 
sea  mews  Arg,  beaks  and  legs  Or. 


PARISH  OF  2IEAV7.  127 


CHAPTER  v.- -PART  II. 


The    Lords    of    Heavy. 


Heavy  afterwards  belonged  to  the  Hillatons  and  the 
first  of  this  family  recorded  in  the  Heralds'  Visitation  of 
1564,  is  John  Millaton  who  married  and  had  issue 
John,  and  Joan  married  to  John  Wise  of  Sydenham. 

John  ^lillaton  married  Alicia,  and  had  issue  Thomas 
Millaton  whose  wife   w^as   Jane  Dymock,  and  their  son 
John  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Worth,  of 
Worth,  and  of  his  wife  Isabell,  daughter  and  co-heir  of 
Humfrey    Bevill,   of  Wolston,  and  had  issue  John,  and 
gnes  who  married  Richard  Strode. 
John   Millaton,   by  his   wife  Avys   Dennis   had   issue 
William  who  married  Honora  Godolphin,  and  who  were 
probably  the  parents  of  Alice,  wife  of  Otho  Worthe  of 
Compton  Pole,  in  the  parish  of  Marldon,  and  also  her  kins- 
man.   The  property  at  Heavy  was  probably  the  dowry  of 
Agnes  MUlaton   wife  of  Richard  Strode,  and  the  latter 
family   were  for  many   years    subsequently   its   owners. 
They  were  originally  of  Strode,  in  the  parish  of  Erming- 
ton,  where    they   are   traced  as   early  as   the  reign    of 
Henry  III,  and  subsequently  removed  to  Newnham,  in 
the  parish   of  Plymton  St.  Hary  after  they  had  acquired 


128  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

it  by  the  marriage  of  John  the  seventh  in  descent  with 
MeUor  Solman,  the  co-heir  of  Newnham  in  right  of 
her  mother,  early  in  the  fifteenth  centuiy.  It  is  said 
that  when  King  Edward  I,  (A.D.,  1294)  summoned 
sundry  gentlemen  from  this  county  to  attend  him  to 
Scotland,  the  herald  amongst  other  names  returned 
that  of  "  Adam  Strode  of  Strode,  Esq."  It  was  in 
this  memorable  expedition  that  the  English  monarch 
gained  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Scots  near  Dunbar, 
subdued  all  the  southern  parts  of  tlie  country,  and 
received  the  solemn  and  irrevocable  resign utio a  of  the 
Scottish  Crown  from  the  hands  of  Baliol,  whom  he  made 
prisoner.  It  was  on  this  occasion  also  that  the  English 
soldiers  carried  with  them  on  their  return  the  stone  on 
which  the  Scottish  Kings  were  inaugurated  and  to  which 
popular  superstition  paid  th3  highest  veneration  in 
consequence  of  the  prophecy — "  That  wheresoever  that 
chair  should  be  removed,  the  kingdom  should  be  removed 
with  it." 

Reynold,  or  Reginald,  Strode,  of  Ermlngton,  married 
Florence,  daughter  of — ,  and  had  issue  John,  who  manied 
Meliora,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Simon  Newnham,  of 
Newnham.  This  Simon  Newnham  was  the  grandson  of 
Simon  de  Plympton,  wlio  liyed  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I. 
The  Strodes  thus  became  settled  in  Plympton  at  an  early 
date  ;  and,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  several  members 
of  their  family  were  buried  in  the  conventual  church. 
William,  son  ot  Richard  Strode,  of  Newnham,  and  of  his 
wife  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry  Fortescue,  of  Wood, 
was  thrice  married  ;  his  second  wife  was  Agnes,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Worth,  of  Worth,  in  the  parish  of  Washfield, 
and  sister  of  Roger  "  Worth,"  who  was  Mayor  of  Exeter 
in  1482. 


PARISH  OF  MEAV7.  129 

Her  father,  Thomas  Worth,  by  his  first  wife,  a 
daughter  of  John  Scolemaster.  had  a  son,  Anthony,  whose 
posterity  have  continued  at  Worth,  and  whose  direct 
descendant,  the  Rev.  Reginald  Worth,  died  possessed 
of  it  in  18S1,  the  property  there  having  been  trans- 
mitted in  regular  succession  certainly  from  the  reign  of 
Hem-y  II,  and  very  probaUy  from  the  time  of  "  Ralph," 
the  sub  tenant  of  the  Manor  of  Worth,  under  the  Norman 

William  de  Pollei. 

By  his  second  maiTiage  (with  Eleanor,  daughter  ot 
George  Mydelton,  of  Coker,  county  Somerset),  Thomas 
Worth  became  the  father  of  several  other  children  besides 
Agnes  and  Roger  above  mentioned. 

Roger    whose  name  is   usuaUy  written  with  a  final  e, 
was,  as  I  have  said.   Mayor  of  Exeter  in  1482.     He  may 
have  inherited  property  at  Barnstaple    from  his  relative 
Walter   "Worthy,"    of    Barum,    who   is    mentioned   m 
connexion  with    an  enquiry  as    to   the   boundaries  _  be- 
tween that  parish  and  Pilton,  in  Bishop  Lacy's  register 
wherein  he  is  stated  to  have  been  60  years  of  age,   15th 
July    1435.     John  son  of  Roger  who  is  described  m  the 
visitations    as  of  Compton  Pole,   married    a   co-heir    of 
Do,lescombe,  of  Compton.  and  thus  acqun-ed  an  estate 
there,  which  descended  to  ^Otho  Worthe,  who  married 
as  I   have  already  shown   Alice  Millaton  of  Meavy,  and 
from  him   to  his   eldest  son,  John,  who  married  Agnes 
Bodley    of  Crediton,  and  whoso  posterity  were   residing 
at  Compton  when  Risdon  wrote  his  Survey.  1605-1630. 
Roger   "  Worthe,"   second   son   of  Otho,   married     Joan 

i°probably  called  after  his  neighbour  Otho  Gilbert,  of  Compton  who 
may  have  been  his  sponsor. 


1.30  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Drew,  and  represented  Barnstaple  in  the  Parliament  of 
1553,  he  became  the  father  of  three  sons,  viz.,  Paul,  who 
continued  the  line  of  Barnstaple,  and  was  probably  the 
grandfather  of  John  "Worthy,"  one  of  the  County 
Commissioners  for  the  Parliament  in  1643 — Walter, 
second  son,  mentioned  in  the  visitations  both  of 
Devonshire  and  Somerset,  and  whose  marriage  is  not 
recorded  ;  and  John,  the  ancestor  of  the  "  Worthes,"  of 
Timberscombe,  in  Somersetshire,  whose  son,  Richard, 
acquired  property  in  Lancashire,  by  his  marriage  with 
Mary,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  William  Harrison,  of 
Luccombe  (he  was  hving  in  1623).  He  left  Timberscombe 
to  his  second  son,  Richard,  whose  arms  are  duly  differenced 
with  a  mullet,  charged  with  a  crescent,  and  who  died 
17th  August,  1673.' 

The  family  of  Worthe,  also  written  Worthy,  of  Suffolk; 
were  derived  from  the  marriage  of  Peter  Worthe  younger 
brother  of  Roger,  Mayor  of  Exeter,  with  Alice, 
daughter  of  Michell,  of  Monks  Eleigh,  in  that  county. 
His  arms  are  differenced  by  an  annulet.  George  "  Worthy" 
great  grandson  of  Otho  Worthe  and  Alice  Millaton,  and 
third  son  of  John  "  Worthe  "  of  Crediton  by  his  wife 
Joan  daughter  of  Robert  Clarke,  resided  in  the  parish  of 
S.  Sidwell's  Exeter.  His  wUl  was  proved  in  the  Arch- 
deacomy  Court  of  Exeter,  January  21st,  16|f  he  mentions 
his  son  John  "  Worthy."  Stephen  Worthy  of  St.  David's, 
Exeter,  died  1727,  and  Admon.  to  his  estates  was  granted 
to  Anne  his  wife,  8th  November,  in  that  year.      He  was 


1  CoU.  Ar.  I.  24,  f.  101. 

2  MS.  Harl.  1445 


PARISH  OF  HEAVY.  131 

grandfather  of  the  late  Jonathan  Woi'thy,'  Mayor  of 
Exeter,  1799  who  is  honourably  mentioned  by  Jenkins  In 
his  history  of  that  city  for  his  energy,  and  attention  to 
the  wants  of  the  citizens,  many  of  whom  were  during 
his  year  of  office  reduced  to  great  poverty  in  consequence 
of  the  scarcity  of  provisions,  occasioned  by  the  war  with 
France,  and  by  a  partial  failure  in  the  harvest. '" 

Several  other  cadets  from  the  ancient  house  of  Wash- 
field  settled  from  time  to  time  in  Exeter,  and  I  find  from 
the  municipal  records  that  Eichard  Orenge,  Mayor  of 
Exeter  in  1455  (who  was  not  only  a  great  benefactor  to 
the  H()spital  of  S.  Mary  Magdalene  ^vithout  the  south 
gate,  but  who  ultimately  retired  to  it  and  ended  his  days 
there),  obtained  the  land  he  gave  to  that  foundation  from 
Richard  "  Worthy  "  and  his  wife  Katherine.  Their  first 
two  deeds  relate  to  the  property  in  Magdalen-street,  and 
to  a  garden  called  "  Paradys  "  there,  and  are  dated 
respectively  3rd  April,  1424,  and  18th  February,  1425-6. 

The  next,  dated  1st  of  March,  1436-7,  is  a  grant  by 
the  aforesaid  Richard  "  Worthy  "  and  Katherine  his  wife, 
to  Richard  Orenge  of  their  Toft  and  garden  in  Maudelyn- 
street,  between  the  Hospital  of  St.  Mary,  on  the  east 
south,  and  west,  and  the  street  on  the  north. 

1  His  youngnst  son  was  my  own  father  ;  the  late  Kov.  Charles  Worthy 
Vicar  of  Ashburton,  died  September  23rd,  1879.  My  sister  Elizabeth, 
EUen  Wortliy,  may  be  mentioned  here,  since  she  has  died  whilst  tlio  proofs 
of  this  portion  of  my  work  are  before  me,  having  spent  twenty-two  out 
of  the  forty  years  allotted  to  her  in  visiting  the  sick,  and  afflicted  and 
doing  good  amongst  the  poor,  first  in  the  parish  of  S.  James,  Exeter,  then 
at  Ashburton,  and  lastly  at  Nowton  Abbot  in  the  parish  of  Wolborough 
where  sliu  was  laid  to  rest  July  ■1th,  1887. 

2  Jenkins  Hist.  E.xon,  p.  225. 


132  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Tlie  last  is  dated  1st  Februaiy,  1437-8,  when  Katherine, 

before  mentioned,  makes  a  similar  grant  to  John  PoUowe, 

who  was  Gustos  of  the  said   Hospital,  as  shown  by  Dr. 

Oliver.'     The  release  by  Hichard  Orenge  of  the  property 

is  referred  to  in  the  report  of  the  Charity  Commissioners 

and  is  also  mentioned  by  Isaac  and  others  but  neither 

of  them   makes   the    slightest   allusion   to   the   original 

grantors.     Then,  again,  Francis  and  Alexander,  sons  of 

Henry  Worth,  of  Worth,  by  his  marriage  with  Elizabeth 

daughter  of  Nicholas   Fry  of  Yarty,'  he  buried   in   St, 

Petrock's  Church.    Francis  was  a  member  of  the  Common 

Council  of  Exeter,  and  died  9th  of  July,  1675,  and  his 

wife  Anna  mentioned  in  the  will  of  her  father-in-law  is 

shown  by  the  memorial  inscription  to  have  followed  him  on 

the  3rd  of  April  1686.     Alexander  Worth  was  buried  18th 

October,    1680,   and  the  monument  w^as  erected  by  their 

sister,    Mary   Worth.*      A    branch   of    this   family   was 

settled    also    at  Holdridge,   in    the   parish   of    Ideford, 

which  passed  from  them  to  the  Heles,  in  1702.     In  Bishop 

Stafford's  register  is  the  hcense,  dated  AprQ   17th,  1419, 

to  WiUiam  "  Werthe"  and  his  wife  Elizabeth  for  a  chapel 

or   oratory    within     their   mansion    there.       A     Walter 

"  Worthy  "  was  resident  at  Dartmouth  in   1302,   and  is 

a  party  to  a  deed  relative  to  S.  Saviour's  Church,  as  it  is 

commonly  called,   but  which  was  dedicated  to  the  Holy 

1  Monas.  Dice,  p.  402. 

2  Visit  of  Devon. 

*  She  had  been  made  heir  to  her  brother  Alexander,  who  under  liis 
father's  will  proved  19th  ^lay,  1680,  had  inherited  "  the  lyvinge  of 
Wood  in  the  parish  of  Uplo^vman,  then  lately  purchased  together  with 
X300  to  stock  it "  to  him  and  his  heirs  for  ever. 


PARISH  OF  MEAV7.  133 

Trinity  October  13th  that  same  year,  between  the  Abbot 
of  Tor,  of  the  first  part;  Thomas  Burgeys,  Vicar  of 
Townstall,  and  John  Hawley,  founder  of  the  new  chancel, 
of  the  second;  and  Walter  "  Worthy,"  and  other  lYArish- 
ioners  of  Townstall  of  the  3rd. 

The  Strodes  Uke  their  kinsfolk  at  Washfield  have 
continued  to  reside  amidst  their  ancestral  property  at 
PJympton  to  the  present  time,  although  the  old  seat  at 
Newnham  Is  now  occupied  as  a  farm,  and  the  present 
mansion,  called  Newnham  Park,  was  built  in  the  first 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  "  upon  an  adjoining 
manor  called  Loughtor  x\hich  at  an  early  period  had 
belonged  for  some  descents  to  the  family  of  Le  Abbe, 
and  was  afterwards  acquired  by  marriage  with  a 
daughter  of  a  younger  branch  of  the  Courtenays.* 

It  is  a  coincidence  worth  noticing  that  a  branch  of  the 
family  of  Le  Abbe,  or  Abbot,  were  also  lords  of  the 
manor  of  Waslifield  at  a  very  early  date,  and  it  wa^ 
certainly  their  property  in  the  reiga  of  Henry  TIL,  Anno. 
1242  ;  at  which  period  the  Worths  are  also  shown  to 
have  been  resident  on  the  manor  there,  from  which  their 
name  is  derived,  the  "  Wrde  "  or  "  Worde,"  of  Domesday 
which  from  Saward  the  Saxon  passed  at  the  Conquest  to 
William  de  Poillei,  under  whom  it  was  held  by  "  Ralph," 
thenceforth  "  De  Worthe."  Walter  Abbot,  however,  pre- 
sented to  the  Rectory  in  1335,  1342,  and  1343,  but  in 
1368  Hugh  Beauchamp,  of  White  Lackington,  appears  to 
have  succeeded  them,  since  Gregory  Joyet  was  mstltuted 
on    his    presentation    on   the    12th    of    June  in  that 

1  Mag.  Brit.  Devon,  2  iU. 


134  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

year.'  The  advowson  came  to  the  Worth  family  by  the 
marriage  of  Robert  Worth  (whose  son,  Thomas,  had  the 
patronage  in  1410)  with  the  daughter,  and  ultimately  the 
heir  of  William  Beauchamp,  of  White  Lackington  afore- 
said. 

Mrs.  Lloyd  Worth,  only  daughter  and  ultimately  heir 
of  the  late  John  Worth  of  Worth,  exercised  this  right  of 
patronage  as  recently  as   1884,  when,    upon    the  death 
of  her  husband,  the  late  rector  she  presented   the  Hon. 
and  Rev.  A.  F.  Northcote  to  the  rectory    of  Washfield. 

Richard  Strode,  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  Courte- 
nay,  made  an  illustrious  alliance,  since  he  married  Frances, 
the  daughter  of  Gregory,  Lord  Cromwell,  and  Elizabeth 
Seymour,  his  wife,  sister  to  Edward,  Duke  of  Somerset, 
and  cousin  german  to  King  Edward  VI,  whereby  his  issue 
became  related  to  the  Royal  family. 

In  a  note  to  the  1810  edition  of  Prince  it  is  stated 
that  "it  appears  by  an  ancient  book  dated  1579,  that 
William  Strode  by  Elizabeth  Courtenay,  his  wife,  had 
eleven  sons  and  seven  daughters,  but  it  is  not  probable 
that  they  all  lived  to  maturity.' 

His  second  grandson,  Sir  WiUiam  Strode,  "  of  Meavy 
Church,"  (Risdoil^wrote  his  history)  was  twice  mamed, 
first  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  Southcote,  of  Bovey 
Tracey,  and  secondly  to  Dyonisia,  a  daughter  of  Glanville. 

1  Ep.  Register?  Exon. 

2  I  have  endeavoured  to  correct  this  note  where  necessary.  Richard 
Strode  vas  the  eldest,  and  imheritcd  Newiiham  and  also  Chalmington 
in  Dorset.  Julm  Strode  the  third  son,  was  of  Tavistock.  He  spent 
much  of  his  time  ahout  London,  and  was  accounted  the  best  bowler  in 
England. 


PARISH  OF  MEAVY.  135 

He  died  on  the  27th  of  June,  1637,  iu  the  76th  year  of 
his  aee.  His  second  son  Wilham,  who  erected  a  menu- 
ment  to  his  memory  in  the  church  of  Plympton  St.  Mary, 
acquired  some  celebrity  as  a  poUtician  during  the  troublous 
times  in  which  he  lived.  Many  of  his  family,  from  the 
reign  of  Henry  VI.  downwards,  had  represented  Plympton 
in  Parliament,  and  he  sat  either  for  that  borough  or  for 
Beer  Alston  during  the  short  Parliaments  of  the  com- 
mencement of  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  and  he  had 
BO  far  particularised  himself  by  his  opposition  to  the 
Crown  as  to  be  included  m  the  number  of  those  members 
who  were  simimoned  with  Sir  John  Eliot  before  the  Privy 
Council  inmiediately  after  .the  dissolution  of  the  third, 
of  these  (March  10th,  1629).  Strode  did  not  answer,  but  a 
proclamation  was  issued  for  his  apprehension,  and  upon  Ms 
capture  he  was  first  committed  to  the  King's  Bench,  and 
was  afterwards  removed  to  the  Tower.  At  the  sub- 
sequent trial  all  of  them  (Eliot,  HoUis,  Valentine,  and 
Strode)  refused  to  plead  at  the  bar  of  an  inferior  court  in 
defence  of  their  conduct  in  a  superior,  and  they  were 
condemned,  some  to  fine,  and  all  to  imprisonment  during 
the  King's  pleasure.  Sir  John  Eliot  died  in  custody,  and 
the  duration  of  Strode's  imprisonment  is  uncertain,  but 
it  is  stated  that  no  fine  was  inflicted  upon  him. 

He  next  appears  as  a  candidate  for  the  representation  of 
Beer  iUston,  and  was  returned  for  that  borough  in  1640, 
and  thus  became  a  member  of  that  fimious  assembly 
known  in  history  as  tiie  Long  Parliament.  Associated 
with  some  of  his  former  friends  he  soon  rendered  himself 
conspicuous,  and  was  one  of  those  who  formed  the  un- 
precedented  committee   appointed  in   September,    1G41, 


130  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

"  to  sit  during  the  recess  and  transact  such  business  as 
they  should  be  authorised  to  do  by  their  instructions." 
When  the  House  re-assembled  Strode  at  once  assumed  an 
hostile  attitude  towards  the  Crown,  and  Clarendon  (who 
it  is  almost  needless  to  say  especially  disliked  him),  re- 
marks that  "  he  was  one  of  the  fiercest  of  the  popular 
party,  and  of  the  party  only  for  his  fierceness."  And, 
again,  when  commenting  on  the  arrest  of  the  five  members 
the  noble  historian  remarks  "  that  if  the  measure  had 
been  justifiable  the  individual  selection  was  indiscreet, 
for  Hazlerig  and  Strode  were  but  persons,  of  too  low  an 
account  and  esteem."  As  T  have  shewn,  Strode  was  not 
of  low  consideration  as  far  as  birth  was  concerned,  but 
although  a  ready  speaker,  he  was  ^^erhaps  inferior  to  his 
renowned  colleagues,  Plym,  HoUis  and  Hampden.  On 
the  30th  January,  1642,  the  Attorney- General  came  to 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  in  his  Majesty's  name  entered  an 
accusation  against  Lord  Kimbolton.  and  five  members  of 
the  Commons — Hollis,  Sir  Arthur  Hazlerig,  Hampden, 
Pym,  and  Strode.  The  speech  of  the  latter  in  his  own 
defence  is  preserved  in  the  History  of  the  Parliamentary 
proceedings. 

It  is  not  known  whether  he  joined  the  army,  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  civil  war,  in  a  military  or  Parliamentary 
capacity,  however  he  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Edge- 
hill,  in  Warwickshire  (October  23rd,  1642),  and  can-ied 
the  dispatches  relative  to  that  indecisive  contest  to  the 
Parliament,  and  by  his  description  of  the  fight  aflbrded 
the  house  a  pretext  for  ascribing  to  themselves  the  \'ictory. 
His  name  does  not  afterwards  occur  in  connection  with 
this  eventful  period,  nor  did  he  live  to  witness  the  death 


PARISH  OF  HEAVY.  137 

of  the  King  or  the  conclusion  of  the  contest  in  which 
he  had  been  engaged.  He  died  in  September,  1G45. 
He  was  twice  married,  and  had  in  all  ten  children, 
and  of  these  Sydney  (his  fifth  son  by  his  second  wife) 
alone  left  male  issue. 

It  is  shown  by  an  indenture,  dated  20th  March,  1673, 
that  this  Sir  WiUiara  Strode  granted  to  his  son  Charles 
the  capital  messuage  and  tenement  known  as  "Truelove," 
situated  in  the  parish  of  Shaugh,  for  a  term  of  140  years, 
to  commence  immediately  after  the  death  of  the  grantor, 
under  a  i-ent  of  £3  1 9s.  4d.  The  term  afterwards  came 
to  a  Mr.  Mabbott,  who  is  believed  to  have  married  Ellen, 
the  only  child  of  Charles  Strode,  and  it  afterwards  be- 
longed to  the  Mabbots,  of  Bulmarsh,  Berks. 

The  elder  line  of  Strode  terminated  27th  August,  1767 
when  Newnham  Park  passed  to  the  heir  male  Richard 
Strode,  of  Boterford,  son  of  William  Strode  by  his  wife 
Mary  Anne  Cholwich  grandson  and  heir  of  George 
Strode,  of  Boterford,  son  and  heir  of  John  Strode  of 
London,  second  son  of  William  Strode  of  LTgborough, 
son  and  heir  of  Sampson  Strode,  rector  of  Dittsham,  ob. 
1631,  who  was  tenth  son  of  William  Strode,  of  Newnham 
and  of  his  wife  Ehzabeth  Courtenav. 

Eichard  Strode  married  Admonition,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Lear,  of  Sandwell,  co.  Devon,  and  had  issue 
four  sons  and  two  daughters  ;  1st  William  Strode  his  heir. 
2nd,  Richai'd  ;  3rd,  George,  who  both  succeeded  to  the 
pi'operty  ;    4th,  Thomas  Lear  Strode  died  unmarried. 

Mary  Anne  married  Rev.  John  Arscott. 

Admonition  married  Valentine  Hewlett. 

Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Strode  in  1790 — He  was  suc- 

T 


138  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

ceeded  by  liis  eldest  son  William,  who  died  uiimarried  iu 
1802  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  the  Rev.  Richard 
Strode,  who  married  Harriet,  eldest  daughter  of  Sir 
Frederick  Leaman  Rogers,  Bart.,  and  had  issue  four 
daughters.  He  was  followed  by  his  brother  George 
Strode,  born  l9th  of  January,  1780,  manied  TZth 
September,  1821,  Dorothy  Bird,  daughter  of  WiUiam 
Symons,  Esq.,  of  Chaddlewood  and  had  issue,  a  son 
and  two  daughters,  George  Sidney  Strode  born  4th 
October,  1829  ;  married  1858  Mary,  daughter  of  Sir  W. 
C.  Medlycott,  Bart.,  of  Ven  House,  co.  Somerset  and  died 
8.p.  1874. 

The  Misses  Strode  now  reside  at  Newnham. 

I  should  mention  another  and  an  earlier  member  of 
this  ancient  family,  although  he  lived  at  a  date  anterior 
to  the  possession  of  the  manor  of  Heavy  by  his  race  ;  I 
mean  Sir  Richard  Strode,  one  of  the  Parliamentary  repre- 
sentatives of  Plympton  in  the  year  1512,  and  I  suppose 
him  to  have  been  the  grandfather  of  Richard,  the  husband 
of  Agnes  Millaton.  He  endeavoured  to  procure  an  Act  for 
the  protection  of  the  western  harbours  from  the  injuries 
caused  by  the  stream  works.  He  himself  had  an  interest 
in  the  tin  mines  of  this  county,  and  he  thus  rendered  him- 
self peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  stannators,  who  prosecuted 
him  for  imputed  crimes  against  the  Stannary  laws  in  the 
Court  at  Crockern  Tor,  and  fined  him  in  heavy  penalties 
which  he  refused  to  pay.  He  was  thereupon  thrown  into 
the  prison  of  Lidford  Castle,  which  was  descriljed  in  the 
order  of  Parliament  by  which  he  obtained  redress  for  his 
ill-treatment  as  "  one  of  the  most  hanious,  contagious,  and 
detestable   places  in   the  realm."     He  was  kept   in  this 


PARISH  OF  MEAVY.  139 

dungeon  for  more  than  three  weeks,  and  fed  only  on  bread 
and  water.  But  as  Lysons  remarks,  "  This  case  of  daring 
outrage  gave  occasion  to  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  some  of  the  most  important  privileges  of 
Pai-liameut." 

Prince,  in  the  Worthies  of  Devon,  gives  us  an  account 
of  William  Strode,  D.D.,  Public  Orator  of  the  University 
of  Oxford,  who  was  born  about  the  year  IGOO.  He 
appears  to  have  been  the  son  of  Philip,  sixth  son  of 
William  Strode  and  Elizabeth  Courtenay.  Unlike  his 
cousin,  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  he  seems  to  have  been 
faithful  to  his  King,  who  had  procured  his  installation  as  a 
Canon  of  Christ  Church  on  the  1st  July,  1638.  When 
the  King  reassembled  his  first  Parliament  at  Oxford  in 
consequence  of  that  dreadful  epidemic  known  as  the  plague 
which  threatened  the  capital  in  1625,  Dr.  Strode  welcomed 
bis  Majesty  to  Christ  Church,  and  his  oration  on  that 
occasion  commenced  with  the  words  "  Maximorum  optime 
et  optimorum  maxime  Rex,"  and  on  the  same  night  after 
supper  the  college  entertained  the  Royal  party  with  a 
comedy  from  his  pen,  entitled  "  The  Passions  Calm'd ;  or 
the  Settling  of  the  Floating  Island,'  (Lon.  4to,  1655.)  He 
resided  at  the  University  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  died 
on  the  10th  April,  1644,  aged  43  ;  he  was  buried  in  the 
Divinity  Chapel  of  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  without  any 
sepulchral  monument. 

The  manor  of  Good-a-Meavy  (anciently  God-Mewy), 
belonged  formerly  to  the  Pomeroys  but  is  no^^'  the  property 
and  residence  of  Mrs.  Scobell. 

The  two  manors  of  Callisham  and  Durance  which  still 
belong  to  the    Drakes   were   possil)ly   acquired   by   the 

r 


140  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

marriage  of  Jane,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Sir  William 
Strode,  who  resided  at  Meavy,  with  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
1st  Bai't.  The  Drake  manor  house  now  used  as  a  farm 
has  been  partly  taken  down.  It  was  built  in  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  and  once  presented  the  form  of  the  letter  E. 
Sir  Francis  Drake  is  the  present  owner. 


PARISH  OF  HEAVY.  141 


CHAPTER  v.— PART  III. 


The  Parish  of  Meavy.— Meavy  Church. 
The  parish  church  of  Meavy  is  dedicated  to  St.  Peter, 
and  comprehends  chancel,  nave  opening  into  the  south 
aisle  beneath  three  arches  of  different  widths,  supported 
upon   clustered      perpendicular    columns;  a      transept, 
separated  from  the  aisle  by  another  arch  ;  a  south  chancel 
chapel,   probably    origmally   dedicated    to  the   Blessed 
Virgin,  but  now  known  as  the  Drake  aisle  ;  a  south  porch 
and  a  tower  at  the  western  end  containing  six  bells.    The 
chancel  appears  to  be  Early  English,    and  the   eastern 
window  is  of  this  date,  but  during  the  recent  restoration 
the  north  pier   of  the  chancel  arch  was  deiuided  of  its 
many  coatings  of  plaster  and  whitewash,  and  was  found 
to  be  a  relic  of  a  church  much  earlier  than  ai^y  portion  of 
the  present  fabric.      It  is  in  alternate  quoins  of  dunstone 
and  red  sandstone,  and  is  carved  with  rams'  heads,   a 
mode  of  decoration  much  practised  by  Norman  builders. 
The  new  organ  chamber  immediately  to  the  east  of  this 
pier  is  separated  from  the  chancel  by  an  Early  English 
arch,  also  recently  discovered  and  re-opened. 

A  piscina  with  a  credence  shelf  and  the  ancient  priest's 


142  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

door  remain  in  tlieir  proper  positions.  There  is  a  hagio- 
scope between  the  chancel  and  the  south  chantry  chapel, 
which  latter  has  been  rebuilt,  but  all  the  stones  were 
numbered  and  reset  in  their  former  positions. 

Two  of  its  windows  are  Early  English,  and  amongst 
the  bosses  in  its  roof  I  noticed  a  woman's  head  with  a 
mouse  coming  out  of  her  ear,  a  lioness,  a  dying  stag,  and 
a  head  of  the  Saviour  with  square  nimbus. 

This  portion  of  the  church  was  for  some  years  used  as 
a  place  of  interment  by  the  family  of  Drake,  and  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  third  Baronet  was  buried  here,  and 
hence  it  has  acquired  the  name  of  the  "  Drake  aisle." 
The  stairs  which  anciently  led  to  the  rood  loft  and  the 
doors  of  ingress  and  exit  still  remain  on  the  north  side. 

The  font,  of  Decorated  date,  is  octagonal,  and  is  orna- 
mented with  shields  charged  with  the  sword  in  bend,  and 
the  keys  in  saltire. 

The  ribs  of  the  oak  roof  all  slope  inwards  towai'ds  the 
sanctuary,  and  the  windows  on  the  north  side  are  late 
Per]3endicular. 

The  porch  contains  a  fine  example  of  an  aspersorium, 
in  the  form  of  a  grotesque  head  ;  the  ancient  stone  seats 
are  still  preserved,  and  the  doorways  open  beneath  acutely 
pointed  ai-ches,  the  interior  one  is  still  surmounted  by  an 
image  bracket. 

The  tower  of  15th  century  date,  is  square  and  embattled 
and  has  four  small  pinnacles  ;  the  western  doorway  is 
square-headed,  with  quatrefoiled  spanch'ils  and  a  pecu- 
liaily  deep  weather  moulding  ;  the  stairs  are  carried  up 
in  a  square  external  turret,  and  there  is  a  similar  pro- 
jection  on   the  north  side  of  the   church  provided   for 


PARISH  OF  MEAVY.  143 

admission  to  the  rood  loft.  Through  the  exertions  of  a 
late  rector,  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Catton,  this  interesting 
church  was  restored  in  1874  at  a  cost  of  £704. 

In  front  of  the  lych  gate  is  a  very  ancient  oak  tradi- 
tionally reputed  in  this  county  to  be  thirteen  hundred 
years  old.  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  authentic 
information  in  existence  as  to  its  age,  although  many  con- 
jectures (some  of  them  apparently  extravagant)  have 
been  hazarded  in  connection  with  it.  The  circumference 
of  the  trunk  is  very  great,  but  it  is  so  hollowed  that  it 
appears  to  be  supported  by  the  outward  shell  connected 
with  the  roots.  The  top  appears  to  be  dead,  but  the 
wide  spi"eading  branches  are  still  "  verdant  yearly."  Mrs. 
Bray  "  doubts  not  that  It  witnessed  the  Saxon  heptarchy 
if  not  the  Roman  conquest,"  and  in  support  of  her  theory 
adduces  the  now  well  known  fact  that  in  the  survey  of 
Dartmoor,  made  soon  after  the  conquest,  the  oaks  in 
Wistman's  Wood  are  described  very  much  as  they  appear 
at  present.* 

The  stepped  base  of  the  village  cross  still  remains 
under  this  tree.  The  prevalent  idea  that  the  long  stone 
built  into  the  wall  over  the  south  transept  is  its  missing 
shaft  is  absurd.  The  stone  in  question,  which  is  marked 
with  a  long  croSs  crosslet,  was  originally  a  gravestone, 
and  once  doubtless  covered  the  last  resting  place  of  an 
ecclesiastic,  most  probably  of  an  early  rector  of  Meavy. 

A  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  Matthew  was  licensed  in 
this  parish  by  Bishop  Lacy,  November  23rd,  1333. 

In  an  episcopal  confirmation  of  churches  and  chapels  to 

'  Trad,  of  Devon,  vol.  iii.  p.  97. 


144  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

the  "  Monastery  ofPlympton"'  there  Is  mention  made  of 
one  mark  paid  from  the  rectory  of  Meavy  to  the   prior, 
who  received  this  pension  up  to  the  period  of  the  dissolu- 
tion, as   shown   by   the  "  Valor."     "  Rectoria  de  Mewy. 
Percipit  annuatim  unam  annualem  peucionem  de  rectoria 
predicfca  per  annum  xiiis.  iiijd." 

In  the  taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  a.d.  1291,  the 
rectory  of  Meavy  was  valued  at  £4  13s.  4d,  per  annum, 
and  the  pension  of  13s.  4d.  was  then  likewise  paid  to  the 
Prior  ofPlympton.  In  the  year  1535  Thomas  Hardying 
was  the  rector,  and  the  then  yearly  value  of  his  j^i-efer- 
ment  after  the  outgoings  had  been  paid,  amounted  to 
£13  5  s.  The  Eev.  J.  W.  Catton  was  instituted  to  the 
rectory  of  Meavy  in  1872,  and  I  have  to  thank  him  for 
his  kindness  and  attention  when  I  visited  his  parish  and 
church  during  the  progress  of  the  work  of  restoration. 
There  is  a  good  parsonage  house  and  twenty-five  acres  of 
glebe.  The  tithe-rent  charge  amounts  to  £228  per 
annum,  and  the  patronage  of  the  rectory  belongs  to  the 
Lord  Chancellor.  Mr.  Catton  vacated  Meavy  upon 
appointment  to  the  rectory  of  Norton  Malreward  in 
diocese  of  Bath  and  Wells,  1870;  The  present  rector  is 
the  Rev.  W.  A.  G.  Gray.  The  eax-ly  registers  are  missing. 
Those  which  have  been  preserved  commence  alike  in 
1654,  and  are  not  carefully  entered. 

At  the  end  of  the  year  1G.52  an  order  was  received 
fi'om  the  Parliament  requiring  the  existing  register  books 
to  be  discontinued,  and  orderirg  the  j^rovisiun  of  a  new 
book  for  the  reception  of"  births,  marriages,  and  bimals." 
Marriages  were  then  made  civil  contracts,  and  were 
1  Grandison's  Keg.  vol.  ii.,  fol  12. 


FARISH  OF  MEAVY.  145 

required  to  be  celebrated  before  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
The  preamble  of  this  Act  is  pieserved  in  the  earliest 
register  at  Meavy,  and  is  signed  by  John  Elford,  of 
Sheepstor,  akeady  referred  to  in  these  pages,  in  his 
magisterial  capacity.  To  a  man  who  frequently,  we  are 
told,  was  compelled  to  secrete  himself  amongst  the  rocks 
of  Sheepstor  to  avoid  capture,  this  order  must  have  been 
pecuUarly  distasteful,  and  he  has  left  us  certain  proof  that 
it  was  so  since  beneath  his  signature  he  has  boldly 
written  the  following  words  : — '^  A  scevitia  et  ignorantia, 
Puritanica  libera  nos  domine."  ("From  cruelty  and 
Puritanical  ignorance,  O  Lord  deliver  us.") 

This  little  parish  appears  to  have  had  its  full  share  of 
the  troubles  of  this  period.  The  then  rector  told  the 
author  of  "  The  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy "  (published 
1714),  "that  his  immediate  predecessor,  Mr.  Joseph 
Shute,  Cambridge  bred,"  was  at  Meavy  sixty  years,  and 
was  continually  harassed  by  the  Puritans,  and  was  once 
seized  and  carried  prisoner  to  Plymouth  and  plundered  of 
his  possessions. 

On  a  particular  Sunday  many  of  his  parishioners  con- 
spired, to  keep  him  out  of  his  church,  and  upon  his 
endeavouring  to  enter  by  the  chancel  door  a  man  called 
John  Blanchard  caught  his  leg  in  it.  Another  person, 
Richard  Moses,  pushed  him  back  from  the  porch  and 
nearly  killed  him  ;  and  the  intrepid  priest,  finding  that 
he  was  unable  to  effect  an  entrance,  went  to  the  village 
cross  and  preached  there  a  sermon  alluding  to  the  plot 
against  St.  Paul,  "  That  there  were  more  than  forty  who 
made  this  conspiracy."  Mr.  Shute  does  not  appear  to 
have  ever  been  actually  dispossessed.  He  lived  to 
u 


146  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

witness  the  restoration  of  King  Charles  II.,  and  brought 
an  action  against  the  aforesaid  Eichard  Moses,  in  which  he 
was  successful ;  but  his  biographer  says  :  "  That  out  of 
his  religious  nature  he  forgave  him  upon  easy  terms." 

Blanchard  is  stated  to  have  "  been  smitten  with  an 
incurable  ulcer  in  his  leg,  which  brought  him  to  his 
grave  "  immediately  after  his  assault  on  his  rector. 

There  ai'e  several  interesting  examples  of  early  domestic 
ai'chitecture  to  be  found  in  this  village. 

The  charming  account  given  by  the  late  Mrs.  Bray  in 
the  Traditions  of  Devon,  both  of  this  village  and  of 
Sheepstor,  wUl  be  familiar  to  many  of  my  readers,  and  I 
may  mention  that  I  sent  her  my  two  first  articles 
upon  Meavy  in  1876  which  she  acknowledged  in  the 
following  letter  which  as  every  tiling  from  her  pen  is 
now  valuable,  I  make  no  apology  for  inserting  here. 
At  the  time  she  wrote  16th  November,  1876,  she  was 
eighty-seven  years  of  age. 

"  I  beg  you  to  accept  my  best  thanks  for  your  papers 
received  this  morning  on  the  parish  of  Meavy — well  do  I 
remember  that  most  interesting  lovely  valley,  and  the 
venerable  oak  in  the  last  stage  of  its  decay.  My  old 
friend  Sir  Robert  Collier,  amongst  his  many  and  great 
gifts  being  that  of  fine  feeling  and  skill  with  the 
pencil,  very  lately  bi'ought  me  one  of  his  most  beautiful 
drawings  of  Meavy.  Your  gift  mvist  remain  tiU  I  can  get 
some  one  to  read  it  to  me,  for  in  addition  to  considerable 
indisposition  I  am  sadly  suftering  from  an  afiection  of  the 
eyes.  I  am  under  very  skilful  surgical  care  and  at 
present  (indeed  for  some  time  past)  am  allowed,  on  very 
bright  days  to  use  my  eyes  only  about  three  hours  by 


PARISH  OF  ATEAVY.  147 

day-light,  and  not  at  all  by  candle  light,  all  pale  printing, 
all  small  type  absolutely  forbidden.  If  1  obey  these  orders 
it  is  hoped  my  left  eye  may  be  spared  to  me  if  God  spares 
my  life ;  the  right  tho'  not  blind  is  useless  to  me  for 
reading.  This  must  be  my  apology  for  thanking  you  for 
what  you  have  so  kindly  sent  to  me  when  at  this  moment 
I  have  not  attempted  to  read  it. 

From  age  and  declining  health  I  shall  never  more  see 
lovely  Devon,  that  land  of  flowers  and  song,  but  I  love  it 
in  my  heart,  and  I  hope  am  thankful  to  a  good  providence 
for  the  many  happy  years  I  passed  in  it.  Pardon  all 
this  about  self,  and  wishing  you  all  health  to  enjoy  your 
literary  pursuits  allow  me  to  remain  very  tridy  yours, 

Anna  Eliza  Bray. 

This  letter  is  in  the  gifted  lady's  hand-writing  through- 
out. She  survived  until  the  2 1st  January,  1883,  and  her 
sight  must  have  considerably  improved,  for  in  1879  when 
ninety  years  of  age  she  undertook,  and  carried  through 
the  press  a  revised  edition  of  her  well  known  work  "  The 
Traditions  of  Devon." 

Tliere  is  a  National  School  at  Meavy  built  in  1837, 
and  attended  by  about  40  children. 


V' 


148  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  VI.— PART  I. 

The  Parish  of  St.  Peter  Tavy.  —General 
Description  and  History. 

Tavy  St.  Peter,  commonly  called  Petertavy,  situated, 
in  the  hundred  of  Roborough,  the  deanery  of  Tavistock 
late  Tamerton  and  in  the  same  archdeaconry,  is  nearly  four 
miles  north-east  of  Tavistock.  It  is  a  picturesque  village, 
lying  in  the  valley  of  the  river  Tavy,  and  its  situation  in 
the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  important  mining  districts  in 
the  county  enables  it  to  aftbrd  ready  accommodation  for 
miners  and  other  operatives,  and  consequently  the  number 
of  the  inhabitants  constantly  varies.  In  White's  History 
and  Directory  of  Devonshire,  published  in  1850,  it  is 
stated  that  "  it  has  in  its  parish  587  souls  and  about 
6,000  acres  of  land,  of  which  91  souls  and  about  2,450 
acres  are  in  Willsworthy  hamlet,  a  high  moorland  district 
in  Lifton  Hundred,  six  miles  from  Tavistock."  Accordmg 
to  the  parochial  records  a  survey,  made  in  1781,  proved 
that  the  population  then  numbered  222  ;  houses  47  ; 
families  40  ;  whilst  the  census  returns  for  1881  give  288 
persons  dispersed  over  2,605  acres  of  land. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor  the  manor  of 
Tavi  appertained  to  one  Bristwit  Camesone,  and  (accord- 
ing to  the  Exeter  Domesday)  passed  at  the  Conquest  into 


PARISH  OF  S.  PETER  TAV7.  149 

the  hands  of  Judhel  under  whom,  it  appears  to  have 
been  held  by  Nigel.  Judhel  or  Juhel,  a  trusted  follower 
of  William  the  Conqueror,  and  high  in  his  master's  favour 
was  rewarded  with  the  important  barony  of  Totnes,  and 
is  always  styled  Judhel  or  Juhel  de  Tot^nais  ;  he  was 
accused  of  treason,  banished  the  realm,  and  outlawed  by 
William  Rufus,  and  all  his  estates  were  of  course  seques- 
trated. Petertavy  afterwards  became  one  of  the 
members  of  the  important  barony  of  Hurdwick,  or  as  it 
was  anciently  written  Wrdiete.  Hurdwick  from  time 
immemorial  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Tavistock,  and 
when  Richard  Banham,  abbot  of  that  magnificent  monas- 
tery, obtained  from  King  Henry  VIII.  on  the  22rd 
January,  1513,  the  right  of  sitting  in  Pai-liament  and  the 
honoui-s,  pi-ivileges,  and  liberties  belonging  to  spiritual 
lords  he  was  called  to  the  upper  House  by  the  title  of 
Baron  of  Hurdwick. 

In  the  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  we  read  that  the  abbot  and 
convent  of  Tavistock  derived  an  income  of  £221  lis.  4^d 
from  the  Manor  of  Hurdwick  alone,  and  it  is  thus  de- 
scribed in  that  document : — (Translation) — "  Manor  of 
Hurdwick  with  the  Hundred,  and  its  members,  forsooth 
Milton  Abbot,  Wyke  Dabernon,  Wliitchurch,  Hele, 
Peterstavy,  Brentor,  in  the  county  of  Devon ;  and 
Antony,  in  the  county  of  Cornwall." 

The  Abbot  had  the  right  of  inflicting  capital  punish- 
ment within  the  Manor  of  Hurdwick,  and  that  he 
occasionally  exercised  it  is  proved  by  another  entry  in  the 
above  mentioned  "Valor."  (Translation)— "  With  12s.  4d. 
(from  the  return  of  one  messuage  and  from  the  moiety  of 
one  furlong  of  land  in  Hele,  within  the  parish  of  Tavi- 


150  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

stock)  per  annum,  which  lately  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 

aforesaid  abbot  by  reason   of  sequestration  through  the 

death  of  Elizeus  Hanworthy,  lately  hanged    for  felony 

committed  by  him." 

"  In  the  Manor  of  Hurdwick,  in  the  same  Hundred,  i.e. 

Tavistock,  they  have  gallows,  from  what  date  is  beyond 

memory."' 

The  abbot  of  Tavistock  had  assize  of  bread  and  beer, 
a  pillory,  and  ducking  stool  ("  Tomborellam"),  in  the 
aforesaid  borough    (Tavistock),    from  time  immemorial.* 

The  Hundred  of  Tavistock  was  sometimes  styled  the 
Hundred  of  Hurdwick,  as  proved  by  the  conveyance  of 
the  lands  of  the  Abbey  to  John,  Lord  Russell — "  Ac 
hundredum  nostrum  de  Hurdewyke,  alias  dictum  Hun- 
dred de  Tavistoke."  The  Manor  of  Huntingdon,  within 
the  parish  of  Tavy  St.  Peter,  was  also  an  appendage  of 
Hurdwick,  and  likewise  belonged  to  the  abbot  and 
convent  above  mentioned.  Huntingdon  must  have  been 
the  "  Uhu-edintone  "  of  Domesday  which  passed  from  the 
hands  of  Earl  Harold  into  those  of  William  the  Conqueror. 

The  Manor  of  Willsworthy  (anciently  ^\^'itten  Wages- 
felle),  an  appendage  of  Petertavy,  was  the  property  of 
Judhel  du  Tot^nais  in  1086,  and,  like  "  Tavi "  itself,  was 
held  under  him  by  Nigel. 

Upon  the  suppression  of  the  Abbey  of  Tavistock,  on 
March,  20th,  1539,  King  Henry  VIII.  granted  a  principal 
part  of  the  estates,  including  the  Manors  of  Petertavy 
and  Huntingdon  to  John,  Lord  Piussell,  to  be  held  by  him 
and  his  heirs,  from  the  king  and  his  successoi's,  by  the 

1  Rotuli  Hundredorum,  3rd,  Ed.  1st. 

2  Placita  de  quo  Warn 


PARISH  OF  S.  PETER  TAVY.  151 

service  of  oue  knU^ht's  fee ;  and  by  paying  yearly,  at 
Michaelmas,  the  sum  of  £3G,  these  manors  have  descended 
in  an  mibrokeii  line  to  his  Grace  the  present  Duke  of 
Bedford. 

The  Manor  of  Willsworthy,  according  to  the  authors 
of  the  additions  to  Risdon,  was  some  years  in  the 
possession  of  the  family  of  Tremayne.  I  am  unable  to 
say  whether  that  family  obtained  it  at  the  dissolution  of 
monasteries,  but  I  do  not  find  its  name  in  the  list 
of  the  property  sold  to  Lord  Eussell.  Westcote  states, 
"  Here  Fohot  anciently,  and  Fountain  lately,  were  seized 
of  lauds  "  ;  as  regards  the  latter,  they  probably  obtained 
them  by  a  marriage  with  a  daughter  of  Carswell,  since 
early  in  the  seventeenth  century  William  Fountain,  of 
Ugborough,  married  Mary,  daughter  of  John  Carswell, 
of  Petertavy,  and  had  issue — Hugh,  Margai-et,  and 
Elizabeth. 

There  is  no  proof,  however,  that  they  lived  at  "Wills- 
worthy,  nor  have  I  found  any  clue  as  to  the  actual 
name  of  their  estate. 

I  am  not  sure  whether  I  ought  to  include  the  adjacent 
Manor  of  Cudlipptown  in  this  account  of  Petertavy. 
There  were  many  debates  in  Parliament  concerning  it  in 
the  session  of  1832,  and  it  was  finally  thought  proper  to 
cut  out  that  extensive  property  from  the  parish  of  Tavi- 
stock (to  which  it  then  belonged),  so  that  the  new  fran- 
chise under  the  Reform  Bill  then  about  to  pass  should 
not  be  extended  to  the  people  there  residing. 

Cudlipptown,  without  doubt  the  "Culitone  "  of  Domes- 
day, was  ancient  Crown  land,  and  held  by  the  King  in 
^  View  of  Devon,  p.  366. 


152  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

demesne  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  It  was 
most  probably  given  to  the  abbot  and  convent  of  Tavi- 
stock by  William  the  Conqueror — it  was  certainly  in  the 
hands  of  the  monks  in  the  reign  of  William  Rufus,  who 
confirmed  the  grants  of  some  of  their  land.  Abbot 
Wymund  or  Guimund,  the  abbot,  in  his  reign  alienated 
unjustly  a  portion  of  the  abbey  property,  and  bestowed 
"  Cudelipe  "  upon  his  brother  WilUam.  He  was  deposed 
by  St.  Anselm  for  simony  in  the  year  1102. 

King  Henry  I,  between  the  years  1114  and  1120, 
restored  Cudlipp  to  the  Abbot.  The  following  is  a  transla- 
tion of  the  portion  of  the  Charter  bearing  upon  this 
subject : — "  Henry,  King  of  England  to  William,  Bishop 
of  Exeter  (WilKam  Warelwarst),  and  to  Eichard,  son  of 
Baldwin,  the  sheriff,  and  to  all  his  faithful  (subjects)  of 
Devon  and  Cornwall,  greeting.  I  will,  and  order  you  and 
absolutely  insist  that  you  instantly  return  to  the  domain 
of  my  church  of  Tavistock,  Rueberge  (Roborough)  and 
Cudelipe,  which  Wymund  unjustly  delivered  to  his 
brother  William." 

This  Manor  was  in  the  EoUe  family  in  the  17  th  century, 
and  was  afterwards  successively  in  those  of  Sawle  and 
FeUowes.  Henry  Arthur  Fellowes,  Esq.,  in  1789, 
conveyed  it  to  Peter  Reddichffe,  yeoman,  from  wdiom 
it  was  purchased  in  the  year  1808  by  the  late  Mr.  Bray, 
and  descended  from  him  to  his  son,  the  Eev.  Edward 
Atkins  Bray,  late  vicar,  of  Tavistock. 


PARISH  OF  S.  PETER  TAV7.  153 


CHAPTER  VI.— PART   II. 


Thk  Pahish  of  S.  Peter  Tavy. — The  Parish  Church. 

The  parish  church,  standing  in  a  well-kept  church-yard 
in  the  centre  of  the  village,  is  dedicated  to  S.  Peter  and 
comprises  chancel,  nave  opening  into  north  aisle  beneath 
three  obtuse  arches  supported  upon  clustered  pillars  of 
late  Perpendicular  date,  and  into  a  south  transept  under 
what  is  generally  known  as  a  "  horse  shoe  arch,"  a  south 
porch,  and  a  handsome  octagonal  tower  at  the  western 
end  containing  five  bells. 

Upon  entering  the  sacred  structure  I  was  glad  to  find 
that  it  had  been  carefully  restored,  but  regretted  that  it 
had  been  thought  necessary  to  remove  the  ancient  screen. 
Some  portions  of  the  lower  part  of  it,  however,  are  still 
preserved  at  the  western  end  of  the  building,  and  I  was 
able  to  recognise  the  well-known  figures  of  several  Saints 
and  apostles,  and  amongst  others  those  of  S.  Mary 
Magdalene,  S.  Joseph,  S.  Peter,  S.  Joseph,  S.  Andrew, 
S.  Matthew,  with  the  carpenter's  square  ;  St.  John,  with 
the  chalice ;  St.  Paul,  with  the  sword  ;  St.  Thomas,  with 
the  arrow  ;  St.  James-the-Less  ;  and  St.  Philip,  with  his 
spear. 

The  chancel,  which  is  defined   by  a   well-proportioned 

V 


154  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

arch  of  apparently  Second  Pointed  date,  has  the  ancient 
priest's  door  remaining  on  the  south  side. 

Within  it  I  noticed  a  memorial   for  the  'Rev,  Thomas 

Pocock,  for  forty  years  rector  of  the   parish,    ob.   1722. 

Upon  it  are  the  arms  of  Pocock  chequy  Sa  and  Arg ;  a 

lion  rampant  Or.  Impaling  Or  ;  a  fess  Sa.  Waddon.     This 

portion  of  the  church  seems  to  be  the  oldest ;  the  rest  of 

the  fabric  appears  to  have  been  rebuilt  between  154G  and 

1553,  the  very  worst  period  of  Perpendicular  archltectui'e. 

The  font,  which  is  octagonal,  has  two  keys  addorsed  in 

saltier  carved  on  one  of  its  sides,  but  with  this  exception 

it  is  perfectly  plain.     Some  of  the   windows  are  square 

headed,  whilst  others  are  narrow  and  pointed,    and  filled 

with  good  Perpendicular  tracery.      The  tower   screen   of 

oak,   carved  with   grotesque    heads,    is  supposed  in  the 

parish  to  have  been  constructed  from  the  fragments  of  the 

ancient  rood    screen.     This   however,   can    hardly  have 

been   the  case.     It  is  utterly  unlike   any   screen   work 

I  have   ever   seen,    but  has   all    the   appearance   of  old 

wainscot.       Woodwork     that    is   known   to     have   been 

wainscot  from  the  parish  church,  and  cai'ved  with  precisely 

the  same  heads,  is  still  in  existence  at  Ashburton,   and  is 

known  to  date  from  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary,  1553. 

About   the  commencement  of  this  reign  the  restoration 

of   St.  Mary's    Tavy    was   doubtless   completed,  and  I 

think    it   probable   that    the   south  transept   was   then 

added  and  wainscoted  with  oak  according  to  the  usual 

custom  at  that  period.      Upon  the  accession   of  Queen 

Elizabeth  this  wainscot  was  probably  plastered  over,  not 

to  preserve  it,  but  to  avoid  the  trouble  and  expense  of 

removing  it,  as  the  churchwardens  were  required  to  do 


PARISH  OF  S.  PETER  TAV7.  155 

by  her  Majesty's  Commissioners.  Perhaps  during  some 
repairs  now  long  since  forgotten,  it  may  have  bf^en  dis- 
covered and  taken  down,  and  possibly  such  portions  of  it 
as  remained  free  from  decay  may  have  been  used  to  repau- 
the  screen,  and  thus  in  latter  times  it  has  obtained  the 
credit  of  having  formed  an  original  part  of  it. 

I   am   inclined   to   think   that    the   beautiful   tower, 
although  without  doubt  included  in  the  restoration  of  the 
fabric  in  the  16th  century,  was  not  rebuilt.     As  I  have 
said  above,  it  is  octagonal  and  strongly  buttressed,  the 
buttresses  terminating  in  four  crocketted  pinnacles,  sur- 
mounted by  crosses.      It  was  struck  by  lightning  on  the 
2nd  of  November,    1803  ;  the  north-west  pinnacle  was 
thrown  over,  and  that  on  the  north  side  shattered,  and 
many  of  the  stones  were  hurled  to  a  great  distance.      It 
was  restored  and  repointed  in  1827,  and  this  date  was 
inscribed  on  its  south  face,  but  the  upper  portion  of  the 
figure  8  having  perished  the  figures  when   I  saw  them 
appeared   to   be   1027,    and   my    special   attention   was 
directed  to  them   by  one  of   the  villagers  who   seemed 
fully  satisfied  that  they  formed  the  actual  date   of  its 
construction. 

It  is  pierced  by  five  good  windows  filled  with  Peqien- 
dicular  tracery,  and  has  a  square-headed  western   door 
way,   with  deep  mouldings  and  trefoiled  spandrils  ;  the 
stair  turret  is  in  the  north-west  angle. 

The  walls  of  the  church  are  suppoited  by  plain  cushioned 
buttresses,  and  the  south  porch  has  a  square-headed 
doorway  similar  to  that  at  the  western  end,  whilst  the 
entrance  to  the  church  is  beneath  a  third  pointed  archway 
with  the  dripstone  following  the  course  of  the  arch. 


v' 


156  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

I  noticed  a  curious  tomb  on  the  south  side  of  the 
exterior  of  the  building,  conisting  of  a  massive  slab  sup- 
ported by  four  moorstone  blocks  rudely  carved  with 
cinquefoils.  The  inscription  proves  that  it  covers  the 
grave  of  Walter  Cole,  who  died  in  1663. 

At  the  dissolution  of  the  monastery  of  Tavistock, 
WiEiam  Denyell  was  the  rector  of  St.  Peter's  Tavy.  The 
abbot  had  leased  the  rectory  for  a  term  of  years  to  Henry 
Langifford,  and  it  was  valued  at  £17   Is.   8d.  per  annum. 

King  Henry  VIII,  excepted  this  rectory  and  some 
others  from  the  various  possessions  he  granted  to  John, 
Loi'd  Russell,  in  consideration  of  the  annual  payment  of 
£36  (to  which  I  have  already  alluded),  but  in  the  same 
deed  it  is  stated  that  for  the  further  svun  of  £248  5s.  his 
Majesty  granted  him,  with  a  great  deal  of  other  lands  and 
advowsons,   "  Advocaciones,  donaciones,  et  jura  patrona- 

tuum   ecclesiarium   parochialium   de Peterstavy," 

&c.'     The  Lord  Bishop  of  Exeter  is  now  the  patron  of  the 
rectory. 

It  is  stated  in  several  of  the  county  histories  that 
"  There  was  an  ancient  chapel  at  Willsworthy,  now  used 
as  a  cow-house."  I  have  been  unable  to  discover  to  whom 
or  when  it  was  dedicated,  or  to  find  any  reference  to  it  in 
the  Valor  Ecclesiasticus,  or  in  the  accounts  of  the  various 
churches  and  chapels  pertaining  to  the  abbey. 

The  present  rector  of  Tavy  St.  Peter  is  the  Rev.  F.  J. 
Bryant,  who  was  instituted  in  1879  upon  the  death  of 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Gibbons.  The  latter  was  unfortu- 
nately   absent  from  home   when    I   visited  his    church 

'  Lit.  Pat.  Monasticon  Dioecesis,  Exoii.  p.  104  No.  xiv. 


PARISH  OF  S.  PETER  TAVY.  157 

and   parish,    but  he  afterwards,  informed  me  that   the 
early  register  books  are  in  fair  condition,  and  commence 

Baptisms,  1674. 

Marriages,  1679. 

Burials,       1679. 
The  rectory  house  is  situated  some  little  distance  from 
the  church,  and  there  ai-e  73  acres  of  glebe. 

One  of  the  parish  books  contains  a  complete  list  of  the 
rural  deans  of  the  suppressed  deanery  of  Tamerton  from 
the  year  1736.  At  tl\at  period  this  deanery  included 
the  parish  of  Stoke  Damerell,  which  now  belongs  to 
Plympton. 

Mrs.  Bray,  in  her  "  Traditions  of  Devon  "  makes  men- 
tion of  this  picturesque  village.  She  says  "  that  a  mill 
there  hc\s  been  drawn  and  painted  over  and  over  again, 
has  been  hung  in  Somerset  House  and  the  Water  Colour 
Exhibition,  and  was  never  yet  returned  unsold  on  the 
hands  of  an  artist."  She  also  says,  "  The  schoolhouse 
displays,  too,  a  large  assembly  of  the  rising  generation  ; 
it  stands  near  the  church  ;  the  tower  and  pinnacles  of  the 
latter  form  a  beautiful  point  in  the  surrounding  landscape 
from  whatever  direction  it  may  be  viewed.  The  chm-ch- 
yard  is  surrounded  by  a  number  of  lai-ge  old  lime  trees 
that  cast  a  sombre  shadow  around,  quite  in  harmony  with 
the  spot  consecrated  to  the  repose  of  the  dead." 

She,  moreover,  repeats  a  story  about  a  judge  "  who 
on  a  trial  being  held  concerning  some  land  in  the  two 
parishes  confounded  the  names  of  the  villages  with  those 
of  the  witnesses  ;  and  gave  an  order  for  '  Peter  and  Mary 
Tavy  to  be  summoned  into  court.' "  Peter  Tor  (the 
highest  stone  of  which  was  split  in  pieces  by  lightning) 


158  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

was  perhaps  once  a  foi-tified  stronghold,  as  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  mound  of  stones,  and  in  the  midst  three  or 
four  rocks  are  encompassed  with  the  same.  Tlie  tor  is 
composed  of  black  granite,  covered  with  moss.  The 
strata  are  not  as  usual  horizontal,  but  jagged  and 
generally  Perpendicular.  Below  it  is  a  large  oval  ridge  of 
stones,  133  paces  long,  with  seven  small  internal  circles. 
Rowe,  in  the  Perambulation  of  Dartmoor,  says — "  Still 
following  the  course  of  the  Tavy  downwards  we  shall 
soon  reach  Tavy  Cleave,  a  magnificent  range  of  castel- 
lated tors."  "Imagination,  too,  with  little  effort  may 
figure  a  natiural  outwork  or  barbican  in  the  lower  pile." 
The  whole  chff  presents  a  remarkable  resemblance  to  the 
dilapidated  walls  of  a  time-worn  edifice." 


PARISH  OF  S.  MARY  TAVY.  159 


CHAPTER  VII.— PART  I. 

The  Parish  of  S.  Mary  Tavy — General 
Description  ^vnd  History. 

The  parish  of  Tavy  St  Mary,  or  as  it  is  usually  called 
Mary  Tavy,  is  situated  in  the  Deaneiy  of  Tamerton  and 
Archdeaconry  of  Totnes,  and  lies  on  the  western  side  of 
Dartmoor,  in  a  picturesque  valley  watei'ed  by  the  river 
Tavy,  about  four  miles  north-east  of  Tavistock.  It  con- 
tains 4,150  acres  of  land,  including  about  2,100  acres  of 
open  moorland  ;  the  village  of  Horndon,  the  high  land  of 
Black  Down  and  other  parts  of  the  moor.  There  are 
several  valuable  copper,  tin,  and  lead  mines  in  this  parish 
and  one  of  them  (Wheal  Friendship)  has,  I  believe,  been 
profitably  worked  for  nearly   three-quarters  of  a  century. 

The  manor  of  "  Tavei  "  is  not  noticed  in  the  Exeter 
copy  of  Domesday  book.  In  the  Exchequer  Domesday, 
however,  we  read  that  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the 
Confessor,  it  was  the  property  of  Siward,  who  also 
possessed  the  manor  of  "  Wifleurde,"  which  latter  was, 
doubtless,  that  which  is  now  called  Waven  or  Warne, 
and  which  is  situated  in  the  same  parish. 

Siward,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  was  a  man  of  great 
note  m  his  time,  and  deservedly  a  favourite  of  his  king. 
Besides  his  other  merits  he  acquired  honour  in  England 


160  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

by  his  successful  conduct  in  the  only  foreign  enterprise 
undertaken  during  the  reign  of  Edward. 

Duncan,  King  of  Scotland,  the  successor  of  Malcolm, 
was  a  prince  of  a  gentle  disposition,  but  had  not  the 
genius  requisite  for  governing  a  country  so  turbulent,  and 
so  much  infested  by  the  intrigues  and  animosities  of  the 
great.  Macbeth,  the  chief  thane,  and  nearly  allied  to  the 
Crown,  not  content  with  curbing  the  King's  authority, 
carried  his  ambition  still  further — he  put  his  Sovereign 
to  death ;  chased  Malcolm  Kenmore,  his  son  and  heu-, 
into  England,  and  usurped  the  crown. 

Siward,  whose  daughter  was  married  to  Duncan, 
embraced  by  Edward's  orders  the  protection  fo  this 
distressed  family ;  he  marched  an  army  into  Scotland, 
and  having  defeated  and  killed  Macbeth  in  battle, 
together  with  several  Normans  who  had  taken  refuge  with 
him,  he  restored  Malcolm  to  the  throne  of  his  ancestors. 

Siward  died  soon  after  this  achievement  in  the  year 
1055  ;  he  left  a  son  called  Waltheof,  who  did  not  succeed 
to  his  father's  honours,  Harold,  the  son  of  Earl  Godwin, 
having  influence  enough  at  Court  to  procure  the  Lordship 
of  Northumberland  for  his  own  brother  Tosti  upon  the 
plea  that  Waltheof  was  too  young  to  be  entrusted  with 
its  Government. 

Whether  Earl  Harold  also  obtained  for  himself  or  his 
brother  the  lands  of  his  rival  in  this  county  does  not 
appear.  It  is  very  probable  that  he  succeeded  in  adding 
these  manors  to  the  large  property  he  ah-eady  possessed 
here,  for  it  is  certain  that  nineteen  of  the  Devonshire 
manors,  which  upon  the  Noi-man  conquest  became  the 
pi'operty  of  the  King,  had  originally  belonged  to  him. 


PARISH  OF  S.  MARY  TAVY.  161 

In  the  general  redistribution  of  property  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror,  the 
manors  of  "  Tavy  and  Wifleurde  "  {i.e.,  Mary  Tavy  and 
Waven)  fell  into  the  hands  of  Alured  Brito,  one  of  the 
King's  Norman  followers.  He  must  have  stood  high  in 
his  master's  favour,  since  he  obtained  possession  of  twenty- 
two  very  valuable  estates  in  this  county. 

Amongst  them  was  the  manor  of  Milton,  now  called 
Milton  Damai-ell,  which  Lysons  says  (In  his  account  of 
that  place)  belonged  in  the  Conqueror's  time  to  Robert 
de  Albemarle. 

Eobert  de  Albemarle  was  the  ancestor  of  the 
Damarells  and  may  have  succeeded  Alured  Brito  both  at 
Milton  and  Mary  Tavy,  since  Johannes  Damerel  is  men- 
tioned by  Westcote'  in  connection  with  the  latter  place. 
Albemai'le,  however,  cannot  have  been  the  possessor  at 
the  early  date  mentioned  by  Lysons,  since  the  Domesday 
survey  was  not  completed  till  A.D,  1086,  the  year  prior 
to  King  William's  death,  and  at  that  time  Alured  Brito 
was  actually  the  possessor. 

The  Damarells  sold  Milton  Damarell  to  Courtenay, 
Earl  of  Devon  in  the  reign  of  King  Edward  the  Second, 
and,  according  to  Lysons,  the  elder  branch  left  Devon- 
shu-e  in  the  same  reign. 

It  appears,  however,  that  "  a  younger  branch,  which 
had  been  of  Stone,  in  Ugborough,  was  in  existence  in  Sir 
William  Pole's  rime  in  a  reduced  condition,  and  the  name 
is  stUl  to  be  found  among  the  yeomanry  in  the  south- 
west part  of  the  county."' 

1  View  of  Devon,  p.  365. 
'  Mag.  Brit.  Devon,  ii,  164. 
X 


162  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

I  am  satisfied,  however,  that  the  elder  branch  did  not 
leave  this  part  of  the  country,  but  about  the  time  they 
sold  Milton  Damarell  to  the  Courtenay  family  they 
inherited  Gidley  Manor  and  Castle  (situated  about  six 
miles  from  Moretonhampstead),  and  removed  there,  still 
retaining  possession  of  Mary  Tavy. 

The  Gidley  estate  passed  with  the  daughter  of  Prouz 
or  Prous,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IT.  to  Mules,  and  the 
latter  brouerht  it  to  Damarell.  Mr.  Wilham  Damarell  left 
it  to  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  William  Coade.  Walter 
Coade  was  of  Morvall,  having  inherited  that  estate  through 
his  maternal  ancestress,  daughter  and  heir  of  Glynne. 

The  daughter  and  heir  of  Coade  married  BuUer,  and 
;Mr.  John  Buller,  of  Morvall,  is  the  present  lord  of  the 
manor  and  patron  of  the  rectory  of  Mary  tavy. 

Mr.  Buller  is  the  representative  of  an  ancient  Somerset- 
shire family  who  settled  in  Cornwall  m  consequence  of  a 
marriage  with  the  heiress  of  Trethurfe,  one  of  the  repre- 
sentatives of  Courtenay,  Earl  of  Devon. 

In  the  year  1538  Henry,  eleventh  Earl  of  Devon  (who 
had  been  created  Marquess  of  Exeter  in  1525)  was  tried 
for  high  treason,  convicted  and  executed ;  his  son, 
Edward,  who  had  been  restored  to  the  earldom  in  1554, 
died  s.p.  in  1556,  on  which  event  the  descendants  of  the 
four  daughters  of  Sir  Hugh  Courtenay,  of  Boconnoc, 
in  Cornwall,  sisters  of  Edward,  ninth  Earl  of  Devon, 
became  heirs-general  to  the  elder  branch  of  this  noble 
family,  and  Elizabeth,  the  second  daughter  maiTied  John 
Trethurfe.  One  of  the  co-hehs  of  Trethurfe,  married 
Vyvyan,  the  other,  Buller,  as  I  have  said  above. 
The  elder  line   of  the  Bullers  became  extinct  by  the 


PARISH  OF  S.  MARY  TAVY.  163 

death  of  Mr.  James  Buller,  of  Shillingham,  M.P.  for 
Cornwall  in  1710,  and  Mr.  John  Buller,  of  Morvall,  then 
became  the  head  of  the  family. 

Lysons  mentions  the  Manor  of  Waven,  or  Wame,  in 
this  parish  (to  which  I  have  alluded  above.)  It  appears 
to  have  been  dismembered,  and  when  the  "  Magna 
Britannia  "  was  published  in  1822  was  the  property  of 
Arthur  Edgecumbe  and  other. 

I  can  find  no  mention  in  the  hundred  roll  of  either 
of  the  manors,  and  the  lords  do  not  appear  to  have  had 
any  peculiar  privileges. 


X* 


164  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  VII. -PART  11. 

Tavy  S.  Mary  Church. 

The  parish  church  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
stands  in  a  small  churchyard  in  the  midst  of  the  village, 
and  consists  of  chancel,  nave  opening  LDto  a  south  aisle 
beneath  three  moulded  arches  supported  upon  clustered 
columns  of  third  pointed  date,  a  south  porch,  and  a  tower 
at  the  western  end. 

Some  of  the  wndows  are  square  headed,  and  apparently 
coeval  with  the  erection  of  the  present  fabric  in  the  15th 
century,  whilst  others  have  been  badly  restored.  The 
screen  has  been  removed,  but  I  noticed  an  obtuse  arched 
piscina  in  the  south  aisle,  and  an  image  bracket  in  the 
jamb  of  the  adjoining  window.  This  portion  of  the 
church,  once  screened  by  a  parclose  from  the  chancel,  was 
probably  the  Lady  Chapel,  and  contained  an  altar  and  a 
statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

There  is  also  a  fine  image  bracket  or  tabernacle  on  one 
of  the  chancel  piers. 

The  font  is  plain  and  octagonal,  and  the  nodi  or  bosses 
in  the  roof  are  of  good  Perpendicular  foliage. 

There  is  a  piscina,  of  similar  character  to  that  in  the 
south  aisle,  on  the  south  side  of  the  chancel. 

The  tower,  which  contains  five  bells,  is  low,  square, 
and  embattled,   and   htus   four   plain  pinnacles,   a  good 


r ARISE  OF  S.  MARY  TAVY.  1G5 

Perpendicular  window,  and  a  square-headed  doorway,  with 

deep  mouldings  and  foliated  spandrils.      The  south  porch 

has  a  square 'headed  doorway,  with  moulding  and  trefoUed 

spandrils.       The   interior     door    opens  beneath   a   very 

obtuse  arch.     I  noticed  that  the  stocks  (anciently  the 

teiTor  of  evil-doers)  were  stiU  kept  in  the  church  porch. 

There  is  an  external  rood  turret  on  the  north  side      The 

architecture  of  the  whole  fabric  is  plain  and  unpretending. 

I  can  find  no  trace  whatever  of  any  building  of  earlier 

date  than  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the 

present  church  appears  to  have  been  built. 

The  old  structure  probably  had  become  so  ruinous  that 
it  was  then  found  necessary  to  entirely   re-bulld  it,   and 
although  many  of  our  Devonshire  churches  were  renewed 
in  this  century,  yet  it  is  very  unusual  not  to  find  some 
vestiges  of  the  more  ancient  building,  either  m  the  tower, 
the  arches,  or  in  the  construction  of  some  of  the  windows. 
Here,  however,  everything  is  of  the  Perpendicular  style, 
and  certainly  not  of  earlier  date  than  the  reign  of  Henry 
VI  (1422-1461).      I  was  glad  to  see  an  ancient  and  hand- 
some cross  remaining  outside  the  churchyard  on  the  south 
side.     It  is  elevated  on  four  steps  or  paces,  the  upper  one 
being   carved    with  the    three   nails    (emblems   of  the 
crucifixion),  trefoils,    and    a    cross   pat6    and     (like    the 
church)  seems  to  be  of  third  pointed  date. 

When  the  valor  ecclesiastlcus  was  made  in  the  reign  of 
King  Henry  YIII,  William  Dynham  was  the  rector,  and 
his  °ectory  was  valued  at  £13  5s.  7d.  per  annum. 

During  the  great  rebellion  the  Rev.  Thomas  Jackson 
was  ejected  from  this  church  by  the  Puritans,  but  it 
seems  doubtful  whether  he  was  the  lawful  rector,  since 


160  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

his  name  is  not  mentioned,  or  his  institution  recorded,  in 
the  bishop's  registers. 

Walker  says,i  "  I  make  some  question  whether  he  had 
any  other  title  than  such  as  the  confusions  woidd  admit 
of ;"  "  he  was  dispossest  by  the  committee  of  this  county, 
and  so  much  afflicted  with  his  loss  that  he  broke  his  heart 
in  less  than  a  fortnight's  time.  He  was  first  succeeded 
by  one  Hatch,  and  afterwards  by  one  Berne,  who,  it  is 
said,  had  never  seen  any  University." 

Hatch  was  probably  the  Clement  Hatch,  of  Lidford, 
who  in  1647,  obtained  an  order  of  committee  for  ejecting 
the  rector  of  Lidford  (the  Rev.  B.  Potes),  and  retained 
the  preferment  from  1 647  to  1662.  After  the  Restoration 
he  thought  proper  to  "  conform,"  and  Mr.  Potes  was 
therefore  obliged  to  turn  him  out  by  legal  process. 

When  I  visited  this  parish  the  x-ector  was  the  late  Rev. 
Anthony  Buller,  who  was  instituted  in  1833,  and  whose 
courtesy  and  hospitality  upon  the  occasion  of  my  visit  to 
his  church  and  parish  I  have  much  pleasure  in  acknow- 
ledging. He  permitted  me  to  inspect  the  registers  of 
baptisms,  marriages,  and  burials ;  they  are  fairly  kept, 
and  in  good  condition,  and  commence  alike  in  1560. 

In  1621,  in  consequence  of  the  plague  being  at  Tavi- 
stock, several  baptisms  from  that  parish  were  administered 
here.    The  baptismal  register,  with  the  marginal  remark, 
"  Tempore  pestilentise,"  has  the  following  : — 
1621.  "  Baptisms  from  Tavistock. 

"  Franciscus  fil  Domini  Francisci  Glanvili  Militis,  bapt. 

fuit  xxi.  Jan." 

1  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy,  279. 


PARISH  OF  S.  MARY  TAV7.  167 

This  name  is  followed  by  those  of  John  Bruen,  John 
Vinten,  and  Peter  Pike,  from  the  same  parish. 

The  population  of  Mary  Tavy  in  1871  was  returned  at 
1,035  persons,  and  in  1881  at  895,  including  north  Black- 
down  now  attached  to  Brent  Tor.  The  rectory  house  is 
pleasantly  situated  some  little  distance  from  the  village. 
There  are  thii-ty-eight  acres  of  glebe,  and  the  i)rofitable 
mine  Wheal  Fi-iendship  is  situated  upon  it.  There  are  a 
few  acres  of  parish  land,  I  believe,  situated  in  the  parish 
of  Lidford.  A  school  for  the  instruction  of  the  children 
of  the  inhabitants  was  opened  some  years  since,  and 
quite  suffices  for  the  educational  requirements  of  the 
district. 

The  church  was  thoroughly  restored  in  1879  chiefly 
through  the  exertions  of  the  late  rector,  who  had  at  the 
time  resigned  his  jjreferment.  It  will  now  seat  150 
people,  although  tlie  old  box  pews  of  the  last  generation 
have  been  removed  and  replaced  with  open  benches  of 
pitch  pine.     The  other  fittings  are  of  a  similar  character. 

The  total  cost  of  the  restoration  amounted  to  about 
£1400.  Whilst  it  was  in  progress,  some  ancient  roughly 
carved  gi-ave  stones  were  discovered,  bearing  dates 
between  the  years  1691  and  1766,  and  the  initials,  pre- 
sumablv  of  those  interred. 


168  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  VIII.— PART   I. 

The  Parish  of  Maristow. — General  Description 
AND  History. 

The  little  parish  of  Maristow,  or  Stow  St.  Mary,   was 

named  after  the  Blessed  Virgin,  to  whose  honour  in  very 

early  ages  its  church  was  dedicated,  and  means  literally 

'  the  place  of  St.  Mary,"  since  the  Saxon  word  Stow  bears 

the  former  interpretation. 

It  is  situated  in  the  hundred  of  Lifton  and  in  the 
deanery  of  Tavistock,  from  which  it  is  distant  about 
seven  miles,  and  it  includes  the  hamlets  of  CholweU  and 
Dipford  Town.  At  the  census  of  1881  its  population 
consisted  of  390  persons  residing  upon  2,895  acres  of 
land. 

Most  of  the  property  in  this  parish  (now  united  in  one 
owner)  appears  originally  to  have  been  divided  between 
the  two  estates  of  Raddon  Allerford  and  Sydenham,  and 
although  John  de  Hampton  is  stated  to  have  possessed 
the  manor  of  Maristow  at  an  early  period,  there  is  no 
mention  in  Domesday  of  any  such  manor,  nor  is  any  now 
known  by  that  name. 

The  manor  of  Raddon,  anciently  written  Ratdone,  was 
held  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor  by  the  Saxon 
"  Osulf,"  and  was  afterwards  acquired  by  that  powerful 
Norman  baron  Juhel  de  Totnais,  who  was  also  rewarded 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  169 

by  his  warlike  master  with  the  adjoining  manor  of  Sidel- 
ham  or  Sidraham,  now  called  Sydenham,  which  property 
appears  to  have  been  originally  held  by  four  Thanes  or 
Saxon  nobles  whose  names  have  not  been  preserved. 

As  already  stated,  Juhel  de  Totnais  was  banished 
the  kingdom  by  William  Rufus,  and  his  property  was  of 
course  confiscated,  and  then  in  all  probability  the  family 
of  Hampton  became  possessed,  not  of  the  manor  of 
Maristow,  bat  of  that  of  Raddon  AUerford. 

The  Hamptons  were  succeeded  by  the  Trenchards, 
whose  principal  residence  was  at  Collacomb,  in  the  parish 
of  Lamertoa.  This  famUy  became  extinct  in  the  male 
line  about  the  reign  of  King  Edward  III.  when  the 
heiress  married  a  member  of  the  Cornish  family  of 
Tremayne,  and  thus  brought  the  manor  of  Raddon  to 
the  ancestor  of  its  present  possessor. 

Sydenham,  after  the   disgrace  of  its   Norman  owner, 
gave  its  name  to  a  family  who  possessed  it  in  the  reign 
of  King  Henry  HI    and  who  were  succeeded  by  that  of 
Mauris  ;  from  them  it  came  by  marriage  to  Trevage,  and 
through  Allreda  Trevage  to  her  gi-andson  John  Wise  of 
Sydenham  who  married   Joan,    dau  of  Jno.    Milliton  of 
Heavy  in  the  reign  of  Henry  IV    (1399  to   1413).    Sir 
Bernard  Burke  tells  us  that  he  was  Sheriff  of  Devon  in 
the  fifth  year  of  that  monarch,    which  is  incoi-rect,   since 
Thomas  Gorges  was  in  office  during  the  years   1404-5, 
and  moreover  the  name  of  Wise  does  not  occur  at  all  in 
the  lists  of  Sheriffs  of  this  county  until  the  tenth  year  of 
the  reign  of  James  I,  when  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  Knt.  was 
high  sheriff. 

John  Wise,  the  first  of  his  name  at  Sydenham  (and 

T 


170  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

eighth  in  direct  descent  from  WiUiam  Wise  or  Gwiss,  who 
was  living  about  forty  years  after  the  Conquest),  left  a  son 
Thomas,  who  married  Margaret,  daughter  and  heir  of 
Robert  Brett,  of  Slottiscombe,  and  acquired  the  manor  of 
Stoke  Damerel,  where  the  Wises  afterwards  built  a 
mansion  called  Mount  Wise. 

His  descendant  was  John  Wise,  of  Sydenham,  who  by 
AUcia,  his  wife,  daughter  of  John  Harris,  of  Hayne, 
serjeant-at-law  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIH,  had  two  sons, 
Thomas  and  John.  Of  the  latter  I  shall  treat  in  the  2nd 
portion  of  this  chapter.  Thomas  Wise,  married  Mary, 
daughter  of  Richard  BuUer,  of  Shillingham,  in  Cornwall, 
and  had  male  issue,  and  the  estate  descended  from  him 
in  direct  succession  until  the  death  of  Sir  Edward  Wise 
in  1675,  when  (in  consequence  of  the  demise  of  her  only 
brother  St.  John  Wise)  his  daughter  Arabella  became  his 
heir,  and  also  co-heir  in  right  of  her  mother  to  her  grand- 
father Oliver  Lord  St.  John.  She  had  married  Edmund 
Tremayne,  of  CoUacombe,  in  the  parish  of  Lamerton  in 
1673,  and  their  descendants  continued  there  until  the 
failure  of  the  direct  line  in  1808. 

Mrs.  Bray  says '  that  the  gallant  Colonel  Arthur 
Tremayne  (who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  and  who 
suffered  much  for  his  loyalty)  acquired  the  estate  of 
Sydenham  by  his  marriage  with  Bridget  Hatherleigh, 
who  at  that  period  was  the  herress  of  Sydenham,  she 
being  grand -daughter  in  the  female  line  to  Sir  Thomas 
Wise.  This  statement,  however,  has  no  foundation  in  fact. 
Colonel  Arthur  Tremayne  (youngest  son  of  Edmimd  Tre- 
mayne, who  had  become  by  the  deaths  of  his  four  brothers 
1  Trad,  of  Devon,  iii,  79 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  171 

without  Issue  the  heir  of  Collacombe)  certainly  married 
Bridget,  daughter  of  Nicholas  Hatherleigh,  of  Lamerton, 
gentleman,  but  it  was  by  their  son  Edmund's  marriage 
that  this  property  came  into  the  latter  family  as  I  have 

shown. 

The  family  of  Wise  were  devoted  adherents  to  the 
Koyal  cause  during  the  great  rebellion,  and  suffered  much 
for  their  loyalty  both  by  fine,  sequestration,  and  imprison- 
ment. Thomas  Wise,  Esq.,  was  high  sheriff  of  Devon  in 
1639,  and  although  the  elections  of  1640  ran  in  favour  of 
the  popular  party,  yet  he  had  influence  enough  in  his 
native  county  to  obtain  his  return  as  one  of  its  representa- 
tives in  the  memorable  "  Long  Parliament "  which  met 
on  November  3rd  in  that  year,  and  which  struck  what  in 
a  manner  may  be  considered  two  decisive  blows  in  favour 
of  anarchy  and  rebellion  by  the  immediate  impeachment 
of  the  Earl  of  Strafford  and  of  Laud,  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury, 

The  descent  of  the  Tremaynes,  will  be  found  in  the 
next  chapter  which  contains  the  history  of  Lamerton,  a 
parish  in  which  they  had  been  seated  for  nearly  five 
hundred  years  previously  to  the  acquisition  of  Sidenham. 
Edmund  Tremayne  and  Arabella  Wise,  had  issue, 
Arthur  Wise  his  successor,  Edward  who  died  s.p., 
Arabella  and  Bridget. 

Arthur  Wise  Tremayne,  married  Grace,  daughter  of 
Sir  Haswell  Tynte,  of  Somersetshire,  and  was  high 
sheriff  of  Devon  in  the  year  1700,  and  left  a  son  born  in 
1708,  who  resided  at  Sydenham,  and  who  succeeded  to 
the  Collacombe  estate  upon  the  death  of  his  great- 
grandfather,   Colonel   Arthur    Tremayne.      He  married 


172  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Dorothy  Hammond  of  Wiltshire,  and  lived  to  the  age  of 
100.  He  had  one  son,  born  in  the  year  1735,  who  never, 
married,  and  who  died  soon  after  his  father,  in  December, 
1808,  and  by  his  will  left  his  estates  to  Henry  Hawkins 
Treraayne,  of  Heligan.  in  the  county  of  Cornwall,  the 
representative  of  the  younger  branch  of  the  family,  from 
whom  is  descended  the  present  owner  of  Sydenham, 
J.  H.    Tremayne,    Esq.,    who  but  seldom  resides  there. 

The  heir  at  law,  John  Tremayne,  of  CoUacombe,  great- 
grandson  of  Thomas  Tremayne  who  had  acquired  it  by 
marriage  with  Trenchard,  married  a  daughter  of  Warr 
and  had  issue,  John  Tremayne  of  CoUacombe,  1485,  and 
Richard  Tremayne,  of  Tregonnan  in  the  county  of  Corn- 
wall, who  was  the  ancestor  of  Colonel  Lewis  Tremayne, 
Lieut.  Governor  of  Pendennis  Castle  for  king  Charles, 
who  had  two  sons,  Sir  John  Tremayne,  King's  Serjeant 
and  author  of  "  The  Pleas  of  the  Crown  "  who  died  s.p., 
and  Charles,  second  son  who  maiTied  and  had  issue  Lewis 
Tremayne,  who  by  his  wife  Mary,  daughter  and  co-heir 
of  Clotworthy  of  Clotworthy  had  a  son  John,  who 
married  Grace,  youngest  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Henry 
Hawkins  of  St.  Austell,  and  left  issue  Henry  Hawkins 
Tremajaie,  and  a  daughter  Grace,  wife  of  Charles 
Rashleigh. 

Henry  Hawkins  Tremapie,  Clerk  in  Holy  Orders 
succeeded  to  Sydenham  upon  the  death  of  his  distant 
kinsman  Arthur  Tremayne,  in  1808.  He  was  born  27th 
July,  1741,  he  married  in  1767  Harriet,  daughter  and 
co-heir  of  John  Hearle  of  Penryn,  and  died  10th 
February,  1829.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  only  son 
John   Hearle    Tremayne    of    Heligan     and    Sydenham, 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  173 

J.P.  D.L.  born  l7th  March,  1780,  High  Sherifl'  of 
Coxiiwall  1831,  and  M.P.  for  that  county  for  some  years. 
He  married  Caroline  Matilda,  ninth  daughter  of  Sir 
William  Lemon,  Bart.,  and  died  27th  A.ugust,  1851, 
when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  sou  the  present 
owner  of  Sydenham. 

Sydenham  House,  which  is  a  fine  example  of  the 
domestic  architect\ire  ot  the  reign  of  Queen  Ehzabeth,  is 
built  in  the  form  of  the  letter  E,  a  compliment  often 
paid  to  the  Queen  by  builders  of  that  period.  It  was 
erected  by  Sir  Thomivs  Wise,  who  was  created  a  Knight 
of  the  Bath  at  the  coronation  of  King  James  I,  and  was, 
as  Risdon  describes  it,  "  beautified  with  buildings  of  such 
height  that  the  very  foundations  were  ready  to  reel 
under  the  burden." 

It  lies  in  a  vdley,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  wall,  access 
being  afforded  to  the  court  through  a  pair  of  very  high 
open  worked  iron  gates.  Above  the  central  doorway, 
within  a  niche,  are  the  arms  of  Wise,  Sa.  three  chevronels 
erm.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  gable  to  the  right  of 
the  entrance  has  been  despoiled  of  its  transom  windows, 
for  which  common  modern  sashes  have  been  substituted ; 
those  remaining  prove  that  the  original  windows  must 
have  been  very  large  and  handsome. 

The  hall  bears  the  date  1G58,  when  the  house  was 
repaired  in  consequence  of  the  injuries  it  had  received 
during  the  Civil  War,  when  having  been  garrisoned  for 
the  King  it  was  taken  after  a  siege  by  the  Parliamentary 
forces  under  Colonel  Ilolbourne,  in  January,  1G45.  One 
gable  of  the  building  is  still  in  a  very  ruinous  condition 
and  there  is  a  tradition  that  it  was  never  finished  ;  but 


174  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

this  is  improbable  and  I  imagine  that  the  family  having 
suffered  so  much  in  the  late  troubles  could  not  afford  to 
restore  the  whole  house  to  its  original  condition,  and  that 
the  dilapidated  state  of  this  portion  of  the  structure  is 
probably  due  to  the  storm  it  experienced  in  behalf  of 
royalty.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  oak  panelling  in  the 
various  rooms,  and  in  one  of  them,  the  wainscot  conceals 
a  flight  of  winding  stairs  constructed  in  the  thickness  of 
the  wall,  and  leading  to  the  top  of  the  house,  being  also 
secretly  connected  with  other  chambers.  In  this  old 
mansion  is  a  quantity  of  ancient  furniture,  and  a  large 
number  of  family  pictures  remain  on  its  walls. 

They  include  the  nine  daughters  of  Sir  Thomas  Wise. 
One  of  them  Mary,  married  Sir  Samuel  RoUe,  Knt.,  and 
was   the  mother   of    Robert   and   Dennis   RoUe. 

These  pictures  are  all  on  separate  canvasses  and  the 
figures  are  represented  with  the  hair  low  on  the  forehead, 
and  hanging  in  full  and  thick  clusters  on  the  neck.  The 
di'esses  of  the  period  of  Charles  I  are  \ery  interesting. 
There  is  a  likeness  also  of  Colonel  Arthur  Tremayne  and 
another  of  his  wife  Bridget  Hatherleigh  ;  of  Margaret 
dauofhter  of  Edward  Chichester,  the  ancestor  of  the 
Marquess  of  Donegal,  who  was  created  Viscount 
Chichester  of  Carrickfergus,  1st  April,  1625  ;  another 
picture  represents  Arabella,  daughter  and  one  of  the 
four  co-heirs  of  Oliver  Lord  St.  John,  who,  as  I  have 
already  said,  was  the  wife  of  Sir  Edward  Wise.  Mrs. 
Bray,  who  shows  by  her  remarks  relative  to  the  owner- 
ship of  this  property,  that  she  was  altogether  ignorant  of 
the  St.  John  marriage,  says,  when  describing  this  picture 
"  Amongst  others  there  was  a  very  good  one  in  the  School 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  17-5 

of  Vandyke,  probably  by  a  pupil  of  that  great  muster, 
which  represented  the  Sister  of  the  famous  Mr.   St.  John, 
who  acted  so  much  in  concert  with  Hampden  and  Pym 
during   the   rebeUion.      This   Lady    icas   hy    marriage 
connected  with  the  famHy  of  Tremayne  hence  ws  find  her 
picture  preserved  at  this  house.     The  Mi-.  OUver  St.  John 
referred  to  is  said  by  Clarendon  to  have  been  "anatural 
son  of  the  house  of  Bullinghrooh  ;  but  Oliver,  Lord   St. 
John,  the  father-in-law  of  Sir  Edward  Wise,  was  the  eldest 
sou  of  Oliver,  created  Earl  of  Bolingbroke,  22nd  James  I. 
He   died   vita     patris,   being   kUled   at    Edgehill,    23rd 
October,   1642,  and  as  I  have   said  left  four  daughters 
co-heirs.     It  is  scarcely  probable  that  the  Wise    estate 
benefited  much  from  this  alliance  since  Clarendon  remai-ks 
in  the  manuscript  of  his  work,  when   speaking  of   his 
vmtimely  death  :   "  The   lord  Samt  Johns,  son  and  heir 
apparent  of  the  Earl  of  Bullingbroke,  a  man  known  by 
nothing,  but  having  run  into  a  vast  debt  to  the  ruin  of 
his  own  and  many  families  whom  he  procured  to  be  engaged 
for  him  whom  the  King  shortly  after  the  beginning  of  this 
Parliament  at  the  importunity  of  the  Earl  of  Bedford, 
and  some  others  unhappily  created  a  peer,  and  by  that 
rendered  his  person  free  from  the  arrest  of  his  creditors, 
and  added  one  to  the  number  of  those  lords  who  most 
furiously  revolted  from  their  allegiance." 

Mrs.  Bray  mentions  a  chamber  in  this  house  hung  with 
what  ai-e  known  as  "  Watchet  hangings,"  being  of  damask 
stretched  within  a  frame  of  oak,  and  suspended  in  the 
compartments  of  the  wainscot;  and  also  remarks— " that 
horse  furniture  of  red  velvet  ornamented  with  silver  lace, 
and  a  pair  of  embroidered  pistol  holsters,  were  shewn  to 


176  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

her  at  Sydenham,  and  that  she  was  told  that  they  were 
used  by  one  of  the  Tremaynes  when  he  was  sheriff  of  the 
shire.  She  further  says  that  the  red  velvet  of  the 
housings  apjjeared  to  her  to  be  nearly  new,  it  had  been 
so  well  taken  care  of,  although  the  fashion  of  all  tbe 
articles  proved  that  they  must  have  been  in  use  in  the 
reign  of  William  and  Mary. 

These  must  have  been  provided  for  the  shrievalty  of 
Arthur  Wise  Tremayne  in  1761. 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  177 


CHAPTER  VIII.— PART  11. 

The  PiSDIGREE   OF   THE   WiSE    FaMILY. 

The  Wises  are  a  Saxon  race  who  are  believed  to  have 
been  resident  in  the  West  of  England  before  the  Norman 
Conquest,  at  which  period  one  Oliver  Wise,  Gewis,  or 
Gwis  is  stated  in  their  pedigree  to  have  heen  living  at 
Greston. 

He  was  followed  by  William  Wise,  whose  son  Serlonius 
Wise  was  of  Greston,  as  were  his  three  descendants 
Oliver,  Sir  John  and  Henry.  The  son  of  the  latter  (the 
great-great-grandson  of  Serlonius),  Sir  William  Wise 
Knio-ht.  who  flourished  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
thirteenth  century  married  Ela  de  Veteriponte,  and  ni 
rio-ht  of  his  mother,  their  son,  Serlonius  Wise  became 
possessed  of  the  manor  of  Thrushelton,  adjacent  to 
Maristowe.  The  latter's  son  Thomas  Wise,  was  the  father 
of  John  Wise  of  Sydenham,  an  estate  he  inherited  in 
right  of  his  grand-mother,  Allreda  Trevage. 

This  John  Wise  married  Joane,  daughter  of  John 
Millaton  of  Heavy,  and  their  son  Thomas  by  his  alliance 
with  Margaret,  daughter  and  heir  of  Robert  Brltt, 
acquired  property  in  the  manor  of  Stoke  Damerel, 
where  his  descendants  built  a  "  fair  house  "  which  they 
called  Mount  Wise,  and  where  for  several  generations 
they  resided  in  much  splendour. 


]78  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

John  Wise,  son  of  Thomas  and  ]\Iargai-et  Britt,  married 
Thomazine,  daughter  of  Sir  Baldwin  Fulford,  of  Great 
Fullbrd,  and  had  issue  a  son  Olivei",  and  a  daughter 
Alice,  who  was  the  mother  of  John  Russell,  first  Earl  of 
Bedford. 

Her  brother  Oliver,  married  Margaret,  daughter  of 
John  Tremayne  of  Collacombe,  and  was  the  father  of 
John  Wise,  who  by  his  first  wife  Mary,  daughter  of  James 
Chudleigh  of  Ashton,  had  issue  James,  Nichohis,  and 
Ann ;  by  his  second  wife  Dorothy  Leigh  he  had  two  sons, 
Thomas  and  Piers  ;  and  by  his  thii'd  marriage  with  Ann, 
daughter  of  Sir  George  Matthew,  Knight,  he  had  two 
more  children,  Leonard  and  Elizabeth.  His  eldest  son 
James  Wise,  married  Alice  Dinham,  daughter  of  John 
Diiiham  of  Northam,  and  had  issue  John,  William, 
George,   Philippa,  and  Margery. 

William  received  the  honour  of  knighthood  for  liis 
gallant  conduct  at  the  skirmish,  known  in  history  as  the 
battle  of  the  Spurs,  August  16th,  1513.  His  elder 
brother  Sir  Jolin  ^yise  married  Alice,  daughter  of  John 
Harris  of  Hayne,  serjeai:t  at  law,  and  had  issue  Thomas 
Wise,  son  and  heir,  Jolm  Wise,  of  whom  hereafter, 
James,  Charles  and  Arkenold,  and  five  daughters,  Eliza- 
beth, Alice,  Dorothy,  Maiy,  and  Anne. 

Thomas  W^ise,  married  Maiy,  daughter  of  Richard 
BuUer  of  Shillingham,  co.  Cornwall,  and  was  the  father 
of  Sir  Thomas  Wise,  K.B.,  M.P.,  High  Sherifl'  of  Devon, 
1612,  who  built  for  his  residence  the  "  fair  house  "  at 
Mount  Wise,  in  the  parish  of  Stoke  Damerel  of  which  I 
have  previously  spoken.  He  married  Margaret,  daughter 
of  Robert  Stafford  or  Stowford,  and  great  grand-daughter 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  ^^        179 

of  Thomas  Tremayne  of  CoUacombe,  by  whom  he  had 
issue  Thomas  Wise,  High  Sheriff  1638,  M.P.  for  Devon 
1640,  and  nine  daughters  whose  pictures  are  preserved  at 
Sydenham  as  I  have  before  noticed.  Of  the  latter,  Mary, 
married  Sir  Samuel  Rolle,  born  1590,  and  left  issue  by 
him  two  sons,  Robert  and  Dennis  KoUe. 

Thomas  Wise,  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  Edward, 
created  Viscoiiat  Chichester  of  Carrickfergus,  and   had 
issue   Sir  Edward   Wise  of  Sydenham,  K.B.,  M.P.,  who 
sold    Mount    Wise  to    Sir   WiUiam    Morice  in    1667    for 
£11,000,'    and   died   in    1675.       He     married    Arabella, 
daughter  and  coheir  of  OHver,  Lord  St.  John  and  had 
issue  a  son,  St.  John  Wise  who  died  without  issue,  and  a 
daughter    Arabella,    who     brought    Sydenham     to    her 
husband    Edmund    Tremayne  of    CoUacombe,    and  thus 
ended   the   elder    house   of   Wise.      Sir   Edward   Wise 
appears  to  have  married  secondly  Radigund,   daughter  of 
John     Eliot    of    St.    Germans    (her    grandmother     was 
Radigund,   daughter   and  co-heir   of  Richard   Gedey   of 
Trebursey),  she  survived  her  husband  and  died  at  Maris- 
tow  of  the  small  po.x  in  1694,  aged  42. 

Although  its  connection  with  Sydenham  has  long  been 
severed,  yet  it  is  satisfactory  to  feel  that  this  ancient 
family  yet  flourishes,  and  that  its  members  still  enjoy  the 
same  social  position,  and  fill  similar  offices  to  those  they 
did  of  old. 

John  Wise,  who  manied  Alice  Hams  of  Hayne,  besides 

his  eldest  son  Thomas,  of  Mount  Wise  and  Sydenham, 

had,  with  other  issue  a  second  son  John,  already  mentioned 

in  his  proper   place.     He   married  Emmota   or   Emmot 

1  Mag.  Brit.,  ii,  457. 

Z 


180  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Vavasour,  and  had  a  son  William  Wise  of  Totnes,  born 
15 GO,  died  1626,  whose  son  John  Wise  of  Totnes, 
married  in  1631  Susanna,  sister  and  heir  of  T.  Prestwood, 
and  died  6  th  September,  1670.  He  left  issue  John  Wise 
of  Totnes,  who  married  twice ;  first  Maiy,  daughter  of 
Lewis  Full  of  Ash,  by  whom  he  had  a  daughter  ]\Iary 
who  married  first  1697  her  Other's  neighboiu-  Arthur 
Champernowne  of  Dartington  Hall,  and  afterwards  Sawle 
of  Penrice. 

^Mr.  Wise,  by  his  second  wife  Dorothy,  daughter  of 
J.  Brookinge  of  Totnes  (mamed  1684),  had  issue  three 
sons;  John  Wise,  died  s. p.  1743,  Lewis  Wise,  died  s.p, 
1744  and  Samuel  Wise  thh'd  son,  who  mamed  Trephina, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Coplestone  of  Bowden,  and  carried 
on  the  line.  He  had  three  sons  John,  Lewis,  and  Samuel 
who  died  in  1746,  and  a  daughter  Mary,  who  married 
W.  Payne. 

The  eldest  son  John  Wise  of  Totnes,  married  ]\Iargaret, 
daughter  and  heir  of  John  Ayahford  of  Wonwell  Court, 
in  the  parish  of  Kingston,  co.  Devon,  and  had  in  addition 
to  six  daughters,  first,  John  Wise,  born  27th  August, 
1751  ;  second,  George  Furlong  Wise  of  Woolston,  in  the 
parish  of  Loddiswell,  who  married  Jane,  sister  of  Admiral 
Dacres,  and  had  issue  ;  third,  Arthur  Wise  of  Langston, 
in  the  parish  of  Khigston,  who  mamed  Miss  Andrews. 
His  son  Arthur  Wise,  married  Mary  Tonkin,  and  had 
with  other  issue,  the  Jate  Vice-Admiral  Charles  Wise 
of  WonweU  Villa,  Newton  Abbot. 

John  W^ise,  eldest  son  of  John  and  Margaret  Ayshford, 
was  of  Wonwell  Court,  he  married  EHzabeth,  daughter 
of  Robert  Froude,  and  was  Recorder  of  Totnes,  he  died 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  181 

19th  May,  1807,  and  left  issue  a  son  Ayshford  Wise,  J.P., 
D.L.,  and  also  M.P.  for  Totnes.  He  was  born  20th  April, 
178G,  and  about  the  year  1820  he  sold  Wonwell  Court 
to  the  Duke  of  Somerset.  He  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Whitby  of  Staffordshire  in  1809,  and 
had  with  other  issue  John  Ayshford  Wise,  and  a  daughter 
Lucy,  who  married  her  kinsman  Vice-Admiral  Charles 
Wise,  of  Newton  Abbot. 

John  Ayshford  Wise  eldest  son  was  born  10th  Ajnil, 
1810.  He  was  J.P.  and  D.L.,  High  Sheriff  co.  Stafford 
1852,  and  M.P.  for  Stafford  for  some  years.  He  married 
first,  18th  March,  1837,  Mary  Lovatt,  daughter  and  heir 
of  Hugh  Booth  by  Anne  liis  wife,  daughter  and  heir  of 
Thomas  Lovatt  of  Clayton,  whose  predecessors  had  resided 
there  since  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

Mrs.  Wise  died  6th  of  May,  1844,  and  left  with  other 
issue  Lewis  Lovatt  Ayshford  Wise,  the  present  owner  of 
Clayton  Hall,  a  Magistrate  for  Stiiffordshire,  Major  in  the 
Staffordshire  Yeomanry,  and  late  Lieut.,  8th  (the  King's) 
Regiment. 

Mr.  Wise  succeeded  his  father  (who  manied  secondly, 
18th  July,  1848,  Anna  Mary,  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Lewis  Way),  in  1870.  He  married  in  1871  and  has  two 
daughters. 

The  late  Vice-Admhal  Wise  informed  me  in  1875,  that 
he  was  then  the  last  Wise  alive  born  at  Wonwell  Court, 
in  which  his  branch  of  the  family  from  Arthur  of  Langston 
were  permitted  to  reside  by  Mr.  Ayshtbrd  Wise  until  the 
property  was  sold.  The  latter  gentleman  long  resided  at 
Ford  House  in  the  parish  of  Wolborough  (Newton  Abbot). 


182  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  Y III.— PART  III. 

Maristow  Church. 

Marlstow  Church,  dedicated  as  the  name  hnpHes  to  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  is  an  isolated  building,  situated  on  the 
summit  of  a  steep  hill,  and  standing  in  a  small  church- 
yard surrounded  by  trees. 

It  consists  of  a  chancel,  nave  opening  into  a  north 
aisle  beneath  six  debased  moulded  arches,  supported  upon 
clustered  perpendicular  columns,  a  south  porch,  and  a 
toAver  at  the  western  end  containing  six  bells,  which  were 
recast  out  of  the  five  old  ones  in  1829.  The  screen  has 
been  removed,  and  the  eastern  end  of  the  aisle  was 
widened  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  the  owners  of 
Sydenham  House  to  compensate  for  the  space  required  for 
a  very  heavy  and  cumbrous  erection  of  the  Corinthian 
order  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Thomas  Wise. 

Ugly  and  incongTuous  as  the  monument  is — it  stands 
in  the  centre  of  what  was  once  the  Lady  Chapel,  and 
consists  of  two  life-size  figures  reposing  under  an 
enormous  canopy,  supported  by  four  pillars — it  does  not 
appear  to  have  escaped  the  "  axes  and  hammers  "  of  the 
Puritans,  for  the  principal  figures  have  been  hacked  and 
mutilated  in  the  most  determined  manner. 

This  tomb  is  noticed  by  Mrs.  Bray,  who  remarks  that 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  183 

"  the  female  head  is  very  characteristic,  and  that  it  is  a 
pity  her  nose  has  been  knocked  off."  She  adds  that  "some- 
one (in  order  to  repair  the  damage  done  to  the  principal 
figures  by  the  amputation  of  their  hands)  has  made  the 
small  mistake  of  placing  the  large  rough  hands  of  the 
good  knight  on  the  lady,  and  has  also  joined  to  and  deco- 
rated his  stumps  with  her  slender  and  delicate  fingers." 
The  figures  of  four  children  are  placed  on  a  deep  ledge 
round  the  structure,  together  with  those  of  two  infants 
in  curious  square  cradles,  not  made  to  rock,  and  of  another 
sitting  in  a  chair,  and  dressed  in  lace  from  head  to  foot. 

The  knight  and  his  lady  look  to  the  east,  and  at  the 
back  of  the  monument  a  youth  and  a  damsel,  facing  each 
other,  are  seen  praying  at  a  desk.  These  effigies  are  like- 
wise in  the  dress  of  the  time  of  Charles  I,  and  they 
appear  also  to  have  afforded  amusement  to  Colonel 
Holbourne's  soldiers  in  the  intervals  of  the  siege  of 
Sydenham. 

The  church  has  been  neatly  restored  by  the  patron. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  altar  there  are  two  trefoiled 
sedilia  of  decorated  date,  and  the  south  chancel  window 
has  geometrical  tracery  of  the  same  period.  A  flat  stone 
in  this  jiart  of  the  sacred  structure  marks  the  last  resting 
place  of  the  Rev.  Edward  Tuke,  Prebendary  of  Exeter 
and  Vicar  of  the  parish,  who  died  about  the  year  1613. 
Each  line  of  his  long  epitaph  commences  with  a  letter 
of  his  name  thus — 

"  Entombed,  interred,  here  learned  Edward  lies, 
Dies  not  but  wayts  to  hear,  '  Come,  Tuke,  arise  !' " 

The  font  is  a  fine  example  of   pure  Norman    work. 
It  is  square  with  a  circular  bason,  is  in  good  preserva- 


184  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

tion,  and  is  profusely  ornamented  with  grotesque  heads  at 
the  anofles,  and  with  an  arcade  of  circular  arches  inter- 
secting  each  other.  This  arrangement  is  frequently  found 
in  the  Norman  style  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  from 
it  Dr.  Milner  supposed  the  pointed  arch  to  have  had 
its  oi'igin.  It  has  also  what  is  known  as  a  star  moulding, 
which  is  further  decorated  with  a  small  flower  not  unlike 
the  four-leaved  flower  of  the  Second  Pointed  style. 

The  interior  of  the  south  porch  has  also  another  relic 
of  the  original  church.  Over  the  door  the  form  of  the 
Norman  arch  may  be  distinctly  traced,  and  above  it  the 
ancient  weather  moulding,  ornamented  with  stars  and 
billets,  still  remains  ;  and  over  all  a  circular  niche  of 
twelfth  century  date,  with  a  portion  of  a  projecting 
bracket,  may  still  be  seen.  The  present  doorway,  which 
is  much  lower  than  the  old  one.  is  of  Perpendicular 
character,  pointed,  and  with  moulded  jambs  ;  and  the 
porch  itself  was  doubtless  constructed  at  the  same  period. 
On  its  western  side  is  a  small  fire-place,  with  a  chimney, 
which  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  it  had  been  at  some 
time  or  other  used  for  other  purposes  than  as  an  entrance 
into  the  church. 

The  tower  appears  to  be  coeval  with  the  first  erection 
of  the  building,  although  it  has  been  ornamented  in  the 
style  prevalent  in  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  square  and 
massive,  with  a  Perpendicular  western  window  and  a 
Pointed  doorway,  with  deep  mouldings.  It  is  strength- 
ened with  solid  angular  buttresses,  which  seem  to  have 
been  placed  there  more  for  effect  than  use,  since  the  walls 
are  very  massive,  and  the  staircase  is  included  in  their 
thickness.      It    is   embattled,    and    has   four   pinnacles 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  185 

tei-minated  by  finials.  The  church  itself  is  unbuttressed, 
but  there  is  a  shght  external  projection  on  the  south  side 
which  contains  the  stairs  which  anciently  led  to  the  I'ood 

loft. 

A  violent  storm  of  thunder  and  lightning  on  the  17th 
October,   1729,  threw  down  a  portion    of  the  tower  and 
the  four  pinnacles.    These  were  preserved  in  the  vicarage 
garden  (near  the   church),  and  restored  to  their   proper 
position  by  the  late  Rev.  T.  Robyns,  the   vicar  in    1829. 
This  church  wtis  probably  originally  built  by  Juhel  de 
Totnais,   its  Norman  owner,   concerning  whom  little  is 
known  ;  but  it  is  certain  that  he  was  a  pious  and  rehgious 
man,    and    that   he    founded  the    priory    of  St.    Mary 
Magdalen,  Barnstaple,   and   also    the    priory  of  Totnes. 
Judo-ing  from  certain  expressions  he  makes  use  of  in  the 
foundation  deed  of  the  former,  it   would  almost   appear 
that  he  at  one  time  contemplated  retiring  from  the  world 
and  embracing  a  religious  life.    He  does  not  seem,  however, 
to  have  done  so,  and,  as  already  said,  he  was  ultimately 
banished  the  realm  by  William  Rufus,  and  his   estates 
confiscated.     I  believe  that  a  great  deal  of  the  Norman 
church  is  still  standing,  but   there   are    evidences  that 
it  was   much   altered  in   the  fourteenth,    and  again    in 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  doubtless  at  both  those  periods 
extensive  repairs  had  become  necessary. 

From  a  very  early  period  up  to  the  Reformation  Maristow 
church,  with  its  dependent  chapel  of  Thrushelton,  belonged 
to  the  priory  of  Plympton  ;  and  the  confirmation  charter 
of  Kino-  Henry  II  to  that  monastery,  shows  that  the 
former  was  originally  given  to  it  by  Fulk,  the  son  of 
Answer  and  it  is  there  ctdled  "  the  church  of  St.  Mary  of 
°    '     2a 


1&6  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Sideuham."  "  Et  ecclesiam  Sancte  Marie  de  Sidenham 
quam  Fulco  filius  Ansgeri  et  Adeliz  uxor  ejus  eis 
dederuiit ;  et  Hordrunelaiidam  Horndon)  quam  Rob. 
til  Fulconis  eis  dederunt."  Fulk  and  his  wife  Alice 
were  great  benefactors  to  the  priory  and  community  of 
Plympton,  and  also  gave  them  the  manor  of  Shirford,  in 
Brixton  parish,  which  Lysons  wrongly  asserts  "  to  have 
been  the  ancient  inheritance  of  the  Maynard's,"  when  in 
point  of  fact  they  only  held  it  as  lessees  under  the  prior 
and  convent  "  Et  Scyi'eford  quam  Fulco  filius  Ansgerii  et 
Adeliz  uxor  ejus  eis  dederunt."  A  copy  of  this  interest- 
ing deed  may  be  seen  in  Dugdale,  and  it  has  also  been 
reprinted  in  the  Monasticon  of  the  Dioceses, 

In  a  charter  executed  by  Bishop  John  (the  Chaunter) 
between  the  years  1186  and  1191  this  church  is  also 
called  •'  Ecclesiam  Sancti  Marie  de  Sidaham,"  but  in  the 
"  confirmation  of  the  churches  and  chapels  of  the 
monastery  of  Plympton"'  it  is  described  thus: — "Eccle- 
siam Sancte  Mariestowe  cum  capella  de  Thrishelston  et 
Sancti  Jacobi  Inchewode  ab  eadem  dependentibus."  This 
deed  is  dated  from  the  manor  of  Clyst,  3rd  March,  1334. 
No  mention  is  made  of  Thrushelton  chapel  in  either  of  the 
earlier  deeds,  but  this  one  shows  that  there  was 
another  dependent  chapel  dedicated  to  St.  James,  and 
Dr.  Oliver  notices  the  names  of  two  others  in  honour 
respectively  of  St.  John  and  St.  Nicholas.'^ 

In  the  taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  A. D.  1291,  the  church 
is  described  as  "  Ecclesia  de  Stowe  Sancte  Marie,"  and  is 
valued  at  £l2  per  annum.     In  the  "  Valor  Ecclesiasticus" 

1  Grandisson's  Keg.,  vol.  ii,  fol.  20. 
*  Erantyngham's  Reg.,  vol.  i.,  fol.  89. 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  1S7 

we  read  that  the  rectorial  tithes  amounted  to  £8  a  year 
in  1535,  and  that  they  had  been  leased  for  a  term  of  years 
to  Henry  Langifford.  The  lease  was  made  by  John  Howe, 
the  last  prior,  in  anticipation  of  the  dissolution  of  his 
house,  which  took  place  on  the  5th  of  August,  1534,  to 
Edmund  Langifford,  for  twenty-one  years,  at  the  yearly 
rent  of  £S. 

In  the  year  1535  Ralph  Harison  was  vicar,  and  the 
vicarial  income,  which  had  not  increased  much  since  the 
thirteenth  century,*  was  computed  at  £12  16s.  Oid. 

The  \ncarage  was  endowed  with  the  great  tithes  of  that 
pai-t  of  Marystowe,  which  lies  south  of  the  river  Lyd. 

At  the  reformation  the  patronage  of  the  living  became 
the  property  of  the  Wise  family,  and  by  arrangement 
with  the  lessee  or  otherwise  they  eventually  became 
possessed  of  the  rectorial  tithes.  The  present  patron  is 
J.  H.  Tremayne,  Esq.,  of  Sydenham.' 

There  is  no  record  of  the  sequestration  of  the  vicar  of 
Mar\'stowe  during  the  Civil  Wars  ;  but  it  is  unhkely  that 
the  Parliamentary  soldiere  (especially  since  they  were 
masters  of  the  village)  permitted  him  to  retain  (piiet 
possession  of  his  church.  The  records  of  the  parish 
contain  no  mention  of  his  name,  and  the  early  register 
books  have  disappeared.  John  Crabbe  is  mentioned  in 
1665,  and  very  probably  he  obtained  this  preferment  at 
the  restoration.  The  present  vicar  of  Marystowe  is  the 
Rev.  H.  B.  Grylls,  who  was  mstituted  in  1874  ;  and  I 
have  much  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the  kindness  and 
attention  he  shewed  me  when  I  visited  his  parish.     He 

1  South  Sydenham  church  is  also  dedicated  to  S.   Maiy,  hut  did  not 
helong  to  Plj-mpton. 
2  A' 


188  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

has  a  good  residence,  pleasantly  situated  close  to  the 
church,  and  114  acres  of  glebe.  As  I  have  already  said» 
the  early  register  book  has  disappeared.  Those  still  in 
existence  commence — 

Baptisms,  1648  (irregularly  kept  for  a  few  years). 
Marriages,  1G54. 
Burials,  1G54. 
In   1694  the  small  pox  raged  with  great  violence  at 
Marystowe.     Twenty   people  were  buried  in  that  year, 
eleven   of  whom   were  women,   and   amongst   them  was 
Radigund  Lady  Wise,  second  wife  of  Sir  Edward  Wise, 
K.B.,  as  previously  mentioned. 

The   names   of  the  following   Vicars  have   been  pre- 
served : — 

As  already  said  the  patronage   since  the   Reformation 
has  been  with  the  owners  of  Sydenham. 

John  Bere  occurs   as  Vicar       A.D.     1504 

Ralph  Hareson  „  „        1534 

Samuel  Walter  died  „        1571 

Edward  Tuke  „  „        1613 

John  Crabbe       occurs  as  Vicar         „        1665 
William  WiUiams  „  „        1676 

John  Hening  „ 

Thomas  Rose  „  „        1696 

Edward  Hawkins  „  ,,        1713 

John  Teasdale  „  „        1755 

T.  Robyns  „  „        1829 

H.  B.  Grylls  „  „         1874 

Certain  lands  m  the  parish  of  Maristow,  which  formerly 

belonged  to  the  Carwithen  family  were  sold  to  Sir  Thomas 

Wise,   reserving  the  sum  of  ICs.    lOd.,  payable  on  the 


PARISH  OF  MARISTOW.  189 

altar  table  of  the   church  of  Sydenham  Damerel  (south 
Sydenham),  before  twelve  o'clock  noon  on  Easter  Monday 

annually." 

There  "kre  some  lands  called  "  Thorne  lands  "  belonging 
to  the  parish,  and  the  earliest  deed  connected  with  them 
(and  which  I  believe  is  preserved  in  the  parish  chest)  is 
dated  16th  February,  40th  Elizabeth,  whereby  George 
Birkell  and  William  Shellye  granted  to  Thomas  Wise  and 
others  and  their  heirs  a  messuage  or  tenement  called 
Thome,  m  the  parish  of  Marystow,  with  common  of 
pasture  upon  Holster  Down,  in  trust;  the  rents  and 
profits  to  be  applied  to  the  reparation  and  maintenance  ot 
the  parish  church,  and  the  overplus  to  be  distributed,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  trustees  and  churchwardens,  amongst 
poor  people  dwelling  in  the  parish. 

In  a  memorandum,  dated  1G77,  of  deeds  at  that  time 
preserved  in  the  parish  chest,  there  is  mention  of  an 
earlier  feoffment  of  the  24th  Henry  VI  (AD.  144G)  from 
John  Cholwill  to  Eobei-t  Stacey  and  others. 

There  is  a  tradition  in  the  parish  that  these  lands  were 
given  by  John  de  Thorne,  but  the  date  of  the  donation  is 
unknown.  The  ancient  family  of  Thorne  or  de  Spineto 
were  settled  in  this  part  of  Devonshire  at  a  very  early 
period  at  Sampford  Spinney,  in  the  hundred  of  Roborough. 

Robert  de  Spineto  occurs  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  II,  and  was  succeeded  by  Gerard,  who  is 
mentioned  as  a  benefactor  in  the  Tor  Abbey  Chartulary. 
One  branch  of  this  house  were  settled  at  Thome,  in  the 
parish  of  Holsworthy,  from  the  reign  of  King  John  to 
the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  the 
1  Mag.  Brit.,  ii.,  4GS. 


190  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

heiress  married  Holland ;  and  there  were  other  Thornes 
of  Thome  (which  may  have  been  situated  in  the  parish 
of  Maristowe,  where  there  is  still  a  farm  of  this  name), 
whose  heir  married  Cooke.  It  is  imcertain  at  what 
period  their  male  line  became  extinct. 

The  estate  called  Thorne  Lands  consists  of  a  farmhouse 
and  buildings,  and  forty-seven  aci-es  of  land.  Manganese 
was  some  years  since  discovered  there,  which  increased  the 
rent  of  the  property  £172  in  the  year  1819.  According 
to  the  report  of  the  Charity  Commissioners  the  average 
rent  of  the  farm  is  between  £30  and  £40  a  year. 

The  poor  are  also  entitled  to  an  annuity  of  £20  under 
the  will  of  Mr.  Arthur  Tremayne  of  Sydenham,  dated 
24th  May,  1808,  full  particulars  of  which  will  be  found 
at  the  end  of  the  tenth  chapter. 


PARISH  OF  THRUSHELTOX.  191 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Parish  of  Thrushklton. 

The  cliapelry  of  Thrushelton  is  distant  between  three 
and  four  miles  from  the  mother  church  of  Maristow,  from 
which  it  is  separated  by  the  parishes  of  Lewtrenchard  and 
Sto^vford;  it  is  situated  in  the  hundred  of  Lifton  and 
deanery  of  Tavistock,  and  in  1881,  returned  a  population 
of  427  persons,  scattered  over  3,7  U  acres  of  land. 

This  place,  which  takes  its  name  from  the  little  River 
Thrushill,  Ls  variously  written  Thruselton,  Thriselton,  and 
Thrushelton.  In  Domesday  it  is  called  Tresetone,  and  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor  was  the  property  ot 
"  Grimes." 

Juhel  de  Totnais  succeeded  him.  The  reign  of  Henry 
II  found  William  Talbot  the  lord  of  the  manor.  The 
family  of  Vepont,  or  De  Veteriponte,  were  the  owners 
for  some  generations,  and  Robert  Vepont  was  High  Sheriff 
of  Devon  in  the  12th  of  King  John.  After  ages  brought 
land  in  Thrushelton  to  the  Trenchards,  and  Sir  Michael 
Trenchard,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I  left  property  there 
to  Walter,  his  younger  son  ;  and  another  of  the  same 
name  gave  the  manor  of  Canabarne,  in  this  parish,  to  the 
priors  of  Plymptou.  Fronx  the  Trenchards  the  manor 
passed  to  Serlonius  Wi.se,  son  of  Sir  William  Wise,  and 
Ela   his  wife,  the  daughter  of  De  Veteriponto,   and  an 


192  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

ancestor  of  the  Wises  of  Sydenham  ;  and  after  the 
Reformation  this  family  also  became  possessed  of  the 
manor  of  Canabarne,  which  according  to  the  Valor  Eccle- 
siasticus,  yielded  the  monks  of  Plympton  £8  6s.  Ifd  per 
annum. 

Mr.  Tremayne  now  holds  both  these  manors. 
The  authors  of  the  additions  to  Risdon  are  wrong  in 
thtir  statement  as  to  the  ownership,  by  the  Calmadys,  of 
Langdon.  I  believe,  however,  that  that  family  possesses 
several  estates  in  the  parish,  derived  (I  have  been 
informed)  by  the  marriage  of  a  Calmady  with  the 
daughter  and  heir  of  Sir  Peter  Courtenay,  There  seems 
to  have  been  another  manor,  called  North  Thrushelton, 
held  with  Sourton  from  the  reign  of  Henry  II  to  that  of 
Edward  III  by  the  Talbots,  but  I  cannot  learn  that  any 
such  manor  is  now  known. 

The  parish  church  or  chapel  is  dedicated  to  St.  George, 
and  consists  of  chancel,  nave  opening  into  north  and 
south  aisles  beneath  three  arches,  a  south  porch,  and  a 
western  tower  containing  five  bells. 

There  is  a  piscina  remaining  in  the  south  wall  of  the 
chancel,  and  another  in  the  south  aisle,  in  what  was  once 
the  south  chancel  chapel,  but  the  parclbses,  together  with 
the  rood  screen,  have  been  removed.  The  font,  of 
Roborough  stone,  is  octagonal  and  unornamented. 

There  is  an  aspersorium,  or  holy  water  stoup,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  porch,  and  the  stairs,  which  anciently 
led  to  the  rood  loft,  are  still  remaining  on  the  south  side. 
The  erection  of  this  chapel  was  probably  due  to  the 
exertions  of  the  monks  of  Plympton,  and  the  fact  that  no 
reference  is  made  to  it  in  the  earher  records  proves  that 


PARISH  OF  THRUSHELTON.  193 

it  is  of  much  later  date  than  the  parish  church.  As  I 
have  ah-eady  said,  the  first  mention  I  have  found  of  it  is 
in  a  deed  dated  March  3rd,  1334. 

The  earher  records  prove  that  the  whole  parish  was  at 
first  called  Sidenham,  and  Maristowe  was  doubtless  after- 
wards adopted  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from  Sydenham 
Damerel,  which  to  this  day  is  distinguished  by  the  prefix 
of  "  South,"  and  there  would  have  been  no  occasion  for  the 
use  of  this  word  had  there  not  been  another  parish  in 
the  neighbourhood  bearing  the  same  name.  Moreover  the 
principal  manor  is,  and  has  always  been,  called  Sidalham, 
or  Sidenham,  and,  as  already  stated,  there  is  no  mention 
in  Domesday,  or  elsewhere,  of  any  manor  of  Maristowe. 

In  the  year  1504  a  license  was  granted  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Thrushelton  by  the  authority  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  (the  see  of  Exeter  being  then  vacant 
by  the  death  of  John  Arundell,  whose  successor,  Hugh 
Oldham,  was  not  then  consecrated)  to  inclose  a  burial- 
ground  round  the  chapel.  The  parishioners  had  petitioned 
for  this  privilege  in  consequence  of  the  distance,  "  three 
miles  and  more,"  from  the  mother  church  of  Maristowe, 
and  the  "  hazard  from  inundations  and  other  lets  and 
hindrances." 

The  prior  and  Convent  of  Plympton,  the  patrons  and 
appropriators,  and  the  vicar  of  Maristow,  consented  to  the 
petition  upon  the  following  conditions,  dependent  upon 
the  fultilmeut  of  which  the  necessary  authority  was  given. 

The   parishioners  of  Thrushelton  were  to  pay  the  ex- 
penses of  the  enclosure  of  the  new  burial  ground  and  of 
its  consecration,  they  were  to  repair  and,  if  necessary,  re- 
build the  residence  near  the  church  where  the  chaplain 
2  b 


194  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

resided,  and  keep  it  in  good  condition  for  ever,  and  were 
to  exonerate  the  rectoiy  from  all  charge  of  the  said 
residence. 

AU  the  inhabitants  above  fourteen  years  of  age  were 
to  pay  on  the  feast  of  dedication,  besides  the  accustomed 
offerings,  one  penny  each  towards  the  maintenance  of 
the  chaplain,  to  lighten  the  charge  of  the  vicar  who 
appointed  and  maintained  him.  They  were  also  to  main- 
tain in  proper  condition  the  chapel  of  St.  George,  and 
if  necessary  at  any  time  they  were  to  rebuild  it,  they  were 
to  provide  all  books  and  other  tJaings  necessary  for  divine 
service  there,  and  to  supply  everything  necessary  for 
the  new  burial  ground,  and  they  were  to  do  all  this 
without  damage  to  the  mother  church  of  Maristowe, 
to  the  repair  and  fencing  of  whose  churchyard  they 
were  to  continue  to  contribute,  and  they  were  to  abstain 
from  interfering  with  the  grass  and  trees  of  the  new 
churchyard  of  Thrushelton,  and  they  were  lastly  to  pay 
"Petei's    pence  "  annually. 

In  case  of  non-fulfilment  of  the  contract,  they  were  to 
be  deprived  of  all  benefit  of  the  licence,  and  compelled  to 
resort  to  their  old  place  of  bm-ial  in  the  churchyard  at 
Maristowe  ;  they  were  to  be  fined  £5,  to  be  paid  by  the 
churchwardens  within  a  month  after  the  offence,  to  the 
vicar  of  Maristowe,  their  proctor,  Master  Richard  Symons 
being  responsible,  and  further  they  were  to  be  deprived  of 
all  burial  in  church  or  churchyard  until  the  money  was 
paid.     John  Bere  was  at  this  time  vicar. 

There  is  a  copy  of  the  original  deed,  dated  3rd 
of  March,  1625,  in  the  possession  of  the  vicai"  of 
Maristowe,    which  is  certified  as  a  true   copy  by   John 


PARISH  OF  THRUSHELTON.  195 

Prest  and  two  others.  Members  of  the  Prest  famUy  are 
buried  in  the  north  aisle  of  Thrushelton  ;  there  is  an 
inscription  there  on  a  flat  stone  for  Roger  Prest,  gent., 
1658.  A  translation  of  this  deed  (the  original  being 
in  Latin)  was  made  at  the  expense  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Tremayne, 

in  1821. 

As  at  Maristowe,  the  early  registers  of  the  parish  of 
Thrushelton  have  been  lost  or  destroyed  ;  those  which 
have  been  presesved  commence  aUke  in  1654. 


2  B= 


196  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  X.— PART  I. 


The  Parish  of  Lajierton — General  Description 
AND  History. 

The  scattered  village  of  Lamerton  lies  about  seventeen 
miles  north  of  Plymouth,  and  is  in  the  hundred  of  Lifton, 
the  archdeaconry  of  Totnes,  and  deanery  of  Tavistock. 
In  187]  it  possessed  a  very  ancient  and  interesting  church, 
and  a  population  of  1,333  inhabitants,  living  in  2G7  houses 
on  7,232  acres  of  land. 

It  is  shown  by  ' '  Domesday  "  that  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  Lamerton,  then  written  Lambertone 
belonged  to  the  Saxon  Ordulf.  At  the  I'edistribution  of 
property  under  Norman  rule  it  was  apportioned  to  the 
Conqueror's  follower  Ruald  Adobed,  together  with  twenty- 
nine  other  manors  in  Devonshire,  twelve  of  which, 
inclusive  of  Lamerton,  he  held  in  demesne,  while  the 
remaining  eighteen  were  farmed  under  him  by  sub-tenants. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  this  Ruald,  or  as  Risdon  calls 
him  Reginald  Adobed,  or  Adobat,  may  have  been  the 
ancestor  of  the  GiSard  family,  w^ho  eventually  succeeded, 
to  a  large  portion  of  his  lands  in  this  coimty,  sis  Lysons 
says,  either  by  inheritance,  sale,  or  Royal  grant.  He 
appears  to   have   given  his   name  to  Bridge-rule,  in  the 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  197 

hundred   of    Black    Torrington,    which  manor    he   also 
retained  in  his  own  hands. 

Sir  Walter  Giffard,  of  Wear-Giffard,  and  Lamerton, 
who  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III,  left  an 
only  daughter,  Emma,  who  was  married  firstly  to  Sir 
Hugh  Widworthy,  secondly  to  Sir  William  Trewin,  and 
thirdly  to  Sir  Robert  Dynham. 

She  had  issue  only  by  her  second  husband  whose  name 
seems  to  have  been  derived  from  the  long  residence  of 
his  family  at  Treioin  or  Train  in  the  parish  of  Modbury. 
Their  son  William,  when  he  had  inlierited  Wear  Giffard 
in  right  of  his  mother,  similarly  assumed  the  name  of 
Wear.  His  grandson,  William  Trewin  alias  Wear,  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  IV  married  Ehzabeth,  daughter  and 
heir  of  John  de  Filleigh,  and  died  at  the  commencement 
of  the  following  reign.  His  daughter  Joan  brought 
Lamerton  and  the  rest  of  her  paternal  inheritance  to  her 
husband  Richard  Denzell,  and  was  in  due  time  succeeded 
by  Richard  their  son,  who  left  issue  an  only  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  who  married  Martin  Fortescue,  described  in 
the  Visitation  of  1564,  as  of  "  Philley." 

He  was  the  son  of  the  famous  Sir  John  Fortescue, 
Chief  Justice  and  Chancellor  of  England  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI,  an  account  of  whom  is  given  by  Prince,'  and 
in  the  same  edition  will  be  found  a  very  long  and  ex- 
haustive footnote  on  this  ancient  and  noble  family. 
We  have  most  of  us  read  how  they  became  settled 
at   Whimpstone,    in   Modbury,    at    a   very   early    date 

Sir    William    Pole,    and    others   who    have   followed 

him,  say  from  the  reign  of  King  John.      The  records  of 

1  Worthies  of  Devon,  p.  33,  Edit.  1810. 


198  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

the  family,  however,  go  back  further  than  this  reign,  and 
refer  to  Sir  Richard  le  Forte,^  who  accompanied  the  Con- 
queror to  England,  bore  the  shield  before  him  at  Hastings, 
and  had  three  horses  killed  under  him  on  that  memorable 
day,  and  thus  originated  their  name  and  theii-  famous 
motto — 

"  Forte  scutum  salus  ducum." 

The  record  of  Domesday  shows  that  Whimpstone,  then 
written  "  Winestone,"  belonged  to  the  Earl  of  Mortain 
in  1087,  and  this  appears  to  favour  the  statement  that  it 
came  to  the  Fortescues  by  the  gift  of  King  John. 

The  almost  uniform  tradition,  however,  is  that  it  was 
the  gift  originally  of  the  Conqueror  to  Adam,  son  of 
!P,ichard  le  Forte,  who  was  also  one  of  his  principal  com- 
manders, and  that  it  was  confirmed  only  by  King  John,  in 
the  tenth  year  of  his  reign,  to  Sir  John  Fortescue,  of 
Whimpstone.  The  pedigree  is  given  (both  in  Westcote, 
and  in  the  Heralds'  Visitation  of  1564)  from  John 
Fortescue,  of  Whimpstone.  who  married  Joan  (or  Alice?), 
daughter  and  heir  of  John  Pruston,  of  Pruston — Westcote 
only  carries  the  line  (which  is  continued  in  the  Visitation) 
to  William,  fourth  in  descent,  who  married  Katherine 
Welsh. 

Collins,'  quoting  from  Sir  William  Pole,  refers  to  Adam 
Fortescue,  30th  Edward  I,  styled  "  son  and  heir  of  Adam 
Fortescue,"  and  then  gives  the  descent  from  William  (son 
of  William  and  Katherine  Welsh),  who  married  Elizabeth 
(Isabel?)  Beauchamp. 

Sir  Bernard  Burke  mentions  the  traditional  descent  of 

1  Peerage  of  England,  vol.  4,  p.  28.  Edit.  1741. 


PARISH  VF  LAMERTON.  199 

the  family  on  the  authority  of  Lord  Clermont — "  Histoiy 
of  the  Fortescues " — alludes  to  Adam  le  Forte*  as  the 
original  grantee  of  "  Wymondeston,"  and  also  gives  the 
descent  of  his  race  from  William,  and  his  wife  Elizabeth(?) 
Beauchamp,  who  was  living  in  1406. 

Since  Elizabeth  Denzell  brought  Lamerton  to  her 
husband,  Martin  Fortescue,  more  than  400  years  ago,  it 
has  remained  with  their  descendants,  and  long  may  it 
continue  to  do  so.  Lord  Fortescue  is  the  present  lord  of 
the  manor. 

Lysons  says'  the  manor  of  Willestrew,  which  belonged 
to  the  Tremaynes,  is  now  (1822)  the  property  of  John 
Carpenter,  Esq.,  of  Mount  Tavy  ;  that  of  Waterfall 
belongs  to  a  minor  of  the  name  of  Cundy,  in  whose 
family  it  has  been  for  a  considerable  time." 

The  manor  of  Wilavestrew,  or  Willestrew,  is  mentioned 
in  Domesday  as  the  property  of  "  Bulgert"  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  the  Confessor.  As  far  as  I  am  aware,  his 
name  does  not  occur  in  any  other  portion  of  the  survey 
as  an  owner  of  land  in  Devonshire.  It  probably  came  to 
the  Tremaynes  by  inheritance  from  Trenchard,  about  the 
reign  of  Henry  IV. 

For  some  years  it  appears  to  have  been  in  the  family  of 
Roundell,  or  Bundle.  In  the  north  aisle  of  the  parish 
church  wtis  an  inscription  to  "  William  Roundell,  of 
Willestrewe,  buried  in  the  year  1532.  In  Chancery* 
proceedings  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  there  is  a  record  of 
"  Relief  as  to  forcible  possession,  &c.,  meadow  grounds  in 
Lamerton,  co.  Devoir.  Plaintiff,  John  Satchfield  ;  defen- 
dants,  John   Bennett  and  Phillip  Ruudell "    "  cause  to 

J  Mag  Brit.,  ii,  306.  ^  Public  Record  Office. 


200  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

protect  title  by  purchase,  land  in  Lamerton,  co.  Devon  ; 
plaintiff,  John  Satchfield  ;  defendants,  John  Bennett  and 
Phillip  Rundell."  In  the  parish  registers  there  are  a 
great  number  of  entries  relative  to  members  of  this 
family,  variously  spelt  Roundell,  Rondel,  Rundell,  and 
Rundle  ;  and  the  name  occurs  more  frequently  than  any 
other  between  the  years  1631  and  1641.  Among  the 
earlier  entries  may  be  found  : — 

Thomas  Rondel,  sonne  of  Nicholas,  baptised  4th  Maye,  1572. 
Thomas  Roudel  and  Agnes  Gaunter  married  12th  October,  1607. 

And  in  1677  there  is  an  entry  of  the  marriage  of  Richard 
Rundle  and  Ffrances  Edgecumbe. 

John  Satchfield,  to  vphom  I  have  referred  as  plaintiff  in 
Chancery  proceedings  v.  Rundel,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
probably  resided  at  the  house  in  Lamerton  now  known 
as  Pittiscombe.  I  have  also  seen  an  agreement,  c. 
1539,  between  Richard  Mayhow,  jun.,  gentleman,  and 
William  Sachefeld  alias  Sachevyle,  "  concerning  a 
tenement  in  Pottiscombe,  in  the  parish  of  Lamerton." 
He  may  have  been  a  descendant  of  the  old  county  family 
of  the  same  name  which  became  extinct,  in  the  elder  line 
at  all  events,  in  the  foiui.eenth  century,  when  the  heiress 
married  Yeo  ;  his  position  in  Lamerton  appears  to  have 
been  that  of  a  yeoman. 

Dr.  Thomas  Rundle,  Lord  Bishop  of  Derry  in  1734-5 
(is  believed  to  have  been  a  member  of  this  family),  bvit  he 
appears  to  have  been  born  in  the  neighbouring  jjarish  of 
Milton  Abbot. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place,  however,  if  I  venture  to  say 
a  few  words  relative  to  the  branch  of  the  Edgecumbe 
family,  which  became   settled  at   Lamerton,    since   they 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  201 

have  received  but  scant  notice  from  our  county  historians. 
John  "Edgecomb,"  ofLamerton,  in  the  county  of  Devon, 
who  appears  to  have  been  fourth  son  of  Edgecumbe  of 
Edcrecumbe,  in  Milton  Abbot  married  and  had  issue 
George  "  Edgecombe  "  (who  married  and  had  issue  Roger). 
Walter  Edgecomb  de  Lamerton,  third  son,  and  John  Edg- 
comb  de  Mary  Tavy,  who  also  married.  Walter  Edgcomb, 
of  Lamerton,  married  Jane,  daughter  of  Richard  Deems, 
of  Luppit,  in  county  Devon,  and  had  issue— Roger 
Edgcombe,  of  Lamerton,  son  and  heir,  aged  26  ;  Arthur, 
aged  23  ;  John,  aged  20  ;  Richard,  aged  1 0  ;  James,  aged 
7  ;  and  Margaret,  aged  4,  in  the  year  1620.  The  arms  in 
"  Trick,"  appended  to  the  copy  of  the  Visitation  in  the 
Harl.  MSS.,  are  :— Gu.  on  a  bend  Sa.,  cotised  Or,  three 
boars'  heads  couped  Arg.'     A  martlet  for  difference. 

Frances,  wife  of  Richard  Rundle,  was  the  daughter  of 
Roger  Edgecomb,  of  Lamert(jn,  and  was  baptized  there 
22nd  November,  1650.  I  may  remark  that  the  above 
pedigree  of  Edgecumbe  is  not  included  in  the  Visitation 
of  1564,  published  by  Dr.  Colby  in  1881. 

The  family  of  Rowe  appear  to  have  resided  in  this 
county  from  a  very  early  date.  The  first  I  find 
mentioned  is  Robert  Rowe,  who  gave  land  at  Barum, 
in  1353,  to  the  hermit  brethren  of  St,  Augustine, 
for  the  purpose  of  erecting  thereon  a  churcli  and 
other  necessary  buildings  for  their  habitation.^  The 
original  grant  of  an  area  for  this  purpose"  in  villa  Barum," 
by  Sir  James  Audeley,   Knight,  \\'as  approved  and  con- 

1  Yisitatiuu  1G20,  Camden,  M.S.  Hail.  11G3  ;  Visitatiou  156-1,  Harvey 
MS.  Harl.  1080,  f.   13-1 

1  Inq.  ad  quod  damnum,  27th  Ed.,  iii.     Mag.  Brit.,  ii.,  36. 
2C 


202  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

firmed  by  Bishop  Grandlsson  on  June  9th,  1348.'  Dr. 
Oliver  refers  to  the  "  Inquisitio  ad  quod  damnum," 
which  I  have  quoted,  but  states  that  the  donor  of  the 
land,  five  acres  in  extent,  vras  "  Robert  Bowie." 

There  is  a  tradition  that  this  family  came  into  Devon- 
shire from  Kent,  but  Prince,  in  reference  to  this,  remarks 
on  the  authority  of  the  "  Pole  Evidences,"  that  the  name 
of  John  Row  occurs  as  witness  to  a  deed  with  Gilbert 
Harlewin  in  the  18th  of  Richard  11(1395).  The  coat 
armour  of  the  Rowes  of  Lamerton,  Gu.  three  Holy  lambs 
Arg.,  is  somewhat  similar  to  the  arms  of  Rurde,  Az.  a 
chev.  Or,  betw.  three  paschal  lambs  couchant  argent,  and 
it  is  to  be  remarked  that  a  pedigree  of  Rowe,  of 
Kingston  in  Staverton,  commences  "Ricardus  Row,  De 
Cantii,"  nup.  "  fil  et  hered,  Phillipi  Rurde,"  This  suggests 
the  possibility  that  the  descendants  of  the  heir  of 
Rurde  partially  adopted  her  arms  in  lieu  of  their  paternal 
coat,  a  practice  by  no  means  singular,  and  of  which  we 
have  another  local  example  in  the  case  of  Huyshe  of 
Clisthidon,  who,  since  the  marriage  of  Oliver  Hywish,  in 
the  reign  of  Edward  III  with  the  heiress  of  De  la  Roche, 
have  used  the  arms  of  the  latter  i'amily,  Arg.  on  a  bend 
Sa.,  three  roaches  ppr.,  instead  of  the  ancient  coat  of 
Hywis  a  chevron  between  three  roundles.  Prince  gives 
us  the  History  of  John  "  Row  "  Sergt.-at-law,  and  states, 
on  the  authority  of  Sir  William  Pole,  that  he  was  a  son 
of  Wm.  Row  of  Totnes.  He  married  Agnes,  daughter 
and  co-heir  of  William  Barnhouse  of  Kingston,  in  the 
parish  of  Staverton,  and  thus  became  the  founder  of  the 
Staverton  branch  of  the  Rowe  family,  which  continued 

'  Ep.  Reg.,  Brantyugham,  ii.  23.    Grandisson,  i.  154. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  203 

there  for  many  descents,  and  whose  representative 
ultimately  took  the  name  of  Hussey  upon  succeeding  to 
the  estates  of  Hussey  of  Marnhall  in  Dorsetshire.  John 
Row  was  called  to  the  degree  of  Serjt.  on  the  1 8th  Nov. 
1511,  and  his  name  occurs  as  witness  to  a  deed  in  the 
Pole  Evidences,  Ao.  1527.  He  was  evidently  contem- 
porary, if  not  identical  with,  John  liowe,  Serjt. -at-law,  of 
Howes  Place,  Co.  Kent,  who  sold  that  estate  and  dis- 
appeared from  Kent  in  1532.  He  was  ninth  in  descent 
from  Everard  de  Rowe  of  Roking,  near  Romney,  Temp. 
Hy.  iii,  and  6  th  in  descent  from  Robert  de  Rowe  of 
Rowes  place,  38th  Ed.  iii,  1365. 

Although  Lysons  says*  that  the  "  three  paschal  lambs  " 
are  wronyly  appropriated  to  Rowe  of  Kingston  in  the  neio 
(1810)  edition  of  Prince's  Worthies,  yet,  as  I  have  already 
stated  elsewhere,  these  arms  most  certainly  occur  at 
Staverton,  on  the  brass  of  John  son  of  Serjt.  Row, 
1562,  and  the  bearings  subsequently  used  by  the  Rowes 
of  Kingston  Arg.  a  chevron  Az.  between  three  trefoils 
slipped  p.p.  Gu.  and  vert,  were  only  granted  in  1595.'^ 

There  are  three  descents  of  the  Rowes  of  Lamerton  in 
the  Visitation  of  1620.  The  first-mentioned  there  married 
the  daughter  and  heir  of  Hill,  the  second  a  co-heir  of 
Fitz  of  Tavistock.  The  line  is  continued  in  a  Pedigi-ee 
at  the  Heralds'  College  (2  D.  14)  to  1789,  the  date  of 
death  of  Charlotte,  only  daughter  of  Nicholas  Rowe, 
Poet  Laureate,  by  his  second  marriage.  She  was  the 
wife  of  Henry  Fane,  brother  of  Thomas  Earl  of  West- 
moreland. 

1  Mag.  Brit.,  i.  clxxjc 

*  "  Ashburton  and  its  Neighbourhood,"  p.  143-4. 
2  C* 


204  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

The  elder  branch  of  the  family  in  the  male  line 
became  extinct  by  the  death  of  the  only  son  of  Nicholas 
Ex)we,  above  referred  to,  an  account  of  whom  will  be 
found  in  Johnson's  "  Lives  of  the  Poets."  His  Father, 
John  Eowe,  appears  to  have  been  the  first  of  the  family 
who  quitted  the  paternal  acres  to  practice  any  profession  ; 
he  was  a  Sei-gt.-at-law  and  legal  Author,  died  April  30th, 
1692,  and  was  buried  in  the  Temple  Church.  There  is  a 
local  belief  that  the  Son  was  born  in  Lamerton,  of  which 
place  Mrs.  Bray  describes  the  Father  as  the  "  Eector."'^ 
His  birth-place,  however,  is  known  to  have  been  the 
house  of  his  maternal  grandfather,  Jasper  Edwards,  at 
Little  Barford,  Bedfordshii-e,  in  the  year  1673. 

He  was  educated  at  Westminster,  under  Dr.  Busby, 
and  was  entered  at  the  Middle  Temple  at  the  age  of  16. 

He  produced  his  first  tragedy,  "  The  Ambitious  Step- 
mother," at  the  afire  of  24.  Dr.  Johnson  considers  his 
version  of  "  Lucan's  Pharsalia  "  to  have  been  his  master- 
piece, but  it  was  not  published  until  after  his  death.  He 
was  made  Under-Secretary  of  State  by  the  Duke  of 
Queensberry,  and  on  the  accession  of  George  I  he  suc- 
ceeded Tate  as  Poet-Laureate,  and  he  was  also  one  of 
the  surveyors  of  the  Port  of  London,  Clerk  of  the  Closet 
to  the  Prince  of  "Wales,  and  Secretaiy  of  Presentations 
under  Lord  Chancellor  Parker. 

He  died  in  December,  1718,  iu  his  45th  year,  and  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  and  his  widow  Anne, 
daughter  and  heir  of  Jos.  Devenlsh,  erected  a  fine 
monument  to  his  memory.  His  first  wife  was  Antonia, 
daughter  of  Anthony  Parsons  and  by  her,  who  died  10th 

2  Trad,  of  Devon,  3.  92. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTOK.  205 

January,  170(),  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  S.  Dun- 
stan's  in  the  West.  He  had  a  son,  John,  who  left  an  only 
daughter  who  first  married  Lock,  and  afterwards  Pyle, 
by  both  of  whom  she  had  issue. 

A  collected  edition  of  his  works  was  published  in  1792, 
two  vols.,  12mo. 

In    the   parish    church    of  Stoke    Gabriel    there    is   a 
memorial  to  a  James  Rowe  and  his  children,  who  Avas  a 
Medical  Practitioner  there.     He  was   born  in   1659,  and 
died    16th   September,    1743.     By  his    wife   Mary,   who 
died   14th   March,   17r)4,  aged   95  he  had  the  following 
issue  whose  deaths  are  recoi'ded  : — George    Rowe,    died 
5th  November,  1745,  aged  47  ;  Ann,  died  5th  December, 
1774,    aged    68  ;    Catherine,    the    wife    of  John    Teage, 
died    24th   June,    1790   aged    Slj,     and    Dorothy,     who 
married    William     Gary,    a     merchant,     fourth    son     i)f 
Edward  Gary  of  Tor  Abbey.     She   died   13th   February. 
174,  aged  43,  and  her  son  George  vdtimately  succeeded 
to  Tor  Abbey  and  other  estates  of  his  family.     There  was 
evidently  a  branch  of  the  Rowe  family  .settled  in  this 
neighbourhood ;    administration  to  the    effects    of  John 
Rowe,  of  Stoke  Fleming,  was  granted  by  the  Archdeacon 
of  Totues,  April  1668  and  April  1()(;9.      Tlie  will  of  John 
Rowe,  of  Stoke  Fleming,  A\as  proved  in  the  same  court, 
Auo-ust  1672.     Administration  to  estate  of  John  Rowe  of 
the  same  parish,  was  granted  September  1678,  and  the 
will  of  Thomas  Rowe,  of  the  same  was  proved  in  December 
168.5.     The  Rowes  of  A  Iverdiscott  in  this  county  believe 
themselves  to  be  desceudauls  of  the  Lamorton  branch  of 
the   family.       In    1G99    James    Rowe    was    one  of  the 
Stewards  of  the   City   of  E.xeter,  :rnd  a  certain   James 
Rowe  was  Mayor  of  the  same  city  in  1764. 


20G  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

About  the  latter  ])eriod,  viz.,.  175G,  a  certain  James  Howe, 
who  may  have  been  identical  with  the  Mayor,  purchased 
the  Barton  of  Alverdiscott,  and  subsequently  in  1760 
became  possessed  of  the  Manor  and  the  Advowson  of  the 
Parish  Church  there.  He  died  in  1785,  having  had  by 
his  wife,  Mary  Allan,  of  Jamaica,  a  son  Thomas,  who  pre- 
deceased him,  and  three  daughters.  His  brother,  William 
Rowe,  died  the  same  year  IV  85,  leaving  four  sons, 
William,  Charles,  James,  and  John.  The  last  was  Rector 
of  Alverdiscott  for  many  years  and  died  in  1833. 

The  thi'ee  elder  sons  all  settled  in  Jamaica.  William 
Rowe  had  two  sons,  viz.,  James  and  William.  The  latter 
was  the  father  of  the  late  Venerable  Archdeacon  Rowe  of 
Cornwall,  Jamaica,  and  was  himself  President  of  the 
Jamaica  Assembly. 

The  former,  James  Rowe,  sold  Alverdiscott  about  the 
commencement  of  this  century  to  Mr.  Richard  Preston, 
M.P.  He  had  two  sons  and  the  eldest  of  these  was  the 
late  Rev.  James  Rowe,  born  November  19,  1795.  He 
commenced  life  as  an  officer  in  the  45th  Regiment  ; 
served  with  distinction  in  the  Peninsular  War,  and  was 
with  the  allied  aniiies  in  Paris  hi  1815.  He  was  ordained 
in  1827,  and  w;is  ibr  many  years  rector  of  St.  Mary 
Arches,  Exeter.  Upon  the  death  of  the  late  Archdeacon 
Bartholomew  in  1865,  he  was  presented  to  the  rectory 
of  Morchard  Bishop  in  this  county,  and  died  there 
15th  May,  1884,  aged  88.  He  left  male  issue.  Charles 
Rowe,  second  son  of  William,  who  died  1785  also 
resided  in  Jamaica.  He  was  born  at  Bideford  c.  1754, 
and  was  educated  at  Oxford.  There  was  a  branch  of  the 
Rowe    family    settled    at     Tavistock    at   an    early    date. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  207 

Botweeii  the  years  1{»14  and  1802  there  are  160 
biiptisms,  lOG  marriages,  and  1.97  burials  la  this  name  on 
the  Parish  Registers  ;  indeed,  the  Howes  wex-e  scattered 
so  tliickly  over  the  county  from  a  very  remote  period 
that  the  constant  occurrence  of  the  name  in  Paraclu;d 
and  other  Registers  makes  It  next  to  impossible  to  trace 
the  connection  of  the  various  branches  of  tills  fruitful 
race  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 

James  Rowe,  the  elder,  of  Totnes,  saddler,  by  his  will, 
dated  10th  May,  1G94,  and  proved  in  the  following 
month,  gives  to  his  kinsman,  William  Rowe,  of  Otterton, 
clerk,  two  of  his  books,  viz.,  "  Calvin's  exposition  on  the 
New  Testament,  and  Dr.  Owen's  treatise  upon  Regenera- 
tion." lie  leaves  the  residue  of  his  estate  to  his  son, 
James,  who  is  sole  executor. 

Robert  Rowe,  of  Lamerton,  who  appears  to  be  son  of 
Robert  Rowe,  2nd  son  of  Nicholas  Rowe  and  of  his  wife 
Agnes,  daughter  of  the  co-heir  of  Robert  Fitz  of 
Tavistock,  Vjy  his  will  dated  27th  February,  1G73, 
and  proved  in  the  Archdeaconry  Court  of  Totnes,  2nd 
December,  1674,  makes  small  bequests  to  his  sons 
Nicholas  and  Richard,  and  to  his  daughter  Jon;is 
Fursman.  He  leaves  the  residue  to  his  daughter  Eli;^a- 
beth,  who  is  sole  executrix. 

George  Rowe,  of  Lamerton,  "  Husbandman,"  son  of  the 
last,  gives  to  his  father  Robert  Rowe,  his  interest  in  the 
lease  of  Widdislade,  in  Lamerton  parish  ;  he  leaves  his 
brother  Nicholas  "  his  best  cloak,  his  best  coat,  and  his 
best  breeches,  and  to  tlie  children  of  his  said  brother,  and 
of  his  brother  Richard  "  one  sheep  apeece."  To  his 
brothers    and   sisters    NichoLis,  Richard,  Elizabeth,  and 


208  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Jonas  Rowe,  he  bequeaths  "  the  cubbord  which  my  father 
gave  me,  and  all  the  goods  which  my  grandfather  John 
Colhng  gave  unto  me  by  his  last  will." 

To  his  brother  Francis  ho  leaves  the  sum  of  sixpence, 
and  a  like  amount  to  his  servant  Margaret  Cudlipe. 

Residue,  to  Mary,  his  wife,  who  is  sole  executrix.  Will 
dated  3rd  April,  1662,  proved  in  the  Archdeaconry  Court 
of  Totnes,  4th  of  June  the  same  year. 

Administration  to  the  effects  of  John  Rowe,  of  Lamer- 
ton,  was  granted  in  the  above  court  to  Nicholas  Rowe, 
described  as  "  de  Lamerton  in  Cora,  predic.  Generosus," 
15th  July,  1685. 

A  certain  John  Rowe,  of  the  Diocese  of  Exeter,  was 
ordained  Deacon  20th  December,  1432,  by  Edmund  Lacy, 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  and  priest  llth  April,  1433,  on  title 
from  the  Abbey  of  Tavistock.  He  was  probably  the  same 
who  had  been  admitted  a  Fellow  of  Exeter  College,  Lent 
term,  1426,  and  who  held  his  Fellowship  until  1441. 
Rector  of  Exeter  College,  1433-1440.  He  was  installed 
a  Canon  of  Exeter  and  collated  to  the  sub-deanery  there 
28th  August,  J441  (Le  Neve).  He  was  admitted  rector 
of  Exminster  on  the  resignation  of  Clement  Row,  31st 
January,  1447-8.  By  his  will,  made  8th  September,  1462, 
and  proved  24th  December,  1463,  he  left  40s.  to  his 
parish  church. 

There  was  a  John  Row,  of  Crediton,  born  about  1627. 
Entered  batler  of  New  Lin.  Oxford,  1642.  Fellow  of 
Corpus  C,  1648  [by  the  Parliamentary  vi.'titoi-s).  He 
was  a  Presbyterian,  and  was  afterwards  a  preacher  at 
Tiverton  and  an  assistant  to  tlie  Devonshire  C'oumiissi oners 
for  the  "  ejection  of  scandalous  ministers."     He  was  the 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTUN.  209 

author  of  numerovis  tracts  and  sermons,  and  he  collected 
most  of  the  materials  for  the  account  of  "  The  Life  and 
Death  of  John  Rowe,  of  Crediton  "  (his  father),  London, 
1673.  He  died  in  1G77,  and  was  buried  in  Bunhill  Fields 
on  12th  October  in  that  year.  The  inscription  on  his 
tomb  stated  that  he  was  some  time  'preacher  in  the  Abbey 
at  Westminster.' 

Mr.  J.  Brooking  Rowe,  of  Plymouth,  in  his  paper  on 
the  "  Rev.  Samuel  Rowe,  vicar  of  Crediton.  1835-53," 
who  was  the  author  of  the  Perambulation  of  Dartmoor, 
tells  us  that  this  branch  of  the  Rowe  family  was  seated 
at  Brixton  as  early  as  the  10th  of  Richard  II,  "  when 
John  Rowe  was  at  Winston,  a  hamlet  in  the  parish." 
Mr,  Rowe  also  claims  for  them  a  connection  both  '-with 
the  familij  of  Nicholas  Rowe,  the  poet,  and  with  the  Rowes 
of  Staverton. 

Collacombe,  in  this  parish,  for  many  generations  the 
seat  of  the  Tremaynes  before  they  removed  to  Sydenham, 
belonged  in  1242  to  Ralph  de  Esse  of  Ash-Ralph,  or  as  it 
is  now  called,  Rose  Ash.  1  presume  that  he  alienated  it 
to  Michael  Trenchard,  since  it  was  the  property  of  the 
latter  in  1295,  and  the  pedigree  of  the  former,  contained 
in  the  visitation  of  1564,  shows  that  the  family  of  Ash, 
or  Esse,  did  not  become  extinct  in  the  male  line  until 
Thomas,  grandson  of  Sir  Ralph  Esse,  died  without  issue 
early  in  the  fourteenth  century,  when  liis  sisters  and 
co-heirs,  Ingretta,  Elizabeth,  and  Margaret,  married 
Andrew    Gilford,    of    Thewborough,    in    the    parish     of 


*  Athen.  Oxon.  vol.  ii,  p.  596. 

'  Trans.  Devon  Associ:ition,  xiv,  395-6. 

2d 


210  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Sntcombe  ;  John  Gitibrd,  of  Helowne,  In  Cornwall ;  and 
Richard  Halse,  of  Kenedon,  in  the  parish  of  Sherford. 

Isabella,  daughter  and  heir  of  Trenchard,  of  Collacombe 
brought  the  property  to  her  husband,  Thomas  Tremayne. 
Prince  says  that  he  was  the  descendant  of  a  good 
Cornish  family,  and  was  the  son  of  Richard  (who  died 
1354),  son  of  Perys,  lord  of  the  manor  of  Tremain, 
near  Penryn,  by  his  second  marriage  with  Onera  Trevartea. 
The  family  doubtless  took  their  name  from  their  property 
although  Mi'S.  Bray  says  when  speaking  of  their 
patronymic  and  arms,  "  1  amuse  myself  with  fancying  the 
origin  of  these  bearings  must  liave  been  that  three 
brothers  fought  gallantly  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  having 
overcome  by  their  united  efforts  some  fierce  Saracen  chief, 
they  brought  his  head  in  triumph  to  Richard' of  the  Lion 
Heart.  Hence  he  gave  them  their  arms  and  the  surname 
of  Tremaine,  as  the  three  hands  that  had  united  to  do 
him  such  good  service  in  the  Holy  Wars."  The  arms  of 
Tremayne  are  Gu.  three  dexter  arms  conjoined  at  the 
shoulders  and  flexed  in  triangle,  Or. 

Crest  :  Two  ai-ms  enbowed,  vested  Or.,  holding 
betw^een  the  hands  a  head  pp.  thereon  a  high  crowned 
hat  Sa. 

Collacombe  house  is  a  good  example  of  an  Eliza- 
bethan mansion,  and  on  one  of  the  chimney-pieces  is  the 
date  1574.  In  an  u-regular  room,  twenty  feet  in  height, 
there  is  a  large  and  lofty  transom-window,  which  contains 
above  3,500  panes  of  glass.  Although  after  the  Tre- 
maynes  acquired    the   Maristowe  property  they    ceased 

1  Worthies  of  Devon,  739,  Ed.  1610. 
-  Traditions  of  Devon,  iii,  90. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  211 

to  reside  there,  it  continued  to  belong  to  them  until  it 
was  sold  by  Mr.  Arthur  Tremayne,  who  died  in  1808,  to 
Sir  William  Pratt  Call,  second  Bart.,  and  it  is  now  the 
property  of  his  grandson.  Sir  William  George  Call,  of 
Whitford  House,  Launceston.  Collacombe  has  been  for 
many  years  occupied  as  a  farm-house.  The  patronage 
of  Lamerton,  however,  is  still  vested  in  Mr.  Tremaynt,  of 
Sydenham. 


2  D' 


212  DEVOXSHIRE  PARISUEH. 


CHAPTER  X.-PART   11. 

The  Parish  of  Lamerton. — Pedigbee  of  Tremayne. 
There  are  discrepancies  in  several  of  the  existing 
pedigrees  of  Tremayne  of  Collacombe  which  are  hard  to 
reconcile ;  that  contained  in  Westcote,"  commences  with 
Nicholas  Tremayne,  who  married  a  daughter  of  Sir  John 
Damarel,  and  had  issue  Thomas,  who  took  to  wife  a 
daughter  of  Carew,  and  had  issue  John,  who  mai'ried 
a  daughter  of  Warr  and  had  issue  John,  married  to 
Emma  Bear,  of  Huntsham,  and  had  a  daughter  who  was 
wife  to  Sir  Richard  Edgecumbe,  of  Mount  Edgecumbe. 
But  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  Rawlinson  MS."  begins 
"  John  Tremayne,  of  CoUynton,  married  Jane,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Carew  and  Joan  (his  wife)  daughter  of 
Carminow,  and  had  issue  John,  who  married  Emma, 
daughter  of  John  Beare,  of  Himtsham."  Thomas  Tre- 
mayne, by  his  wife  Isabella  Trenchard,  had,  with  other 
issue,  Nicholas,  Thomas  and  John.  She  consoled  herself  in 
her  widowhood  by  a  mai-riage  with  a  second  husband,  Sir 
John  Damerell,  Knt.,  who  gave  to  her  heirs,  by  Tremayne, 
North  Huish,  Sydenham  Damerel  and  Whitchurch,  and 
made  her  executrix  to  his  will  dated  Friday  before  the 
feast  of  SS.  Simon  and  Jude,  1392.  Prince  states  that  her 
son  Thomas  was  "canon  of  St.  Peter's,  Exeter,  and  rector  of 

>  View  of  Devon,  p.  587 

2  Colby's  Visit,  of  Deron,  1564  p.  198. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  213 

Aveton  GifFard."  John  was  admitted  Fellow  of  Exeter 
College'  in  the  winter  of  1365,  and  he  was  probably  the 
same  "  John  Tremayne,  of  S.  Martin's,"  who  occurs  in  the 
list  of  strangers  buried  in  S.  John's  Hospital,  at  Exeter 
in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century.^  It  must  have 
been  in  his  time  that  the  Hospital,  stated  by  Westcote 
to  have  been  founded  "  by  the  ancestors  of  the  Tre- 
maynes,"  was  dedicated  to  S.  George,  at  the  west  end  of 
the  town  of  Tavistock. 

The  foundation  was  restored  by  George  Courtenay,  of 
Walredou,  in  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary.' 

Nicholas  Tremayne,  son  and  heir  of  Thomas  and 
Isabella,  married  Joan,  daughter  of  Sir  John  "Dodescombe" 
of  "  Dodescombeleigh"  and  Compton,  by  whom  he  had  a 
son  called  Thomas.  Another  coheir  married  Worthe, 
who  thus  acquired  the  Compton  property.*  At  an 
inquisition  held  21st  October,  1464,  it  was  found  that 
Thomas  Tremayne  and  Roger  Worth  were  the  true  patrons 
of  Doddiscombleigh,  and  they  accordingly  preseiited  to 
that  Rectory. 

Nicholas  Tremayne  married  a  second  time,  and  had, 
with  other  issue,  another  son,  also  called  Thomas,  who 
was  admitted  Fellow  of  Exeter  College  25th  June,  1491, 
vacated  1504.  Rector  of  Exeter  1502-3.  Vicar  of 
Witheridge,  Devon,  15th  February,  1417.  Died  1521, 
His  successor  was  admitted  23rd  September  in  that  year. 
'  Reg.  Coll.  Exon  (Boasc). 
2  Monas.  Dioc.  p.  308. 

^  Report  of  the  Charity  Commissioners,  vol.  i,  334.     Lj'sons,  vol.   ii, 
p.   47G.      Wliite's  Devon,  p.   758.      Moore's  Devon,    vol.   ii,  p.    344. 
Westcote,  p.  371. 
«  Ante,  p.  129. 


214  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Thomas  Tremayne,  son  and  heir  of  Nicholas  and  Joan, 
married  Elizabeth,  dau.  of  Thomas,  second  son  of  Nicholas 
Carew  of  Muleford  and  gi-andfather  of  Nicholas  de  Carew 
of  Bedyngton,  co.  Surrey.  Inq.  p.m.  14th  Ric.  II. — In 
the  year  1448  Edmund  Lacy,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  granted 
to  her  husband  and  herself  license  for  the  performance  of 
Divine  Service    within  their  mansion  of  Cullacombe. 

Their  son  John,  who  married  Jane,  dau.  of  Sir  Francis 
Warre,  had,  with  other  issue,  Thomas,  John  and  Richard, 
who  married  Jane,  dau.  and  coh.  of  Oliver  Wise  of 
Greston  and  widow  of  Deviock,  and  was  ancestor  of  the 
present  head  of  the  family,  and  Margaret,  married  to 
OUver  Wise  of  Sidenham. 

John  Tremayne,  2nd  son,  married  Emlyn,  dau.  of  John 
Beare  of  Huntsham,  and  had  issue.' 

His  elder  brother,  ^  Thomas  Tremayne,  married 
Philip  pa,  eldest  dau.  of  Eoger  Grenvile  of  Stow  and 
Bideford,  they  had  sixteen  children,  eight  boys  and 
as  many  girls.  Roger  was  the  eldest,  who  in  due 
time  succeeded  to  the  paternal  estates,  Edmund,  the 
second  son,  was  in  the  service  of  "  Edxoard,  Marquess 
of  Exeter,  according  to  Piince,  who  gives  as  his 
authoi'ity  a  Rev.  Mr.  Granger,  rector  of  Lamerton." 
It  was  Henry  Courtenay,  not  Edward  (the  error  is  also 
perpetuated  in  the  Courtenay  genealogy  contamed  in 
Burke's  Peerage),  who  was  created  Marquess  of  Exeter 
by  Henry  VIII,  and  who  was  afterwards  beheaded  by 
that   Monarch.       Edmund    Tremayne    appears    to    have 

1  This  John  was  admitted  Fellow  of  E.xcter  Coll.  16th  Oct.  1537. 
'  Visitations  of  Cornwall  (Col.  Vivian). 


PARTSH  OF  LAMERTON.  215 

followed  the  fortunes  of  his  son  Edward,  who  was  never 
Marquess  of  Exeter,  and  who  did  not  even  succeed  to  his 
fVither's  other  honours  by  virtue  of  the  old  Patents, 
although  he  was  certainly  created  Earl  of  Devon  by 
Queen  Maiy  by  patent  dated  Eichmond  3rd  September, 
1553.  He  seems  to  have  had  some  command  in  suppress- 
ing Wyatt's  rebellion,  but  he  nevertheless  incui-red  the 
Queen's  suspicion  in  connexion  with  it  and  was  thrown 
into  the  tower  together  with  his  faithful  follower. 
Edmund  Tremayne  was  placed  on  the  rack,  and  his 
inviolable  fidelity  on  tliis  occasion  is  refen-ed  to  in  his 
epitaph  on  the  quaint  monument  which  stood  at  the  end 
of  the  south  aisle  of  the  parish  church. 

"  Tlio  next  for  keeping  master's  secresy, 
And  loyalty  profound  unto  our  Queen 
Upon  the  rack  sat  life  in  jeopardy 
Whereby  his  tried  constancy  was  seen, 
Who  graciously  her  sovereign  ^Majesty 
^ladu  Council-Clark  tliat  had  so  faithful  been." 

He  suceedcd  to  Collacombe  on  the  death,  without  male 
issue,  of  his  brother  Eoger,  and  he  was  iii  his  turn  suc- 
ceeded by  Iiis  third  brother  Digory  ;  and  it  was  this 
Dit'ory  wlio  erected  the  monument  to  which  I  refer,  in 
the  year  1588. 

Richard  and  John  Tremayne,  twins,  were  the  next  oft- 
s])rlng  of  this  fruitful  couple.  Richard,  like  others  of  his 
family,  was  sent  to  Exeter  College,  where  he  graduated 
in  1547.  He  was  admitted  Fellow  o'l  his  college,  vice 
Hercules  Ameredith,  28th  March,  15.")3,  and  took  his 
M.A.  degree  on  the  17th  July  the  same  year.  In  1.556 
he  and  his  brother  Nicholas  were  declared  traitors,  and  a 


2!G  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

copy  of  the  proclamatioii  is  stated'  to  be  "  among  the 
Bertie  papers."  Deprived  of  his  Fellowship  he  resided 
out  of  England  until  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
enabled  the  advocates  of  the  reformed  religion  to  resume 
their  preferments.  Upon  his  return  in  1559  he  was 
Treasurer  of  Exeter  Cathedral  on  the  10th  February  ;  and 
on  the  7  th  of  April  the  same  year  he  was  collated  to  the 
Archdeaconiy  of  Chichester.  Dr.  Oliver  says  that  he 
was  deprived  of  his  office  of  Treasurer  for  a  time,  and  was 
reinstalled  27th  October,  1561.  He  was  proctor  for  Exeter 
in  Convocation,  1562,  and  his  signature  appears  to  the 
document  establishing  the  thirty- nine  articles,  156'i.^  He 
was  seventh  vicar  of  Menheniot,  in  the  county  of  Corn- 
wall ;  and  on  the  15th  February,  1565-6,  he  obtained  the 
degrees  of  Bachelor  and  Doctor  of  Divinity  by  accumula- 
tion, after  which  he  removed  to  Broadgate's  Hall.'  Prince 
says  that  he  was  ' '  accounted  a  famous  preacher  in  his 
time  ;  one  of  his  sermons,  preached  at  Paul's  Cross,  re- 
maineth  yet  with  the  fiunily,  I  suppose,  in  manuscript.  He 
was  a  benefactor  to  Exeter  College  library,  and  bestowed 
upon  it  the  King  ot  Spain's  Bible."  The  copy,  "  printed 
at  Antwerp,  by  the  cost  of  Philip  II,  King  of  Spain,  and 
by  the  care  of  Ben.  Ar.  Montanus,  in  eight  volumes, 
folio."  He  died  without  issue,  having  married  Joan, 
eldest  daughter  of  Sir  Piers  Courtenay,  of  Ugbrooke,  in 
1584,  and  his  will  was  proved  on  the  15th  December  in 
that  year.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  Treasurership  of  the 
Cathedral  by  the  Venerable  Robert  Lawe,  Archdeacon  of 
Barum,  who  was  also  Vicar  of  Ashburton. 

1  Moore's  Devon,  ii,  346. 

^  Wilkius's  Concilia. 

*  Reg.  Coll.  Exon  (Boase)  Atlienoe  O.xon.     Fasti  Eccl.  Ang.,  Le  Neve. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  217 

He  must  have  been  in  temporary  disgrace  immediately 
after  his  return  to  England  on  the  accession  of  Elizabeth, 
since  about  the  period  of  his  deprivation  at  Exeter  he 
also  vacated  his  Archdeaconry,  to  which  he  was  never 
restored ;  he  was  succeeded  at  Chichester  by  John 
Spencer,  M.A.,  in  1560. 

His  twin-brother  John,  was  alive  in  1588,  since  his 
existence  at  that  time  is  especially  remarked  upon  by 
Digory,  the  third  son,  who  had  then  succeeded  to  the 
Lamerton  property,  in  the  inscription  on  the  Tremayne 
monument. 

Nicholas  and  Andrew  Tremayne  were  also  children  of 
one  birth.  The  former,  as  I  have  stated  already,  appears 
to  have  been  outlawed  with  the  Treasurer  in  1556. 
Bisdon  who  lived  soon  after  them  has  left  an  extraordinaiy 
account  of  these  brothers,  which  has  been  frequently 
copied  by  other  historians.  They  appear  to  have  been  so 
much  alike  that  their  friends  could  only  distinguish  one 
from  the  other  by  some  difference  of  dress,  and  they  had 
such  an  amount  of  sympathy  with  each  other  that  "  if 
Nicholas  happened  to  be  sick  or  grieved  Andrew  felt 
the  like  pain  though  far  distant  from  one  another 
and  it  was  also  observed  that  if  Andrew  was  merry 
Nicholas  was  similarly  affected,  although  in  different 
places."  In  the  year  1564  they  were  both  killed  at 
Newhaven — Havre  de  Grace — where  one  was  serving  as 
a  Captain  of  Horse,  and  the  other  as  a  Volunteer. 
They  are  also  mentioned  in  the  long  inscription  on  the 
Tremayne  monument  in  the  following  words  : — 
These  likened  twins  in  fonu  and  fancy  one 
Were  like  affected,  and  like  habit  chose, 
Their  valour  -at  Newhaveu's  siege  was  knowi, 
2   E 


218  DEVONSHIRE   FARISHES. 

Where  both  uncountei'J  fiercely  with  their  foes ; 
There  one  of  both  sore  wounded  lost  his  breath, 
And  t'other  slain  revenging  brother's  death. 
Robert,    their   youngest    brother    died    young ;  of   their 
eight  sisters,  Bridget  married  PhiUp  Dennis,  of  Padstow; 
her   daughter   Zenobia,   Robei-t  Stowford,  of    Stowford, 
and  her  daughter  Sir  Thomas  Wise  ;  Katherine  married 
John   Harris,     of    Lanrest ;    Jane,    John     Southcot,  of 
Southcot ;  Margaret,  Thomas  Dennis.     The  other  sisters 
died  unmarried.' 

Roger  Tremajnie,  the  eldest  son,  married  Ann,  daughter 
of  Richard  Coffin,  of  Portledge,  and  had  issue  four 
daughters  and  a  son  wlio  predeceased  him.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother,  Edmund,  (whose  imprisonment 
and  torture  in  the  Tower  I  have  already  mentioned), 
who  mamed  Eulaliii,  daughter  of  Sir  John  St.  Leger,  and 
had  two  sons,  both  called  Francis,  who  died  young,  and 
two  daughters. 

Thus  Digory,  the  third  brother,  acquired   the  paternal 

inheritance.      By   his   1st  wife,    Elizabeth,   daughter    of 

Thomas  Vacy  of  Tamerton,  he  had  two  sons,  Lewis,  who 

died  in  infancy,  and  Arthur,  who  married  Mary,  daughter 

of  Sir  Richard  Grenvile,  of  Stow  by  whom  he  had  seven 

sons   and   nine   daughters.       His   eldest   son,    Edmund, 

bap.  17th  Oct.   1587,  married  Bridget,  daughter   of  Sir 

John  Cooper,  of  the  county  of  Dorset.    He  was  tme  to  the 

King  during   the   troublesome  times,  "  and  was  several 

hundred  pounds  deep  in  their  books  at  Habeixlashers  Hall 

for  his  loyalty."     He  is  also   stated   to  have   repaid   a 

considerable   portion   of   the    money  borrowed   for   the 

'  Mary  married  Wm.  Samuel  of  Restormel  ("  Visit,  of  Cornwall," 
Vivian). 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  219 

necessities  of  the  Queen  during  her  sojourn  at  Exeter  at 
the  time  of  the  birth  of  the  Princess  Henrietta,  and  to 
have  never  had  it  refunded  ;  he  became  too  the  victim  ot 
sequestration,  and  even  of  imprisonment. 

It  was  in  his  time  that  the  aged  and  infirm  vicar  ot 
Lamerton,  the  Rev.  John  Cooper,  was   ejected  from  his 
Vicara<re  by  the  Puritans.     After  an  imprisonment  at  Ply- 
mouth" he  returned  to  his  parish,  where   Mr.  Tremayne 
appears  to  have  supported  him  until  the  Restoration, 
when  Walker  believes  that  he  was  replaced  m  his  prefer- 
ment, although  he   does  not  appear  to  have  retained  it 
lone  since  his  successor  E^ond  Candy  was  admitted  to 
the'hving  vacant  by  the  death  of  Cooper  in  1660.  Mr.  Tre- 
mayne had  issue  five  sons,  and  died  in  1667.     His  two 
eldest  sons,  Thomas  and  John,  died  unmarried,  the  latter 
in  infancy.    The  third,  also  called  John,  married  Elizabeth, 
dau-hter  of  John  Courtenay,  of  MoUand,  and  died  in  the 
lifethne  of  his  father,  and  without  issue.     Upon  the  death 
of  Edmund,  (the  fourth  son,  who  never  married),  in  1667 
the  property  came  to  the  youngest  of  the  family,  Colonel 
Arthur  Tremayne,    who  married    Bridget,    daughter  of 
Nicholas  Hatherleigh,  of  Lamerton,  and  his  son  Edmund, 
by  his  marriage  with  Arabella,  daughter  and  heir  oi  Sir 
Edmund  Wise,  acquired  the  Sydenham  property  and  a 
larcre  accession  of  income.  Prom  this  period  the  Tremaynes 
cea'^ed  to  reside  at  Lamerton  and  the  continuation  of  their 
pedigree  has  been  already  given  in  a  previous  chapter'. 

iSee  anto  pp.  171-2.  ^   „■     tt  ,       ii 

Arthur  Tremayne,  married  Anne,   not  Grace,   dau.  of   Sir  Halswell 

Ti-nte  and  dying  in  1709,  left  a. son  Arthur,  hap.  6th  March  1700-1. 

who   died  at   the   age   of   96,  instead  of.  100.  as  stated  in  the   t.xt. 

('•Visit.  Cornwall,"  Vivian.) 
2  E' 


220  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHATER  X.— PART  III. 


The  Parish  of  Lameeton. — Lamekton  Church. 

The  church  of  Lamerton,  dedicated  to  St.  Peter,  con- 
sisted when  I  visited  it  21st  July,  1 875,  of  nave,  separated 
from  north  and  south  aisles  by  six  narrow-pointed  and 
moulded  arches,  supported  upon  clustered  columns. 

Tne  chancel  was  a  continuation  of  the  nave. 

In  the  eastern  window  I  noticed  many  interesting 
remains  of  fifteenth  century  glass — the  figure  of  a 
kneeling  abbot,  with  his  crozier,  and  with  a  label ;  three 
female  figures,  also  with  portions  of  labels,,  and  several 
fragments  of  canopies — while  the  arms..  Or  \^Ar.  ?)  a  lion 
rampt.  Gu.,  clearly  pointed  to  John,  Lord  Russell,  who 
became  patron  of  the  rectory  in  the  year  1540. 

The  piscina  remained  on  the  south  side  of  the  altar. 

The  font,  which  stood  at  the  end  of  the  nave,  was 
octagonal  and  of  Decorated  date.  It  was  formed  of 
Roborough  stone,  and  was  ornamented  with  the  flat  four- 
leaved  flower,  the  keys  of  St.  Peter  in  saltire,  and  the 
cross  flory.  At  the  end  of  the  south  aisle  stood  the 
ancient  monument  of  the  Tremaynes,  erected  by  Digoiy 
Tremayne  in  1588,  with  theefiigies  of  his  brothers  Roger 
Edmund,  Richard,  Nicholas,  and  Andrew,  and  a  long 
inscription   in  verse,  from  which   I  have  already   given 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  221 

extracts.  Overhead  I  remarked  the  crested  helm,  sword, 
and  gauntlet  of  some  member  of  their  family.  The 
memorial,  which  was  encircled  with  an  iron  railing,  was 
repaired  by  Col.  Arthur  Tremayne,  to  whom  probably 
the  sword,  and  other  trappings  belonged.  There  were 
other  inscriptions  to  A.  Tremayne,  1709,  Arthur  Tre- 
mayne, aged  95,  1794,  and  Arthur  Tremayne,  1S03. 
The  priest's  door  was  on  the  south  side  of  this  aisle. 

The  windows  were  of  late  Perpendicular  date.  One  of 
them,  had  a  very  debased  arch,  but  was  ornamented  with 
shields  for  arms  and  t\iejleur  de  lis. 

In  the  north  aisle  was  the  monument  of  Hugh  Fortesciie 
with  hLs  wife,  a  daughter  of  Coffin,  of  Dorsetshire,  and 
their  effigies.  Underneath  were  the  Fortescue  arms, 
impaled  with  Ar.  a  chev.  between  three  mullets  pierced 
Sa.  (Coffin,  of  Portland,  co.  Dorset) ;  and  above,  Fortescue, 
quartering  ;  first  Densell,  Sa.  an  estoille  of  eight  points, 
issuant  out  of  a  crescent  Ar.  ;  second  Trewin,  Ar.  on 
a  bend  Or  (vert  ?)  between  three  crosses,  crosslet  fitchee 
Gu,  three  crosiers  ;  third  Filleigh,  Gu.  A  fesse  vaire 
between    six    crosses    pattce  Or.    Date    1G50. 

The  stairs  which  anciently  led  to  the  rood  loft  remained 
0)1  the  nortli  side. 

The  bosses  of  folliage  in  the  roof,  interspersed  with 
nodi,  were  rather  poor,  but  of  Perpendicular  date.  Their 
appeai'ance  was  not  improved  by  the  yellow  paint  with 
which  tliey  were  covered.  The  cross  ribs  were  of  oak, 
enriched  with  carved  moulding. 

The  south  porch  had  a  square-headed  doorway  of  late 
Third  Pointed  date,  with  quartrefoils  in  the  eastern  side 
of  the  interior   door,   which   had  olso  a  moulded  arch. 


222  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

I  jjarticularly  remarked  the  appearance  of  a  small  blocked 
arch,  which  led  me  to  conclude  that  an  Aspersorium,  or 
holy  water  stoup,  had  once  existed  thei'e. 

There  was  some  interesting  old  ironwork  on  the  door, 
and  in  the  centre  was  a  curious  example  of  a  Sanctuai'y 
clasp  or  knocker.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  privilege  of 
Sanctuary  was  admitted  by  the  Princes  of  Christendom 
very  extensively,  and  venerat'on  ultimately  ran  so  high 
that  churches,  churchyards,  monasteries,  and  Bishop's 
houses  became  asylums  to  all  that  fled  to  them,  let  the 
crime  be  what  it  would.  Within  forty  days,  however, 
the  culprit  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  his  faults  before 
the  Coroner,  and  to  submit  to  banishment.  To  take  a 
person  from  Sanctuary  was  considered  unheard  of  wicked- 
ness. At  Durham  two  men  were  formerly  stationed  in  a 
chamber  over  the  north  door,  and  when  any  offenders 
knocked  they  let  them  in,  and  tolled  a  bell  to  announce 
that  some  person  had  taken  Sanctuaiy.  In  the  end 
Sanctuaries  Avere  abused,  and  became  the  customary  resort 
of  the  very  worst  criminals,  at  last.  This  general  privilege 
was  abolished  in  England  by  the  Statutes  2Gth,  28th,  and 
32nd  Henry  VIII,  and  1st  and  2nd  Edward  VI,  and  the 
plea  of,  "  Sanctuary  with  abjuration  "  was  taken  away  by 
21st  James  I.  Finally,  the  privilege  was  withdrawn  from 
various  well-known  places  in  London,  where  the  custom 
still  lingered,  in  1697. 

The  tower,  which  contained  six  bells,  was  pliin,  but 
solid  and  handsome  ;  it  was  strongly  buttressed  at  the 
angles,  and  there  were  remains  of  orocketted  pinnacles 
rising  from  embattled  turrets.  The  western  doorway  had 
a  good  Pointed  arch,  and  the  tower  arch,  nearly  circular. 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTOX.  223 

was  of  the  true  Devonshire  type  so  frequently  described 
by  the  late  Mr.  Grey.  There  was  an  octagonal  tun-et 
containing  the  stairs  which  led  to  the  belfry  on  the  north 
side.  Over  the  north  door  I  noticed  a  plain  square  niche, 
and  the  rood  stairs,  to  which  I  have  referred,  were 
carried  up  in  a  double  buttress. 

It  is  sad  to  be  obliged  to  record  the  destruction  of  this 
venerable  and  interesting  buUding.  When  I  visited  it, 
the  vicar,  the  Rev.  H.  J.  Pliilpotts,  was  doing  his  best  to 
restore  it,  and  with  untiring  energy  he  afterwards 
accomplished  his  object  at  a  cost  of  about  £1.400.  On 
the  20th  July,  1876,  the  church  was  re-opened.  The 
worii  had  included  the  reseating  of  the  edifice  wath  pitch- 
pine,  and  the  almost  entire  renovation  of  the  roof;  and 
that  parishioners  and  friends  gave  freely  is  evidenced  from 
the  fact  that  when  the  work  was  over  the  vicar  had  £100 
to  spare.  A  new  organ  at  the  cost  of  £180,  was  also 
provided,  and  in  order  to  keep  tlie  instrument  free  from 
damp  a  small  lamp,  specially  constructed,  was  kept 
burning  just  inside  the  case.  Some  have  considered  that 
an  accident  to  this  lamp  was  the  cause  of  the  lamentable 
fire  which  occurred  on  the  night  of  Monday,  November, 
19th  1877  ;  but  whatever  the  cause,  in  a  few  hours  the 
church  was  nearly  level  with  the  ground.  At  the  very  first 
it  was  seen  that  the  fire  liad  obtjiined  a  omplete  mastery 
over  the  organ,  the  pipes  of  which  acted  as  conductors, 
and  conveyed  the  flames  to  the  roof,  and  the  wooden 
beams  were  speedily  ignited.  In  less  than  three-quarters 
of-an-hour  the  whole  fabric  was  an  imnaense  furnace,  the 
roof  fell  in  with  a  terrible  crash,  and  soon  afterwards  four 
of  the   bays  of  the  north  aisle,    with  the  massive   Moor- 


224  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

stone  columns  which  had  supported  the  arcade,  fell  back 
against  the  north  wall.  In  the  tower  the  heat  was  so 
intense  that  the  bells  were  entirely  melted,  and  the  metal 
ran  down  in  streams  to  the  ground,  all  the  woodwork 
having  been  entirely  destroyed.  The  next  day  revealed 
the  melancholy  fact  that,  although  the  pillars  and  arches 
at  the  western  end  of  the  building  were  still  standing, 
yet  they  were  much  cracked  with  the  heat.  Nothing 
but  the  four  walls  and  the  skeleton  of  the  tower  remained 
entire ;  all  else  was  in  ruins,  and  only  two  or  three  of  the 
memorials  of  the  dead  were  to  be  seen  on  the  walls. 
The  Tremayne  monument,  although  injured  by  the  heat, 
was  saved. 

The  building  was  only  insured  for  £2,200,  and  the 
vicar,  with  the  same  determination  which  he  had  evinced 
in  the  restoration,  set  about  rebuilding,  and  he  also  had 
the  satisfaction  of  being  able  to  accomplish  this  task. 
The  new  edifice,  which,  by  his  care  and  exertions, 
arose  from  amidst  the  ashes  of  the  ancient  church  in 
which,  through  long  ages  and  succeeding  generations, 
their  ancestors  had  worshipped,  was  opened  to  the  people 
of  Lamerton  in  1879. 

The  first  notice  I  have  found  of  St.  Peter's,  Lamerton, 
occurs  in  a  Bull  of  Exemption  and  Confirmation  of  Pope 
Celestine  III  of  all  churches  and  tithes  belonging  to  the 
monastery  of  Tavistock,  and  bears  date  4th  Kal.  Junii 
(29th  May),  1193.  I  give  the  extract  in  its  entirety, 
since  it  conclusively  shows  how  the  abbey  originally 
became  possessed  of  this  rectory  : — 

"  Ecclesiam  de  Lamberton  cum  omnibus  pertlnentiis 
suis  a  domino  fundi  W.  Giffard  in  puram  et  perpetuam 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTON.  225 

elemoslQam  vobis  et  monasterio  vestro  coUatam  et  a  bone 
meinorie  B    (Bartholomew)   Exoniensi    Episcopo    Confir- 
matame«   de  iobis  ad  mandatum  de  tribus   pauperibus 
cotidie  patcmdis  et  ad  alia  pietatis  opera  exequenda,  J 
(John  the  Chanter)  quondam  ExoniensisEplscopi  Assensu 

Assignatam." 

In  the  Taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas,  finished  in  1291, 
the  Rectory  is  valued  at  £9  6s.  8d.,  and  in  the  valor  of 
Henry  VIII.  at  £11.  Both  the  land  and  the  church  are 
referred  to  in  the  letters  patent,  dated  Westminster,  4th 
JiUy,  31st  Henry  VIII,  by  which  this  and  other  property 
is  given  to  John,  Lord  Russell,  to  the  Lady  Anne,  his 
wife,  and  to  their  heirs  male-"  Ac  dominia  sive  maneria 
nostra  Milton  Abbot  aUas  dictum  Milton  Legh,  Lamerton, 
&c.,  &c.  The  land  would  thus  seem  to  have  been  held 
from  the  abbey.  It  was  of  course  a  mere  seignory,  and 
yielded  nothing  to  the  lord  save  the  usual  feudal  service, 
and  therefore  it  does  not  appear  in  the  rental. 

Lord  RusseU,  by  the  same  letters  patent,  is  constituted 
Patron  of  this  and  other  rectories  lately  belonging  to 
Tavistock  Abbey  :— "  Advocaciones,  rectorias  appropriatas 
et  non  appropriatas  decimas,  &c..  &c.  Et  alia  profiscua 
et  emolumenta  ecclesiarum  parochiaHum,  de  Witchurch, 
Lamerton,  Milton  Abbot,  &c." 

Although  it  is  long  since  I  visited  the  parish,  I  have  by 
no  means  forgotten  the  courtesy  and  attention  I  then 
received  from  the  Vicar,  (who  is  a  grandson  of  the  late 
Bishop  Phillpotts,of  Exeter)  which  I  am  glad  to  acknow- 
ledge. He  tells  me  that  he  is  unable  to  find  any  date 
upon  the  church  plate,  which  consists  of  a  "salver" 
chalice,  with  paten,  which  fits  on  to  it  and  forms  a  cover, 
2f 


22G  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

and  an  old  engraved  paten  ;  a  flagon,  which  appears  to 
him  to  be  more  modern  than  the  rest ;  and  an  alms-box 
of  wood,  with  a  piece  of  silver  inserted  in  it,  and  which 
bears  the  date  1752. 

The  only  remaining  portion  of  the  old  church  is  the 
stonework  of  the  tower  ;  it  was  found  that  the  granite 
and  slate  throughout  the  building  were  generally 
destroyed  by  fire  and  heat ;  the  freestone  did  not  suSer 
so  much  and  was  replaced.  The  chancel  has  been 
extended  a  few  feet  eastwards.  The  eastern  window  was 
taken  out,  and  has  been  replaced  ;  and  the  most  eastern 
one  on  the  south  side  was  protected  by  the  Tremayne 
monument,  which  stood  in  front  of  it.  The  latter  has 
been  restored  by  Mr.  Tremayne  of  Sydenham,  together 
with  another  memorial  of  his  family,  which  was  split 
with  the  heat.  All  the  other  monuments  in  the  church 
were  destroyed.  Mr.  Phillpotts  also  informs  me  that  the 
very  interesting  Parochial  Registers  commence — 

Baptisms,    1547. 

Burials,       1549.  • 

Marriages,  1538. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  the  marriage  register  is   of  the 
earliest  date.     The  Vicarage  is  pleasantly  situated  close 
to  the   churchyard,   and   there  are   twenty-four   acres  of 
glebe. 

Arthur  Tremayne,  by  will  dated  24th  May,  1808, 
directed  his  executors  to  convert  his  personal  property 
(except  certain  articles  given  as  heir  looms),  into  money, 
and  to  invest  in  the  names  of  the  Rector  of  Coryton  and 
the  Vicars  of  Lamerton,  South  Sydenham  and  Marystow 
for  the  time  being  so  much  thereof  as  would  produce  an 


PARISH  OF  LAMERTOK.  227 

annual  income  of  £80  clear  of  property  tax.  The  said 
annuity  to  be  equally  divided  between  the  four  said 
parishes  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  Rector  or  Vicar 
and  the  Churchwardens  of  the  respective  parishes,  but 
not  to  be  applied  in  aid  of  the  poor  rates. 

There  is  to  be  no  intei-ference  of  one  parish  with 
another,  a  book  is  to  be  kept  in  each  parish  for  entering 
the  accounts,  and  the  four  persons  who  enter  it  are 
entitled  to  fees  of  1  Os.  each  annually.  On  the  death  of 
the  clergyman  of  either  parish  the  trust  fund  is  to  be 
transferred  to  liis  successor,  as  soon  as  he  is  instituted. 
The  owner  of  Sydenham  for  the  time  being  is  appointed 
visitor  of  the  charity  with  power  to  control,  in  order  that 
Testator's  intentions  may  be  faithfully  carried  into  effect. 


2  E' 


228  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  XI.— PART  I. 

The  Borough  of  Lidford. — General  Description 
AND   History. 

The  ancient  borough  of  Lidford  or  Lydford  (according 
to  Westcote  anciently  written  Lighatford),  which  in  the 
days  of  the  Saxon  Heptarchy  was  one  of  the  most 
important  towns  in  the  west,  and  a  seat  of  a  mint  wliicli 
appears  to  have  survived  the  union  of  the  Seven  Kingdoms, 
and  to  have  been  constantly  worked  during  the  reign  o^ 
King  Ethelred  II.  (called  by  historians  the  "  Un- 
ready "),  is  situated  in  the  archdeaconry  of  Totnes,  from 
which  place  it  is  about  eight  miles  distant. 

In  the  year  997,  during  the  reign  of  the  above  mentioned 
king,  the  Danes  sailed  up  the  river  Tamar,  effected  a 
landing,  ravaged  the  country  as  far  as  Lidford,  burnt  the 
Abbey  of  Tavistock,  and  committed  dreadful  devastations 
until  they  were  bought  off  by  the  payment  of  a  large  sum, 
equivalent  to  £24,000  of  the  present  currency  ;  a  few 
years  prior  to  this  raid  under  the  command  of  Swe3'n, 
King  of  Denmark,  and  Olave,  King  of  Norway,  they  had 
entered  the  Thames  in  ninety-four  vessels,  laid  siege  to 
London,  and  threatened  it  with  total  destruction,  and  were 
only  induced  to  depart  by  the  subsidy  of  sixteen  thousand 
pounds   of  silver  ;  these   successive  tributes  gave  rise  to 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  229 

the  odious  and  oppressive  tax  called  Danegelt,  or  Dane 
money,  which  continued  to  be  levied  on  the  people  long 
after  the  occasion  for  its  imposition  had  ceased. 

The  manor  of  Lideforde  was  ancient  demesne  of  the 
Crown  of  England,  and  the  following  is  a  translation  ot 
the  paragraph  referring  to  it  at  page   SO  of  the  Exeter 

Domesday  : — 

"  The  King  has  one  borough,  which  is  called  '  Lide- 
forda,'  which  King  Edward  held  in  that  day  on  which  he 
was  aUve  and  dead.  There  the  king  has  twenty-eight 
burgesses  witliin  the  borough  and  forty-one  without,  and 
these  return  yearly  three  pounds  by  weight  to  the  king, 
and  there  are  forty  houses  laid  waste  since  King 
William  held  England,  and  the  aforesaid  burgesses^  have 
land  for  two  ploughs  without  the  city.  And  if  an 
expedition  goes  by  land  or  sea  it  returns  as  much  service 
as  Totnes  or  Barnstaple  returns.'" 

There  is  another  manor  of  Lidefort  mentioned  in 
Domesday,  which  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor 
was  held  by  a  Saxon  "  Waddels,"  and  afterwards  formed 
part  of  the  property  of  Ralph  de  Pomerai,  under  whom 
it  was  held  by  Roger. 

This  was  probably  a  small  manor  within  the  Royal 
borough,  and  tliere  is  proof  that  the  Pomeroys  long  pre- 
served their  connexion  with  Lidford,  and  that  at  le:ist  one 
of  the  fiimily  represented  it  in  Parliament. 

1  The  Exchequer  Domesday  says :-"  Rex  habet  burgum  Lideforde 
Kex  Edwardus  tcnuit  in  do.uinio,  Ibi  suht  xxvii  burgenscs  intra  burgum 
et  xli  extra.  Inter  omnes  reddunt  regi  Ix  sob-dos  ad  pen.sum  et  habont 
ii  camicatus  terr.^  extra  burgum  Ibi  sunt  xl  domus  vast.e  postquam  rex 
venit  in  AngUam.  Quod  si  expeditio  vadit  vel  per  teiTam,  vel  per  mare 
tautum  servitii  redit  quantum  Barnestaple  vclTotenais." 


230  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

From  the  year  1265  up  to  the  33rd  of  Edward  I. 
(1295)  the  representatives  of  the  cities  and  boroughs 
were  occasionally  summoned,  but  they  were  not  per- 
manently engrafted  upon  Parliament  until  the  latter  date, 
when  the  expenses  of  Edward,  arising  from  his  foreign 
wars,  led  him  to  have  recourse  to  this  means  for  raising 
supplies  of  money.  The  success  of  the  experiment 
ensured  its  repetition,  and  it  is  shown  from  tlie  "  Parlia- 
mentary Writs"  that  on  the  26 th  September,  1300,  the 
king  from  Rose  Castle,  in  Pembrokeshire,  issued  (amongst 
others)  a  mandate  to  the  electors  of  Lidford  to  return  two 
representatives  within  eight  days  of  the  festival  of  St. 
Hilaiy  (I3tli  January),  and  accordingly  John  Porter  and 
Geofry  Pomeroy  were  chosen,  and  the  retui-n  made  upon 
the  20th  January,  1301,  and  the  knight  and  burgess  elect 
were  ordered  to  attend  the  Lent  Parliament  to  be  holden 
at  Lincoln  that  year,  unless  dead  or  prevented  by  illness. 

The  manor  of  Lidford  remained  in  the  hands  uf  the 
Crown  until  the  year  1238,  being  the  twenty-third  year 
of  the  reign  of  King  Henry  III,  when  that  monarch 
granted  it  to  his  brother  E-ichard,  whom  he  had  created 
Earl  of  Poitou  and  Cornwall  thirteen  years  before. 

This  Prince  is  commonly  called  king  of  the  Romans  or 
of  Germany  ;  the  former  title  he  acquired  in  the  year 
1256. 

His  immense  opulence  having  made  the  German  pnnces 
cast  their  eyes  upo)i  him  as  a  candidate  for  the  empu-e, 
he  was  tempted  to  expend  vast  sums  of  money  on  his 
election,  and  he  succeeded  so  far  as  to  be  chosen  king  of 
the  Romans,  which  seemed  to  render  his  succession  in- 
iallible  to  the  imperial  throne,  but  he  ultimately  found 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  231 

that  he  had  lavished  away  the  frugahty  of  a  whole  life  in 
order  to  procure  a  splendid  title.  He  obtained  a  grant 
in  the  year  1267  for  a  market  at  Lidford,  to  be  held  on 
Wednesday,  and  a  fair  for  three  days  at  the  festival  of 
St.  Patrick.  He  died  about  seven  months  before  the 
king,  in  the  year  1272,  having  never  really  attained  the 
rank  of  Emperor  of  Germany. 

Upon  the  death  of  the  king  of  the  Komans  the  manor 
ai.pears  to  have  reverted  to  the  Crown  again,  and  was 
gi-anted  by  King  Edward  II  upon  his  accession  in  1307 
to  his  notorious  favourite,  Piers  Gaveston,  who,  after 
pandering  to  his  master's  vices  and  pleasures  for  five 
years,  w^is  at  last  brought  to  the  scaffold  by  the  indignant 
barons,  and  beheaded  at  Warwick  Castle  by  the 
immediate  orders  of  the  lords  Lancaster,  Hereford, 
and  Arundel,   A.D.  1312.  ^, 

In  1382,  during  the  minority  of  Kmg  Richard  11,  Mr 
Richard  Abberbury  was  made  keeper  of  Dartmoor  Castle 
and  Forest-the  manor,  including  the  Chace  and  Castle 
of  Dartmoor,  had  been  pennanently  annexed  to  the 
Duchy  of  Cornwall  by  Edward  III,  in  the  tenth  year  of 
his  reign.  A.D.  1337  ;  and  in  the  year  1404  King  Heniy 
IV  revoked  a  grant  which  had  been  made  of  this  property 
to  Peter  de  Courtenay,  because  it  had  been  united  to  the 
aforesaid  duchy.  His  Royal  Highness  the  Pruice  of 
Wales,  as  Duke  of  Cornwall,  is  the  present  lord  of  the 
manor  and  patron  of  the  rectory. 

The  hamlets  of  Downton,  Hex  worthy,  Huckaby, 
Denna  Bridge  and  Post  Bridge,  together  with  the  whole 
of  the  extensive  district  of  Dartmoor  proper,  contaunng 
about  130,000  acres,  are  situated  in  this  parish.     In  1881 


232  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

the  population  amounted  to  2,908  persons,  distributed 
over  56,333  acres  of  land. 

Princetown,  now  usually  called  the  capital  of  the  moor 
had  its  origin  in  the  exertions  of  Sir  Thomas  Tyrwhitt, 
who  was  Gentleman  Usher  of  the  Black  Rod  in  the  reign 
of  George  III,  and  who  built  a  mansion  for  his  own  resi- 
dence at  Tor  Eoyal,  where  he  made  extensive  plantations. 

The  prisons  were  commenced  in  1808,  at  his  suggestion 
for  the  confinement  of  the  numerous  prisoners  of  war 
who  till  then  crowded  the  prison  ships  at  Plymouth. 
The  barracks  were  erected  at  the  same  time  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  soldiers  required  to  guard  them. 

A  chapel  with  a  handsome  tower  and  a  parsonage  house 
were  then  erected  a  little  way  apart  from  the  front  of  the 
prison  ;  and  Sir  Thomas  Tyrwhitt  also  procured  the 
privileges  of  a  market  and  fair  for  the  infant  town,  which 
was  named  after  the  royal  donor  of  the  soil,  afterwards 
George  IV.  The  convict  prison  (which  is  about  thirteen 
miles  distant  from  the  parish  church  of  Lidford)  was 
converted  to  its  present  use  in  1850,  and  the  entrance  to 
it  is  beneath  a  Cyclopean  gateway  of  moor  stone,  inscribed 
with  the  quotation  from  the  CEneid,  "Parcere  subjectis.'' 
This  gateway  is  a  portion  of  the  original  building,  but  the 
prison  itself  has  undergone  very  many  necessary  additions 
and  improvements  ;  many  acres  of  land  around  it  have 
been  successfully  cultivated  by  the  convicts  and  more  are 
constantly  being  re-claimed  and  produce  abundant  crops 
of  corn,  roots,  and  grass. 

The  Duchy  Hotel  is  a  most  comfortable  residence,  and 

1  Hae  tibi  erunt  artes  pads  que  imponero  moreni 
Parcere  subjectis  et  debellare  superbos."     Virgil  JEn.  vi,  853-4. 


BOROUGH  OF  LI  DWORD.  23» 

every   accommodation  is  afforded  there  for  visiting   the 
numberless  objects  of  interest  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Lidford,  but  not  Dartmoor  Forest,  is  mentioned  in 
Domesday ;  and  this  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Sovereign,  and  was 
besides  Hable  to  pay  none  of  tliose  taxes  which  land 
under  tillage  was  subject  to.  The  tin  mines  also  are  not 
referred  to,  yet  there  is  abundant  evidence'  that  they 
were  in  full  activity  in  the  twelfth  century. 

King  John,  when  Earl  of  Mortain,  in  Normandy, 
granted  certain  immunities  as  Earl  of  Cornwall  to  free 
tenants  out  of  the  "  regard "  of  the  forest  ;  that  is  he 
admitted  their  common  law  rights.  After  he  became 
king  he  disafforested  all  lands  in  Devonshire  except  the 
antient  regards  of  the  forests  of  Dartmoor  and  Exmoor ; 
this  document  bears  date  the  18th  of  May,  A.D.,  1203. 

In  the  second  year  of  Henry  HE,  A.D.  1217,  a  writ 
was  issued,  directing  the  sheriffs  of  the  different  counties 
to  cause  perambulations  to  be  made  between  the  old  and 
new  forest  lands,  and  the  charter  itself  was  found  in 
Durham  Cathedral  in  1806  ;  perambulations  were  made 
in  the  ninth  year  of  the  same  king,  and  they  were  repeated 
in  this  and  the  following  reigns.  The  charter  of  the  9th 
of  Henry  HI.  provided  for  disafforesting  all  lands  which 
had  been  afforested  by  Heniy  II,  Richard  I,  and  John. 

llisdon  quotes  a  document  to  prove  that  Dartmoor  was 
a  forest  at  the  Conquest,  but  unfortunately  does  not  say 
where  the  same  is  to  be  found.  The  commencement  is 
like  the  entry  in  Exeter  Domesday,  but  it  concludes  as 
follows  : — "    And  the  manor  of  Lidford  extends  through 

1   Pipe  Roll,  2nd,  Henry  ii. 
2   G 


234  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

the  whole  town  and  parish  of  Lidford,  and  througli  the 
whole  forest  of  Dartmoor." 

"  Et  raanerium  de  Lidford  se  extendit  per  tutam  villani 
et  parochiam  de  Lidford  et  per  totam  forrestam  de  Dart- 
moor." 

Wistman's  Wood  (consisting,  as  the  last-mentioned 
author  says,  "  of  some  acres  of  wood  and  trees  that  are  a 
fathom  about,  and  yet  no  taller  than  a  man  may  touch 
the  top  with  his  hand  ")  i?  £!*^^'iated  about  two  miles  from 
Princetown.  Tradition  says  that  these  curious  trees 
were  planted  by  Isabella  de  Fortibus,  Countess  of  Devon, 
in  the  thirteenth  century. 

But  this  is  nothing  but  tradition,  for  in  the  perambula- 
tion of  the  moor  preserved  in  the  duchy  office,  this  wood  is 
shown  to  have  presented  the  same  appearance  just  after  the 
Conqviest  as  it  does  now.  I  pass  over  all  the  Druidical 
traditions  in  connection  with  it  as  I  have  already 
referred  to  them  elsewhere.'  I  merely  intend  now  to 
describe  it  as  it  is.  It  lies  on  the  side  of  a  steep  hill 
known  as  Bairdown  in  the  neiofhbuurhood  of  Princetown, 
it  is  certainly  weird  in  appearance,  and  all  the  trees  are 
more  or  less  stunted  and  misshapen.  The  slopes  of  the 
hill  are  covered  with  blocks  of  granite,  and  the  oaks, 
which  average  only  from  ten  to  twelve  feet  in  height,  are 
interspersed  with  mountain  ash,  and  all  the  trees  are 
covered  vdth  fern  and  lichen.  The  oak  trees  branch  at 
the  top  considerably  although  their  height  is  so  diminu- 
tive, but  their  bulky  appearance  is  principally  due  to  the 
parasitical  plants  with  which  they  are  covered.  The 
moormen  tell  you  that  the  wood  consists  of  five  hundred 

'  IntroiJ.  to  White's  Devonshire,  p.  41. 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  235 

trees,  five  hundred  feet  high — that  is  to  say  that  each 
tree  averages  a  foot  m  height.  They  always  appeared  to 
me  to  be  from  seven  to  ten  feet,  taking  one  with  another. 
It  is  said  that  more  than  seven  hundred  concentric  rings 
have  been  counted  in  a  section  from  the  trunk  of  one  of 
these  trees.  Anything  more  weird  or  melancholy  than 
their  appearance,  even  in  the  height  of  summer  can 
scarcely  be  imagined.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  how  they 
are  rooted,  for  they  stand  in  the  midst  of  gigantic  boulders 
in  a  perfectly  barren  soil  which  of  course  accounts  for 
their  immature  growth,  but  if  for  no  other  reason  they 
are  to  be  admired  for  their  extreme  old  afire,  and  it  is 
satisfactory  therefore  to  know  that  they  are  properly 
protected  by  the  Ducliy  authorities. 

The  lord  of  Skeradon,  in  BuckfastJeigh,  held  his  land 
by  the  tenure  of  providing  the  king  with  three  arrows 
"quando  curreret  in  foresta  de  Dertimore,"  and  the 
manor  of  "  Leningstone,"  or  Lympstone,  was  held  upon 
nearly  similar  terms,  viz.,  two  arrows  and  an  oaten  loaf 

A  chapel,  dedicated  to  St.  Raphael,  was  built  some 
years  since  near  the  hamlet  of  Hexworthy,  and  another, 
St.  Gabriel's  chapel,  was  provided  about  the  same  time 
for  the  inhabitants  of  the  hamlet  of  Post  Bridge  ;  both 
these  districts  are  sixteen  or  seventeen  miles  distant  from 
Lidford  Churcli. 

Adjoining  Post  Bridge  stands  a  venerable  rehc  of  abori- 
ginal times,  a  granite  bridge  of  primitive  Cyclopean 
architecture,  which  must  have  withstood  (as  Rowe  says) 
"  the  fury  of  the  vehement  Dart  in  his  most  turbulent 
moods,  for  twenty  or  thirty  centuries."  The  piers,  three 
in  number,   consist  of  six  layers  of  granite  slabs  above 


236  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

the  foundation  ;  the  imposts  well  adapted  for  the  pm-pose 
to  whicli  they  wei'e  applied,  are  about  fifteen  feet  long 
and  six  wide.  The  bridge  can  still  be  used,  though  one 
of  the  superincumbent  stones,  either  by  accident  or 
design,  has  become  displaced,  and  now  lies  in  the  bed  of 
the  river. 

The  foundations  of  the  walls  surrounding  the  town  and 
some  remains  of  the  gates  were  still  to  be  seen  in 
Risdon's  time,  and  it  is  stated  by  Polwhele  tliat  several 
of  the  coins  from  the  Lydford  Mint  were  preserved  in  the 
late  Dr.  Hunter's  cabinet. 

Several  authors  state  that  this  town  had  the  honour  of 
entertaining  Julius  Caesar  and  his  whole  army  on  his 
second  arrival  in  this  island,  and  we  read  in  "  Maton's 
Western  Counties "  that  the  biu-gesses  were  excused 
from  sending  representatives  to  Parliament  (after  the 
reign  of  Edward  1)  on  account  of  poverty,  "  propter 
paupertatem." 

The  remains  of  the  castle  of  Lidford  (which  must  have 
been  built  subsequently  to  the  Conquest  with  a  similar 
intention  to  that  which  caused  the  construction  of  the 
fortresses  ot"  Liiunceston,  Okehampton,  Tiverton,  and 
Beriy,  namely,  to  guard  the  inland  passes  and  vulnerable 
points  of  the  county),  consist  chiefly  of  the  ruins  of  the 
keep,  a  square  building,  standing  on  an  artificial  mound 
of  great  age,  with  an  entrance  at  the  north-west.  Before 
it  is  a  spacious  area,  with  a  gradual  slope,  enclosed  by 
two  pai'allel  mounds.  At  the  end  of  this,  the  ground 
begins  to  be  very  precipitous  in  its  descent  until  it  joins 
the  river,  the  other  bank  of  which  is  almost  equally  steep. 

It  must  have  once  been  a  place  of  very  considerable 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  237 

strength,  and  approachable  only  towards  the  noi*th-east, 
and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  built  on  the  site 
of  an  early  British  camp,  and  that  the  ancient  inhabitants 
availed  themselves  of  its  local  advantages  at  a  very 
remote  period. 

By  a  charter  of  Edward  I.  Lidford  Castle  was  appointed 
as  the  Stannary  Prison,  where  alone  all  offenders  against 
the  Stannary  laws  were  to  be  incarcerated  ;  and  it  was 
here  that  an  ancestor  of  the  Strodes  of  Newnham — as  I 
have  previously  remarked— was  confined  in  1512,  by 
order  of  the  stannators  assembled  in  court  at  Crockern 
Tor,  because  he  refused  to  pay  the  fine  they  had  inflicted 
upon  him  as  a  punishment  for  his  having  procured  an  Act 
of  Parliament  to  prevent  injury  to  harbours  by  mining 
operations. 

Each  of  the  four  stannary  towns,  viz.,  Ashburton, 
Chao-ford,  Plymton,  and  Tavistock,  sent  twenty-four  men 
to  represent  the  general  body  of  Devonshire  tinners,  and 
after  the  commission  was  opened  and  the  jurors  sworn  in 
the  open  air  at  Crockern  Tor,  the  Court  was  adjourned  to 
one  of  the  four  towns. 

The  table  and  seats  of  moorstone  mentioned  by  Ilisdon 
have  unfortunately  been  destroyed,  but  the  judge's  chair 
may  still  be  seen  inside  a  gate  near  Brownberry  Farm, 
on  the  high  road  between  Ashburton  and  Princetown. 

At  tlie  commencement  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  the 
assizes  are  said  to  have  been  held  at  Exeter  and  Lidfurd 
alternately.' 

The  pit  now  shewn  as  the  dungeon  or  prison  is  about 
sixteen  feet  by  ten,  and  the  descent  must  have  been  by  a 

1  Polwhelo,  i.  270. 


238  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

ladder  ;  there  is  no  window  in  it,  and  the  chamber  above 
is  lighted  only  by  a  single  narrow  loophole. 

Lidfoi'd  appeal's  to  have  obtained  an  unenviable  notoriety 
as  a  place  where  justice  was  unfairly  administered,  per- 
haps in  consequence  of  the  unscrupulous  conduct  of  Sir 
Eichard  Grenville,  King  Charles's  General  in  the  West. 
This  man  employed  the  authority  delegated  to  him  by 
his  king  as  a  means  of  obtaining  revenge  upon  his  private 
enemies ;  and,  according  to  Clarendon,  "  his  licentious 
and  violent  courses  not  less  than  his  loyalty  rendered  him 
abhorrent  to  the  godly,  whilst  his  reckless  intriguing  and 
tyrannical  disposition  did  the  most  irreparable  injury  to 
the  King's  cause."  It  is  said  that  many  unfortunate 
victims  were  imprisoned  by  him  in  this  castle,  and  that 
several  of  them  were  afterwards  hanged  without  trial  ; 
he  was  reported  to  his  superiors  for  "  having  committed 
very  many  honest,  substantial  men,  and  all  the  constables 
of  the  east  part  of  the  county,"  to  this  prison  ;  and  he 
was  ultimately  removed  from  his  command,  imprisoned  by 
the  Prince  of  Wales,  and  at  length  died  in  self-imposed 
retirement  at  Ghent,  in  Flanders,  and  was  buried  there. 

Judge  Jeffries  is  repoi'ted  to  have  been  the  last  who 
presided  at  Lidford  and  until  within  the  last  thirty  years 
the  judge's  chair,  %vith  the  royal  arms  over  it,  and  the 
table  were  still  preserved.  The  castle  now,  however,  is 
quite  open  to  the  weather,  and  the  person  who  rented 
the  enclosure  when  I  visited  the  parish  believed  that 
these  articles  of  furniture  wei'e  removed  to  Oke- 
hampton.  Some  candlesticks  (also  belonging  to  the 
court-room)  were  purchased  by  a  L.ndowner  of  the  paris'i 
since  dead,  and  -whose  daughters  reside  at  Tavistock  and 
Princetown  respectively. 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  239 

From  a  survey  of  the  borough  I  gather  that  the  castle 
"  was  very  much  in  decay,  and  almost  totally  ruuied,"  in 
the  year  1650,  although  it  had  then  but  lately  been 
repaired  by  the  prince.  However,  it  appears  to  have  had 
a  good  roof  covered  with  lead,  and  to  have  been  in  some 
smtdl  degree  habitable  withm  the  last  half  century,  since 
the  late  vicar  of  Tavistock  (the  Rev.  Atkyns  Bray) 
recollected  being  able  "  to  tread  the  stairs  and  floors," 
although  not  without  danger,  as  he  adds  "  m^st  of  the 
boards  were  wanting." 

It  is  stated  in  Chappie's  collections  (and  the  statement 
was  confirmed  to  the  authors  of  the  "  Magna  Britannia") 
by  the  testimony  of  living  persons,  that  a  separate  coroner 
was  elected  from  time  immemorial  for  the  parish  of  Lid- 
fore,  and  that  it  was  the  invariable  and  very  extra- 
ordinaiy  custom  to  choose  the  oldest  man  in  the  parish  to 
that  office,  whatever  his  rank  or  situation  in  life. 

There  is  an  interesting  collection  of  historical  docu- 
ments relative  to  Lidford  and  Dartmoor  contained  in  the 
appendix  to  the  "  Perambulation  of  Dartmoor,"  published 
by  the  late  Rev.  Samuel  Rowe,  vicar  of  Crediton. 


240  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  XL— PART   II. 

The  Parish  of  Lidford. — Lidford  Church. 

The  parish  church  of  Lidford,  dedicated  to  St.  Petrock, 
stands  upon  high  ground  to  the  north  west  of  the  village, 
and  consists  of  a  deep  chancel,  a  nave  sepai-ated 
from  the  south  aisle  by  three  well  proportioned  through 
rather  obtuse  arches,  with  plain  mouldings,  and  supported 
by  clustered  columns,  a  south  porch,  and  a  tower  at  the 
western  end  containing  five  bells. 

The  ancient  screen  has  been  removed,  but  I  noticed  an 
interior  rood  staircase  still  remainino-  in  the  thickness  of 
the  western  wall  of  the  aisle,  although  the  upper  door 
which  once  led  from  the  church  on  to  the  rood  lofb  has 
been  blocked  by  a  hideous  pulpit  and  sounding  board, 
ei'ected  immediately  under  the  chancel  arch.  ^ 

This  end  of  the  aisle  was  doubtless  once  a  chapel 
dedicated  to  our  Lady,  and  a  curious  example  of  a  glazed 
hagioscope,  or  squint,  is  still  to  be  seen,  the  opening 
being  made  through  the  rood  stairs  and  affording  a 
perfect  view  of  the  eastern  end  of  the  chancel.  The 
word  "  Hagioscope  "  has  only  of  late  years  been  applied 
to  these  openings,  and,  as  a  well-known  author  observes, 
"  it  seems  undesirable  to  give  Greek  names  to  the  parts 
of  Enghsh  buildings."     Still  there  does  not  appear  to  be 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  241 

any  good  or  ancient  authoricy  for  the  name  of  "  Squint  " 
also  bestowed  upon  them,  but  it  has  been  long  in  use. 
They  were  very  commonly  provided  in  our  churches 
before  the  Reformation,  although  but  comparatively  few 
of  them  now  remain,  many  of  them  having  been  plastered 
over,  although  their  existence  may  frequently  be  dis- 
covered by  a  projection  on  the  outside  similar  to  a  low 
buttress,  which  was  originally  made  to  cover  the  opening. 
They  are  supposed  to  have  been  provided  for  the  use  of 
the  attendant  who  had  to  ring  the  sanctus-bell  at  the 
time  of  the  elevation  of  the  Host ;  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  this  was  the  case  at  Lidford,  since  from  the 
formation  of  the  exterior  of  the  building  it  is  probable 
that  a  sancte-bell  cot  or  turret  once  stood  over  the 
chancel  arch. 

The  ancient  priest's  door,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
chancel,  has  been  partially  blocked  and  replaced  by  a 
small  square-headed  window  ;  the  arch  of  the  old  door 
can  still  be  discerned  on  the  outside.  Some  of  the 
windows  have  also  been  built  up ;  that  at  the  eastern 
end  of  the  church  is  filled  with  Early  Perpendicu- 
lar tracery  ;  I  noticed  also  a  good  square-headed  window, 
with  geometrical  quatrefolled  tracery,  seemingly  of  the 
transition  from  second  to  third  pomted.  There  is  a  small 
but  very  curious  and  ancient  circular  font  of  granite  of 
apparently  Early  English  date,  which  Rowe  remarks  "  is 
of  such  antique  simplicity  that  it  may  have  been  coeval 
\ni\\  the  departed  glories  of  Lidford  in  Saxon  times  ;"  at 
the  eastern  end  of  the  aisle  the  window  is  filled  with 
geometrical   tracery   of  about  the  middle  of  the    14th 

centuiy. 

2  H 


242  DEVOl^SHIRE  PARISHES. 

The  porch,  of  Early  EngUsh  date,  is  of  high  pitch,  and 
has  a  good  example  of  an  aspersorium  or  holy  water 
stoup  on  its  eastern  side ;  the  outside  door  is  pointed, 
and  has  deep  mouldings,  whilst  the  jambs  of  the  door 
leadmg  into  the  church  ai'e  plain  and  octagonal  ;  the 
ancient  stone  seats  still  remain,  and  at  the  entrance  a 
granite  slab,  without  mscription,  marks  the  grave  of  an 
ecclesiastic  (probably  a  former  vicar),  distinguished  by  a 
cross  flory.  The  window  immediately  to  the  west  of  the 
porch  is  an  Early  English  lancet ;  and  the  tower,  which 
is  rather  low,  is  square  and  embattled  and  strongly 
buttressed,  the  buttresses  terminating  in  four  crocketted 
pmnacles,  which  wei'e  anciently  surmounted  with  crosses ; 
but  three  of  these  have  disappeai-ed.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  ornamental  stone  crosses  used  as  finials  to  the 
gables  and  pinnacles  of  our  churches  were  considered  as 
superstitious  by  the  Pui-itans,  and  that  they  seldom 
spared  them. 

The  western  window  is  large  and  well  proportioned, 
and  the  doorway  beneath  it  is  square-headed  with  plain 
foliated  spandrils  and  deep  mouldings  in  the  jambs  ;  the 
tower  staircase  is  carried  up  between  two  buttresses  in 
its  north-western  angle. 

The  church  appears  to  have  been  partially  rebuilt 
about  the  middle  of  the  14th  century;  but,  there  are 
many  traces  of  Early  English  or  12th  century  work,  par- 
ticularly in  the  porch  and  the  parts  westward  of  it,  and 
even  the  chancel  seems  to  me  to  be  older  than  the  nave 
and  aisle  (which  are  apparently  of  the  period  of  the 
transition  from  Decorated  to  Perpendicular  architecture. 
It  has  however  been  so  much  altered  by  the  blocking  and 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  243 

insertion  of  windows  and  doorways,  and  by  the  lavisti 
employment  of  plaster  and  whitewash,  as  to  render  it 
impossible  to  form  a  positive  opinion  ;  the  separation 
between  it  and  the  nave  on  the  outside  is  well  defined. 
With  the  Prince  of  Wales  for  their  landlord  I  should 
imagine  that  the  parishioners  would  have  little  difficulty 
in  effecting  the  much  needed  restoration  of  their 
venerable  and  historically  interesting  church. 

In  the  year  1236  "  The  king  gave  and  yielded  to  God 
and  the  Church  of  St.  Petrock  of  Ludeford  and  to  the 
chaplain  ministering  in  the  same  Church  for  his  sustenta- 
tion  as  long  as  he  shall  be  chaplain  there,  the  tithe  ox 
grass  of  the  moor  of  Dartmoor.  Witness  the  king  at 
Wudestok  12th  day  of  July."  "And  Herbert,  the  son  of 
Matthew,  is  commanded  to  cause  the  aforesaid  tithes  to 
be  held  by  the  parson  of  the  same  Church.'" 

Bishop  Bronescombe  on  the  20th  August,  1260,  trans- 
fen-ed  the  hamlets  of  "  Pushyll  and  Balbeny  "  (now 
Pishill  and  Babeny)  to  the  parish  of  Widecombe  from 
Lidford  for  the  convenience  of  their  inliabitants.  The 
transfer  is  only  partial.  For  some  purposes  they  were  to 
remain  parcel  of  the  mother  parish  of  Lidford,  but  they 
were  to  pay  their  tithe-lambs  and  three  parts  of  their 
offerings  to  the  parson  of  Widecombe,  and  the  remainder 
to  the  parson  of  Lidford  (see  Bishop  Bronescombe's 
Register,  Folio  16b).  This  instrument  is  printed  in  the 
appendix  to  Rowe's  "  Perambulation  of  Dartmoor."  I 
believe  that  the  arrangement  to  which  it  refers  is  still  in 

force. 

In  the  year  1291    the  ecclesiastical  valuation  (made  by 

>  Rot.  Pat.  2l8t  Hy.  iii,  ni.  6. 

2h' 


244  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

order  of  Pope  Nicholas  IV.)  of  all  the  English  parishes 
was  completed.  The  bishops  chai'ged  with  making  the 
survey  were  Oliver  Sutton,  of  Lincohi,  and  John  de 
Pontissare,  of  Winchester ;  the  latter  was  peculiarly 
fitted  for  his  office,  having  been  canon  of  our  cathedral, 
rector  of  Tavistock,  and  Archdeacon  of  Exeter. 

The  first  fruits  of  the  church  of  Liddeford,  "  Ecelesia 
de  Liddeford,"  were  then  valued  at  £1  lOs.  per  annum. 

This  survey  must  not  be  confounded  with  the  taxation 
made  by  Walter  de  Suffield,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  in  1253, 
and  which  is  usually  called  the  Norwich  Taxation.  That 
prelate  acted  under  the  ordei-s  of  Pope  Innocent  IV., 
who  gave  all  the  first  fruits  and  tenths  for  three  yeai'S  to 
King  Henry  III. 

It  is  shown  by  the  "  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  "  of  King 
Henry  VIII  that  in  1536  George  Caiew  was  rector  of 
this  parish,  and  that  the  tithes,  &c.,  were  then  leased  for 
a  term  of  five  years  to  John  Drewe  and  Henry  Hogge, 
and  that  they  were  valued  at  £15  13s.  7d.  per  annum. 

In  the  reign  of  King  Charles  I  the  Rev.  Richard  Pote 
(who  had  been  born  at  Broadwoodwiger,  in  this  county, 
and  was  a  graduate  of  Gloucester  Hall,  Oxfoi'd),  was 
^^ealously  afi'ected  to  the  Established  Church  and  the 
monarchy.  When  fii'st  ordained  he  was  appointed 
chaplain  to  Sir  James  Smith,  a  colonel  in  his  Majesty's 
army,  but  was  soon  prefeiTed  to  the  vacant  i-ectory  of 
Lidford,  into  which  he  was  legally  instituted  and  inducted, 
the  income  from  several  sources  then  amounting  to  about 
£140  a  year.  His  finn  adherence  to  the  Royal  party 
and  his  friendship  with  many  of  the  king's  supporters, 
particularly  Colonel  Tremayne,  gave  offence  to  some  few 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  245 

of  his  disatfected  parisliioners  and  some  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  neighbouring  parishes,  and  at  last  one  Valentine 
Cake  endeavoured  to  incite  a  person  called  Potter  to 
make  a  desperate  attempt  to  turn  him  out  of  bis  rectory. 
This  attempt  failed,  but  some  particulars  of  it  are  to  be 
gleaned  from  a  letter  (published  in  "  Walker's  Sufferings 
of  the  Clergy,")i  and  addressed  by  Ricliard  Potter  to  the 
aforesaid  Cake. 

"  JIu.  Cake,— 

Happeneise  attend  you.  I  have  been  latelye  at  Lydford,  thinking 
to  have  mett  wth  you ;  but  according  to  your  wife's  direction  I  passed 
Dart,  and  unhappily  missed  you  where  I  supposed  to  have  found  you. 
The  Forresters  in  the  Moorn  are  backward  in  Artickling  against  the 
Party  ;  you  know  whome  I  moane,  and  they  tell  me  they  never  framed 
any  Articles  as  yett,  and  I  perceive  a  Backwardnesse  in  the  home 
dwellers,  sue  that  my  incouragemeut  is  but  smale  to  procede  in  the 
businesse  which  you  have  sette  me  upon  :  iSIr.  C —  willcth  me  to  proceed 
and  some  of  the  Committee  have  incouraged  me,  befdro  whome  I  should 
have  appeared  the  beginning  of  the  insewing  weckc  ;  but  finding  such 
letts  and  hinderances  in  those  whom  I  expected  most  forward  and  a 
backwardness  in  such  as  seemed  most  willing  and  desirous,  I  are  in 
doubt  what  course  to  take.  Artickles  must  be  invented  and  produced, 
as  tliat  the  man  hath  been  Chaplin  unto  Woode,  how  that  hee  is  an 
illiterate  man  and  profane  and  scandalous  to  the  Ministery.  Many  more 
you  must  procure  to  be  drawn  up  against  him,  for  the  displacing  of  him. 
What  you  doe  heerin  for  mee,  I  will  freely  reward  you  in  your  future 
tythes,  thus  with  my  true  aflfection  I  remayne  your  unfayned  friend, 

RICH.   POTTER, 
llarlacombe  (( Iwlecombe),  Feb.  Glh,  1G46. 
Superscribed  For  Mr.  Valentine  Cake,  These  at  Lydford. 

This  letter  came  to  Cake's  house  in  his  absence,  and 
fell  into  the  hands  of  his  son,  who,  unlike  his  father,  was 
well  affected  to  the  king  and  Church,  and  he,  therefore, 

iPart  ii,  p.  329. 


246  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

handed  it  to  the  rector.  It  remained  for  many  years 
with  Mr.  Pote,  and  was  given  by  his  widow  to  her 
husband's  successor,  in  whose  possession  it  was  when 
Walker  copied  it. 

At  length  a  Puritan  called  Clement  Hatch  obtained 
an  Order  of  Committee  for  the  rectory  of  Lidford,  which 
he  forcibly  took,  and  held  for  fifteen  years,  namely,  from 
1647  to  1662,  during  which  time  the  true  rector  was 
forced  to  shift  from  place  to  place  in  Cornwall,  and  to 
teach  a  few  children  (when  pemiitted  to  do  so)  for 
sustenance.' 

Jn  1662  Hatch,  not  wishing  to  restore  the  rectory, 
thought  fit  to  conform,  but  Mr.  Pote,  through  some  of 
his  old  friends,  succeeded  in  bringing  an  action  of 
ejectment  against  the  intruder,  and,  obtained  a  fair 
veidict,  and  soon  after  the  repossession  of  his  church. 

Hatch  then  persuaded  the  foresters  of  Dartmoor  that 
"  their  tithes  were  not  due  to  the  parish  of  Lidford,  and 
that  they  were  great  fools  if  ever  they  paid  one  farthing- 
more  there ;  and  that  Pote  was  grown  veiy  poor  and 
old,  and  not  able  to  contend  with  them  "  (this  was  after- 
wards given  in  evidence  in  a  suit  for  the  recovery  of 
these  same  tithes).  The  advice  was  followed  by  the 
Moor  men,  and,  leaguing  together,  they  succeeded  in 
defrauding  Mr.  Pote  of  the  larger  portion  of  his  forest 
tithes  up  to  his  death,  and  his  income  of  £140  a  year 
was  reduced  to  less  than  £50.  Walker  concludes  his 
notice  of  this  unfortunate  rector  by  remarking  that  the 

1  Hatch    was  assisted  in   his    usurpation   of   the   Kectory   by  "  Mr. 
Iticholan  Row  of  Lamerton,  a  man  oj  great  sicay  in  those  days  in  that 
part  of  the  country. 


BOROUGH  OF  LIDFORD.  247 

refusal  to  pay  the  tithes  did  not  cease  with  Mr.  Pote's 
death,  but  devolved  infinite  difficulties  upon  his  successor, 
whii  made  to  a  certain  extent  successful  attempts  for 
their  recovery,  but  he  was  unable  to  settle  the  question 
as  to  the  tithe  wool  on  Dai-tmoor,  and  it  remained  con- 
tested at  the  time  the  "  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy  "  was 
published,  in  1714.  According  to  this  authority 
there  were  at  that  time  by  computation  upwards  of 
30,000  sheep  on  Dartmoor  in  summer  time,  and  it  had 
then  become  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  altogether  im- 
possible to  recover  what  was  justly  due  from  their 
owners  to  the  rector,  upon  whom  the  iniquities  of  the 
age  had  brought  this  great  injustice. 

In  the  year  1727  Thomas  Burnaford  was  the  rector. 
A  terrier  made  in  this  year  states  "  that  the  inhabitants 
witlun  the  manor  pay  theii-  tithe-lambs,  surphce  fees, 
and  mortuaries  to  the  vicar  of  Widecombe ;  all  other 
tithe  is  due  and  payable  to  the  rector  of  Lidford,  ex- 
cepting the  tithe  herbage  of  barren  cattle  depastured  on 
Dartmoor,  for  which  he  receives  a  composition  of  £3  per 
annum  out  of  the  Prince's  high  rents." 

The  late  rector  of  Lidford,  the  Rev.  Morris  Fuller, 
resided  at  Princetown  parsonage ;  to  a  former  curate 
of  Lidford  (the  Rev.  W.  K.  W.  Chafy  Chafy,  who 
then  occupied  the  rectory)  my  best  thanks  are  due  for  his 
kind  attention  to  my  inquiries — the  latter  informed  me 
that  the  registera  commence  : — baptisms  May  21st,  1716  ; 
marriages,  May  5th,  1719;  burials,  June  7th,  172G  ;  the 
early  books,  therefore,  must  have  been  lost  or  destroyed. 
Mr.  Chafy  also  told  me  that  he  had  discovered  a 
lancet-headed  niche  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  south  wall 


248  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

of  the  aisle,  and  that  it  was  blocked  by  the  mutilated 
i-emains  of  a  white  alabaster  figure,  with  drapery  in- 
dicating it  to  be  that  of  a  female.  This  discovery  had 
not  been  made  when  I  visited  the  church,  but  as  I  have 
already  said,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  portion  of 
the  aisle  was  anciently  the  Lady  chapel,  and  from  the 
situation  of  the  niche  (as  it  was  described  to  me),  I  fancy 
that  it  was  the  piscina  on  the  south  side  of  the  chapel 
altar.  Probably  a  "  bracket  "  (which  quite  possibly  may 
still  be  in  existence,  although  hidden  by  whitewash)  was 
provided  for  the  reception  of  the  statue  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  of  which  these  disjointed  fragments,  still  bearing 
traces  of  colour,  may  be  the  mutilated  remains.  The 
ancient  open  roof  of  English  oak  (now  much  needing 
careful  restoration)  must  have  once  been  very  beautiful. 

"  I  have  stayed  you  here  over  long,  I  must  confess  ;  I 
fear  you  have  either  taken  cold,  or  the  cold  hath  taken 
you."  These  are  the  words  of  those  quaint,  "painstaking  " 
historians  Westcote  and  Eisdon,  and  I  have  nothing  to 
add  to  their  apology,  save  that  in  the  glorious  summer 
time  Lidford  is  delightfvil,  but  that  I  should  not  much 
care  to  sojourn  there  during  the  prevalence  of  those  winds 
alike  beloved  by,  and  fatal  to,  poor  Canon  Kingsley,  who 
regarded  them  as  men  usually  regard  all  things  peculiar 
to  the  scenes  of  their  birth,  although  the  picturesque 
vicarage  of  Holne,  where  he  was  born  (almost  suiTounded 
by  hill  and  waste,  and  nestlmg  under  the  bleak  table 
land  of  the  Moor  is  not  included  in  the  perambulation 
of  the  "  Royal  Chace  and  Forest  of  the  Dartmoors." 


FARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  249 


CHAPTER  XII.— PART  I. 

The  Parish  of  Miltox  Abbot. — With  some  AccouyT 
OF  THE  Noble  Families  of  Eqssell  and  Edgcumbe. 

The  parish  of  Milton  Abbot,  or  as  it  is  sometimes 
written,  "  Milton  Abbots,"  which  includes  about  6,617 
acres  of  land  with  a  population  of  over  1,000,  is  distant 
but  a  few  miles  from  Lamerton.  It  is  situated  midway 
between  Tavistock  and  Launceston,  in  the  hundred  and 
deanery  of  the  former,  and  in  the  Archdeaconry  of 
Totnes.  Eisdon,'  says  that  "  MQton  Abbot  did  belong 
to  the  Abbey  of  Tavistock  by  the  gift  of  a  Knight  that 
dwelt  in  Daversweek,"  while  Lysons  tells  us,^  "  This 
Manor  was  given  to  the  Abbot  and  Convent  of  Tavistock, 
together  with  the  Barton  of  Leigh,  by  Ordulph,  its 
founder."  Both  these  statements  are  unsubstantiated 
by  their  authors.  There  is  a  discrepancy  noticed  by  Dr. 
Oliver,^  m  the  description  of  the  possessions  of  the  Abbey 
of  Tavistock  at  the  period  of  the  Domesday  Survey  given 
in  lioth  the  Exchequer  and  Exeter  copies  of  that  record, 
but  we  learn  from  the  latter  that  the  Abbot  held  it  under 
the  name  of  Middeltona  in  the  days  of  the  Confessor, 

'  "Sm-v'ey  "p.  218. 
2  Jfag.  Drit.  2,  339. 
"  Monas.  Dioc.  p.  90. 
2  I 


250  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

and  that  in  1087  it  was  still  the  property  of  Galfridus, 
the  then  head  of  the  Benedictine  community,  whose 
Monastery,  commenced  by  Ordgar,  Earl  of  Devon,  m  the 
year  961,  had  afterwards  been  completed  l)y  his  son 
Ordulph  at  a  somewhat  later  date. 

By  whatever  means  the  Abbot  and  Convent  became 
possessed  of  it,  it  is  certain  that  they  held  it  through 
succeeding  ages,  until  the  dissolution  ;  and  Bishop 
Bartholomew,  of  Exeter,  shortly  before  his  death,  1134, 
confirmed  to  Abbot  Herbert,  among  other  churches,  that 
of  Milton,  which  had  been  dedicated  to  S.S.  Constantine 
and  Giles. 

Milton  Abbot  is  a  pleasaiit  and  well-built  ^iIlage,  and 
includes  several  other  Manors,  Hamlets,  and  Bartons, 
namely,  Foghanger,  Guither,  Edgcumbe,  Week  Dabernon, 
Liddaton,  Innisleigh,  or  as  it  is  now  called  Endsleigh, 
Ford,  and  Chillaton. 

Of  these  the  Manors  of  Lego,  or  Leigh  and  Lideltona, 
or  Liddaton,  are  mentioned  in  the  Survey  as  the  property 
of  the  Abbot.  The  former,  which  had  belonged  to 
Ailric,  the  King's  Thane  in  the  time  of  King  Edward, 
was  held  at  the  Conquest  under  Abbot  Galfridus  by  sub- 
tenants, Nigel  and  Robert  ;  while  the  Manor  of 
"  Lideltona,"  or  Liddaton,  was  occupied  by  Godfrey, 
under  the  same  Lord. 

The  Manor  of  West  Liddaton,  mentioned  by  Lysons, 
which  is  situated  in  the  same  parish,  became  the  property 
of  the  Abbey  at  a  much  later  date,  since  it  appears  to 
have  been  the  gift  of  Odo  L'Ercedekne,  or  Archdeacon, 
in  the  year  1288. 

Three  years  afterwards,  April  2nd,  1291,  Abbot  Eobert 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  251 

Champeaux,  or  Campell,  appropriated  the  whole  profits 
of  this  estate,  together  with  its  mill,  to  the  providing  of 
Christ's  poor  ("  ad  opus  pauperum  Christi ")  with  clothes 
and  shoes,  the  annual  dLstribution  of  which  was  made  in 
the  cloisters  of  the  Abbey  on  November  2nd,  the  day  of 
the  commemoration  of  all  the  ilxithful  departed. 

Risdon's  assertion  as  to  the  conveyance  of  Milton  to 
the  Abbey  by  a  "  knight  who  dwelt  in  Daversweek  "  is 
to  be  accounted  for  by  the  gift  to  the  Convent  of  the 
Manor  of  "  Wick,"  afterwards  called  Week  Dabernon,  by 
John  Dabernon,  of  Bradford,  in  the  year  1353. 

He  was  descended  from  Ingram  de  Abenion,  who,  in 
King  Henry  the  Third's  reign,  gave  the  Manor  of  Brad- 
ford to  his  younger  son  William.' 

The  pedigree  of  Dennys,  of  Holcombe  Burnell,  shows 
that  Wilham  Dabernon  married  Matilda,  daughter  and 
co-heir  of  Mathew  Giflford,  who  was  descended  from 
Anne,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Sir  William  Brewer,  of 
Buckland  Brewer.  Their  issue  was  John  Dabernon, 
before  mentioned,  whose  only  daughter  and  heir,  Joan, 
married  John,  son  of  William  Dennys,  of  Gidicot. 

The  Manor  of  Ford,  some  time  in  the  family  of 
Spooner,  belonged,  with  Chillaton,  to  the  late  Mr.  John 
Phillips-Cai-penter,  of  Mount  Tavy.  The  former  is  still 
the  property  of  his  representative,  Mr.  Carpenter-Garnier, 
hut  the  latter  is  now  held  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Chichester. 

A  branch  of  the  Fortescue  family  at  one  time  resided 
at  Milton  Abbot.  James  Fortescue,  second  son  of  John 
Fortescue,  of  Buckland  Filleigh,  by  his  marriage  with 
Thomazine  Prideaux,  was  born  in  1625   and  bapt.   12th 

1  Survey  of  Devon,  p.  250. 
2  r 


252  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

December  in  that  year.  He  married  Mary  WooUocombe, 
of  Eoborough  ;  resided  at  Ford,  in  Milton  Abbot,au  I 
was  succeeded  there  by  his  eldest  son,  "  George  Fortes- 
cue  of  Ford,"  who  by  his  wife  Mary,  daughter  of  John 
Barratt,  of  St.  Tudy  (Eval  ?),  Ijecame  the  father  of  four 
sons,  James,  George,  John,  and  William,  who  all  died 
unmarried,  and  t\\o  daughters,  Anne,  who  married 
Thomas  Luxmore,  and  Mary,  the  wife  of  Nicholas 
Venning,  of  Broadhempstone. 

James,  the  eldest  son,  matriculated  at  Exeter  College", 
9th  February,  1732-3,  aged  16  ;  B.A.  14th  October, 
1736;  M. A.  22nd  June,  1739;  full  FeUow  l2th  July, 
1738  (vacated  176.5);  B.D.  11th  April,  1749;  D.D. 
20th  January,  1750-1  ;  elected  Chaplain  of  Merton  29th 
September,  1738,  and  again  in  October,  1743,  and 
December,  1746  ;  Senior  Proctor  1747-8.  He  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Eectory  of  Wotton  on  the  29th  June,  1764, 
on  the  last  day  of  the  two  calendar  months  within  which 
the  presentation  was  to  be  made.  He  died  in  July, 
1777,  unmarried,  and  his  libraiy  was  dispersed  two  years 
afterwards.  He  was  the  author  of  "  Essays  Moral  and 
Miscellaneous,"  pub.  in  1759  in  2  vols,  (which  are  not 
referred  to  by  Lowndes).  His  works  appear  to  have  no 
particular  value,  but  they  include  three  descriptive 
poems,  of  local  interest,  on  "  Castle  Hill  and  Devonia." 
His  second  cuusin,  the  Right  Hon.  William  Fortescue,  of 
Buckland  Filleigh,  Master  of  the  Kolls,  by  his  marriage 
with  his  kinswoman  Mary  Fortescue,  of  Fallopit  (daughter 
and  co-heir  of  her  father,  Edmund),  had  an  only  child, 
Mary,  who  married  John  Spooner,  of  Beachworth,  and 

1  Keg.  Coll.  Exon.  (Boase). 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  253 

died  ill  1722,  having  had  issue  one  daughter,  named  after 
herself,  who  died  an  infant. 

In  this  parish  is  the  seat  of  the  elder  branch  of  the 
ancient  family  of  Edgcumbe,  who  have  resided  there 
"  ever  since  the  reign  of  Henry  III."  By  a  deed  of  the 
second  year  of  Richard  II,  printed  in  Dugdale  and  ex- 
tracted from  the  Maynard  Cartulary,  WiUiam  Edgcumbe, 
of  Cothele,  releases  to  the  Abbey  all  his  lands  lying  in 
the  Abbot's  Park  of  Innisleigh  (Endsleigh),  in  the  Manor 
of  Midelton,  dated  Monday  after  the  feast  of  St.  Clement, 
November,  1378.  The  same  Cartulary  also  contains  the 
grant  of  West  Lydeton  by  Odo  L'Arcedekne,  17th  Ed. 
1st,  and  that  of  "  Wyke  Juxta  Brenttorre,"  and  the  re- 
version of  lands  in  Holywill,  by  John  Dabernon,  of 
Bradford,  2Gth  Edward  III. 

The  Manor  of  Edgcumbe  extends  for  about  a  mile- 
and-a-half  along  the  side  of  a  valley  which  stretches  from 
the  church  of  Milton  to  the  banks  of  the  Tamar,  and 
without  doubt  the  family  took  their  name  from  their 
residence.  Prince  conjectures  that  they  came  from 
Cheriton  Fitz-Pain,  near  Crediton,  "  where  in  that 
church,"  he  says,  "  I  met  with  Edgecombe's  isle  adorned 
with  divers  coats  belonging  to  them ;  in  protract  of  time 
this  family  removed  over  the  Tamar,  where  it  settled  at 
Cuttall,  in  the  parish  of  Calslock,  separated  from  Devon 
only  by  the  In'eadth  of  that  river." 

The  records,  however,  in  possession  of  the  family  show 
that  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I,  Edgcumbe  in  Milton  was 
the  property  and  residence  of  Richard,  of  Edgcumbe,  and 
some  stones  over  one  of  the  entrances  still  have  the 
initials   "  R.E,"   with   the    date     1292.      He    had    two 


254  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

grandsons,  John  and  William.  The  eldest  inherited  this 
property  and  transmitted  it  in  lineal  succession  to  the 
late  Richard  Darke  Edgcumbe,  Esq.,  of  Edgcumbe,  who 
was  succeeded  iu  1862  by  his  son.  Piers  Edgcumbe,  Esq., 
44th  Regiment,  but  for  the  last  few  years  the  family 
have  not  resided  upon  this  ancient  property. 

William,  the  second  son  of  Richard  of  Edgcumbe,  was 
the  donor  of  the  land  at  Endsleigh  to  the  Abbot  (Stephen 
Langdon)  of  Tavistock  in  1378.  He  had  become 
possessed  of  Cothele  in  or  about  the  year  1353  by  his 
marriage  with  Hilaria,  daughter  of  Wilham,  and  sister 
and  heir  of  Ralph  de  Cothele. 

The  date  usually  assigned  to  this  marriage  is  confirmed 
by  several  entries  in  the  minutes  of  the  Duchy  Council,  a 
copy  of  which,  written  in  Nonnan-French,  was  discovered 
a  few  years  since  at  Mount  Edgcumbe,  and  was  mentioned 
by  Lord  Mount  Edgcumbe  at  the  meeting  of  the  British 
Archseological  Association  in  1876.  His  Lordship,  by 
reference  to  these  entries,  then  proved  that  on  the  death 
of  Hilaria's  father,  her  brother  Ralph  was  ward  of  John 
de  Eltham,  brother  of  Edward  III,  and  Earl  of  Cornwall, 
who  died  in  1336,  and  further  remarked  that  "  they  also 
refer  to  the  sale  of  her  own  wardship  and  marriage  by 
the  Black  Prince  for  40  shillings,  so  that  she  be  man-ied 
without  cUsparagement,  and  subsequently  to  a  contention 
between  two  claimants  for  her  wardship,  and  a  petition 
from  herself,  praying  to  have  letters  of  inquiry  as  to  her 
age,  with  directions  from  the  Prince  to  have  the  matter 
carefully  investigated.  This  was  in  1353,  and  as  it  seems 
clear  from  the  dates  that  she  must  then  have  been  of  full 
age,  we  may  flatter  ourselves  that  she  bestowed  her  hand 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  255 

on  William  of  Eclgcumbe  by  her  own  free-will  and  not 
by  any  compulsion."  The  origin  of  the  present  noble 
house  of  Edgcumbe  is  clearly  shewn  by  these  minutes. 

Prince's  error,  relative  to  the  situation  of  Edgcumbe 
in  Cheriton  Fitz-paine,  was  perpetuated  by  Collins',  and 
it  is  also  repeated  in  the  1880  edition  of  Burke. 

Prince's  note,  which  I  have  already  given,  is  accom- 
panied by  a  marginal  reference,  "  Mr.  Westc,  Surv. 
of  Devon  in  Ghent.  Fitz.  MS."  The  copy  of  Westcote's 
Survey,  transcribed  by  Prince,  and  to  which  ha  made 
additions  within  brackets,  was  bought  by  Mr.  Adam 
Holden,  of  Exeter,  at  the  Ford  Abbey  sale  in  1846. 
Another  copy  in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  J.  Templer, 
of  Dorsetshire,  was  the  one  used  for  the  edition  of  this 
work  published  by  the  late  Dr.  Oliver  and  Mr.  Pitman 
Jones,  and  the  editors  remark  in  their  preface  that  "  it 
is  evident  that  he  (Westcote)  is  chargeable  with  some 
egi-egious  mistakes  and  errors,  to  which  Mr.  Prince  has 
added  many  more."  There  is  nothing,  as  far  as  I  can 
find,  in  the  printed  edition,  however,  to  substantiate 
Prince  in  his  assertion  as  to  the  connection  of  Edgcumbe 
with  Chei-iton  Fitz-paine.  Westcote  disposes  of  that 
parish^  in  the  following  words  : — "  Not  far  from  Brem- 
rido-e  we  receive  a  good  large  tribute  "  (to  Greedy  river) 
"  from  a  riveret  coming  from  Stockley-Luckham,  in  the 
parish  of  Gheriton  Fitz-pain.  Luckham  was  the  seat  of 
Sir  Hugh  de  Luckham,  in  the  time  of  Edward  I.  Now 
Arundel  possesseth  it." 

The   same  author,  when  speaking   of  Milton  Abbot, 

'  Peerage  of  England.  Sup.  vol.  2,  Edit.  1750. 
2  View  of  Devon,  p.  119. 


25G  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

merely  says^ : — "  Milton,  with  the  addition  of  Abbot, 
shows  that  the  Abbey  of  Tavistock  had  right  unto  it. 
Daversweek :  which  Week  belonged  unto  an  ancient 
Knight  of  the  family  of  Davers,  or  Danvers,  or  Danvirs." 

Excepting  in  Prince  and  in  those  authors  who  have 
copied  from  him,  I  have  failed  to  find  anything  to  connect 
the  Edgcumbe  family  with  the  parish  of  Cheriton  Fitz- 
paine.  It  is^  of  course,  possible  that  a  younger  branch  of 
this  house  may  have  been  at  some  time  seated  there,  as 
they  were  at  Lamerton,  to  which  I  drew  attention  in  my 
last  article.  Lysons'  gives  the  succession  of  the  owners 
of  Cheriton  Manor  from  the  Stantons  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  III,  through  heiresses  to  the  Fitz-paines,  Anstills. 
and  Kellys,  after  which  it  was  divided  in  moieties, 
Lucombe,  within  the  parish,  passed  from  the  family  of 
the  same  name  to  S.  Amand,  and  Ai-undell,  of  Trerice, 
and  then,  by  settlement,  to  the  Wentworths,  \\  hile  the 
property  of  the  Upcotts,  of  Upcott,  belonged  afterwards 
to  the  Radfords,  and  was  with  the  Courtenays  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

Richard  Edgcumbe,  M.P.  for  Cornwall,  and  tenth  in 
direct  succession  from  William  Edgcumbe,  of  Edgcumbe, 
and  Hilaria  de  Cothele,  was  elevated  to  the  Peerage  as 
Baron  Edgcumbe,  20th  April,  1742.  He  was  succeeded 
by  his  elder  son,  Richard,  who  died  unmarried  in  1761, 
when  the  estates  and  title  came  to  his  younger  brother, 
George,  as  3rd  Baron.  His  Lordship  was  created 
Viscount  Mount  Edgcumbe  and  Volletort,  17th  Febuiary, 
1781,  and  Earl  of  Mount  Edgcumbe,  16th  August,  17S9. 

1  View  of  Devon,  p.  364. 
«  Mag.  Brit.  2,  100. 


FARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  257 

He  married,  in  1761,  Emma,  daughter  and  heir  of  Dr. 
John  Gilbert,  Archbishop  of  York,  who  had  been  con- 
nected with  this  county  for  some  years,  both  as  Dean  of 
Exeter  and  Vicar  of  Ashburton.'  He  died  4th  February, 
1795,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Richard  as  2nd  Earl, 
whose  son,  Ernest  Augustus,  3rd  Earl,  was  the  father  of 
the  present  Lord  Mount  Edgcumbe,  who  is  therefore 
seventeenth  in  direct  descent  from  the  Kichard  of 
Edgcumbe  whose  initials,  with  the  date  1292,  remain  at 
Edgcumbe,  and  whose  arms  are  cut  in  stone  over  a  gate- 
way behind  the  present  house.^ 

The  extracts  "  E.  libro  nigro  scaccarii,"  printed  by  Dr. 
Olivei','  inform  us  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II, 
Reginald  de  Liddeton  held  two  Knights'  fees,  and 
Geoffrey  de  Leghe  one,  from  the  Abbey.  It  appears, 
moreover,  that  "  in  tempore  gwerrae  "  GeoflFrey  de  Leghe 
and  William,  his  son,  "  had  wrested  a  half-fee  from  the 
Church." 

An  inspection  of  the  "  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  "  of  Henry 
YIII  shows  that  at  the  period  of  the  dissolution  Milton 
Abbot  was  reckoned  with  the  Manor  and  hundi'ed  of 
Hurdwick — "  Manerium  de  Hurdewyk  cum  hundredo  et 
membris  suis,  viz.,  Milton  Abbot,  Wyke  Dabernon, 
Whitchurch,    Hele,    Peterstavy,    Brentor,    in    comitatu 

1  Dr.  John  Gilbert,  vicar  of  Ashburton,  1721  ;  Dean  of  Exeter,  1726  ; 
Bp.  of  Llanflafl,  1742;  Bp.  of  Salisbury,  1748;  resigned  Ashburton, 
1749  ;  Archbishop  of  York,  1757.  His  Grace  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Bennut  Shorard  of  Whessindine,  co.  Rutland,  sister  of 
Philip,  2nd  Lord  Harborough. 

-  Worthies  of  Devon,  p.  350  n.,  Edit.  1810. 

•  Monas.  Dioc.,  p.  96,  Hist.  Coll.  .\xi. 
2  K 


258  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Devonie,  et  Antony  in  comitatu  Cornubie."  The  total 
nett  value  of  these  lands  appears  to  have  been 
£231  lis.  4^d.  per  annum.  Eichard  Banham,  who,  as 
Abbot  of  Tavistock,  was,  of  course,  Lord  of  the  Manor  of 
Milton,  was  elected  in  1492;  on  January  23rd,  1513 
King  Henry  YIII  granted  to  him  and  to  his  successors 
the  right  to  sit  in  Parliament,  and  the  honours,  privileges, 
and  liberties  appertaining  to  spiritual  lords. 

This  Abbot  became  involved  in  a  dispute  with  Bishop 
Oldham  as  to  the  right  of  Episcopal  Visitation  at  Tavi- 
stock, and  although,  upon  being  excommunicated  by  that 
Prelate,  he  submitted  to  him  on  10th  May,  1513,  and, 
after  an  appeal  to  Warham,  the  Primate,  agreed  to 
submit  his  case  to  arbitration,  yet,  nothing  daunted  by 
the  adverse  decision  of  February  8th,  1513-14,  he  after- 
wards carried  his  complaint  to  Rome. 

He  obtained  a  Bull  of  such  extraordinary  privileges 
from  Leo  X,  on  September  14th,  1517,  as  to  completely 
indemnify  him  for  all  his  expenses  and  trouble.  It  has 
been  said  that  Bishop  Oldham  would  not  submit  to  this 
"  Bull ;"  and  that  in  consequence  he  (the  Bishop)  died 
excommunicate.  It  is  so  stated  by  Godwin' ;  and  also  in 
Hoker's  "Catalogue  of  the  Bishops  of  Exeter."  Bp. 
Godwin  says  "  Paulo  ante  mortem  excommunicatus  est 
ac  nondum  absolutus,  diem  obiit  Junii  25th,  1519  ;  while 
John  Hoker  remarks  that  he  "  could  not  be  suffered  to  be 
buried  until  the  absolution  from  Rome  was  procured  for 
him;  others,  too,  have  stated  that  for  tills  reason  the  Bishop 
was  intended  without  the  choir  underneath  the  eastern  bay 
of  the  south  aisle  of  his  Cathedral.     Both  Bishop  Godwn 

1  De  Praesulibus  Ang.  p.  473,  Hoker  (Brice)  p.  137.  De  Prses,  p.  474. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  259 

and  Dr.  Oliver  tell  us,  liowever,  that  tlie  chapel  dedicated 
to  our  Saviour,  in  which  the  Prelate  was  interred,  was 
constructed  for  this  very  purpose  during  his  lifetime — 
Jacefc  turaulatus  in  Oapella  a  se  dum  viveret  extructa,  in 
Australi  parte  Ecclesiee,  paulo  supra  suinmum  altare." 
"  From  a  document  in  his  register,  dated  30tli  December, 
1513,  it  appears  that  he  had  then  completed  S.  Saviour's 
Chapel  in  his  Cathedral  to  receive  his  remains."  Dr. 
Oliver  does  not  refer  to  the  excommunication,  and  I 
scarcely  know  how  to  reconcile  it  with  the  fact  that  on 
the  very  day  of  his  death  our  Bishop  instituted  Bernard 
Travesse  to  the  Church  of  S.  Mary  Major.  This  is  shown 
by  his  register,  which  concludes  with  the  following 
words: — "Ipso  que  eodem  die  (2.3th  June,  1519),  in 
palatio  suo  Exon.  Dominus  ab  hac  luce  migravit,  cujus 
animse  propitietur  Deus.     Amen." 

Bishop  Veysy,  his  successor,  April  20th,  1525,  formally 
admitted  the  exemption  granted  to  the   Abbey  by  the 
Bull  of  Pope  Leo,  at  which  time  Banham  had  been  suc- 
ceeded Ijy  John   Per}^!,  who  \\-as  destined  to  be  the  last 
Abbot  of  Tavistock  since  he,  with  twenty  of  his  brethren, 
surrendered  his  monastery  into  the  hands  of  the  King, 
March  20th,   1539.     His  will,    dated   at    Tavistock  ten 
years  later,  was   proved   in   the   Prerogative   Court    of 
Canterbury,  April   30th,  1550.     Upon  the  surrender  of 
his  house  he  received  a  pension  of  £100  a  year.     There  is 
a  statue  of  him  at  Endsleigh.     Among  his  pensioners  I 
notice  the  name  of  "  Richard  Edgecumbe,  Esq."     The 
Abbot  of  Tavistock  had  power  of  life  and  death  within 
the  manor  of  Hurdwyk.' 

1  Rot.  Himd. 
2k= 


260  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  XII.— PART  2. 


The  House  of  Russell. 

The  noble  House  of  Russell,  descended  from  the  Du 
Rozels  of  Normandy,  are  stated  to  have  been  settled  in 
Dorsetshire  immediately  after  the  Conquest.  Fuller, 
when  treating  of  the  various  cojoies  of  the  Roll  of  Battle 
Abbey,  adduces  various  reasons  both  for  and  against  the 
authenticity  of  that  record  and  remarks  — "  Yea,  we  may 
confidently  rely  on  this  Roll,  where  we  find  a  concurrence 
of  ancient  Enghsh  historians  therewith  ;  and  this  will 
appear  in  the  generality  of  names  which  that  Roll  pre- 
senteth  unto  us." 

The  name  "  Rushell "  occurs  in  the  list  extracted 
from  Holinshead,  and  written  "Russel,"  in  that  of 
Stow.  There  is  one  catalogue,  however,  contained 
in  Fox  which  recoi'ds  the  names  of  those  persons  who, 
after  the  Battle  of  Hastings,  were  advanced  to  Selgniores 
in  this  country  in  which  the  name  of  Russell  is  not 
included.  The  "  Pipe  Roll,"  3rd  King  John,  however, 
shows  that  the  family  were  living  in  Dorsetshire  in  the 
year  1202,  when  John  Russell,  who,  afterwards  in  1221 
was  Governor  of  Corfe,'  gave  fifty  marks  for  licence  to 
marry  the  daughter  of  Bardolf. 

1  Rot.  Claus.  5th  Hen.  III. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  261 

The  Close  Rolls,  8th  Henry  III,  show  that  Sir  Ralph 
Russell,  son  and  heir  of  John,  married  Isabel,  daughter 
and  coheir  of  James  de  Newmarsh,  or  Newmarch  ;  and 
in  the  year  1224  he  had  livery  of  his  wife's  share  of  her 
paternal  inlieritance  in  the  counties  of  Somerset,  Wills, 
and  Dorset;  and  some  years  later,  a.d.  1238,  it  is 
shown  that  he  possessed  powerful  influence  at  Court, 
since  he  tlien  obtained  remission  of  certain  "  Scutages  " 
due  upon  the  moiety  o!"  the  honours  he  held  in  right  of 
his  wife.  He  had  three  sons,  and  was  succeeded  by  his 
son  William,'  who  obtained  a  grant  for  a  market  on 
Thursdaj's,  and  a  fair  for  three  days— the  eve,  day,  and 
moiTOw  of  St.  Matthew — in  his  manor  of  Kingston, 
commonly  eddied  Kingston  Russel,  in  the  said  county  of 
Dorset. 

This  manor  was  held  from  the  Crown  by  "  Sergentry  " 
to  be  cup-bearer  to  the  King  at  the  four  principal  feasts 
in  the  year. 

He  was  one  of  the  Knights  of  the  Shire  for  the  county 
of  Southampton,  Tst  Edward  II.     By  his  marriage  with 
Jane,  daughter  of  Robert  Pevei'el,  he  had  issue  Theobald, 
his  son  and  heir,  who  was  destined  to  be  the  ancestor  of 
the  long  hne  of  the  Dukes  of  Bedford. 

Theobald  Russel  married  first  Eleanor,  daughter  and 
coheir  of  Ralph  de  Gorges,  a  Parliamentary  Baron  of  the 
rei<m  of  Edward  II.  His  issue  was  Theobald,  his  eldest 
son,  who  succeeded  to  his  mother's  property,  took  the 
name  of  Gorges,  and  from  whom  descended  the  family  of 
that  name,  a  branch  of  which  was  settled  at  Tamerton 
Foliot,   in  this  county,   which  registered    four    dosceuts 

I  Rot.  Cart.  12fch  Ed.  I. 


202  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

after  27t]i  Henry  III,  when  the   heir  married  Bonville'. 
The  family  of  Warburton,  of  Cheshire,  objected  to  the 
assumption  of  the  coat  of  Gorges  by  Theobald  Russell, 
and  in  the  2nd  Edwai-d   III  the  former  established  their 
right  to  it  in  the  Court  of  the   Earl  Marshall — Henry, 
Earl    of   Lancaster — and  Gorges    had    assigned   to  him 
lozengy.  or  and  az.,  a  chev.,  gu.,  in  lieu  of  the  well  known 
Gurr/e,   or    Whirlpool,    which  the   Gorges   had  hitherto 
borne,  and  from  which  charge,  very  possibly,  their  some- 
what peculiar    surname    had  been    derived.     Sir  Ralph 
Russell  was  the  younger  son  of  Theobald,  the  husband  of 
Eleanor    Gorges,  although  he    is  eiToneously  stated  by 
Sir  Bernard  Burke  to  have  assumed  the  name  of  Gorges 
with     his    mother's    property  ;    he    inherited    Kingston 
Russell ;  he  nied   in   3rd  Edward  III,  and  his  two  sons 
(Theobald  and  John)  both  died  unmarried  ;  consequently, 
the  paternal  estate  descended   to  his  brother  Maurice, 
who   was    succeeded    by    his    son    Sir   William,    whose 
daughter  Margaret  died  without  issue,  when  her  propei"ty 
devolved    upon   her    aunts  —  Isabel,    wife    of  Stephen 
Hatfield,  and  Margaret,  wife  of  Gilbert  Dennys. 

This  terminates  the  line  of  RusseU  of  Kingston  Russell. 
Upon  the  death  of  Eleanor  Gorges,  Theobald  Russell 
took  to  wife  Eleanoi",  daughter  and  heir  of  John  de  la 
Tour,  and  by  her  he  had  William,  who  married  the 
daughter  and  heir  of  Mustian,  and  had  issue  Henry, 
whose  son  John,  by  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  daughter  and 
coheir  of  John  Heringham,  was  the  father  of  Sir  John 
Russell  knight,  who  was  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  the  second  and  tenth  years  of  King  Henry 

^  Jlag.  Brit.  Devon,  1,  clxv.,  Visitation  of  Devon,  1564.  Colby,  p.  116. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  263 

VI,  and  who  married  Alice,  daughter  of  "Freuxmere" 
{John  Froxiaere,  according  to  Sir  Bernard  Biu-ke)  and 
had  issue  James,  his  son  and  heir,  and  two  daughters, 
Alice,  and  Christian,  wife  of  Walter  Cheverell.  The 
former  married  Trenchard,  and  their  issue  was  Sir 
Thomas  Trenchard,  of  whom  more  anon. 

James  llussell,  son  and  heir  of  the  Speaker,  "  married 
Alice,  daughter  of  John  Wyse.'"  His  will,  made  30th 
November,  1505,  was  proved  in  the  Prerog.  Court 
of  Canterbm-y.  By  it  he  ordei's  his  body  to  be 
buried  in  the  Church  of  the  "Holy  Trinity  ot 
Swyre,"  and  he  bequeaths  his  whole  estate  to  Joan, 
his  wife ;  John,  his  son  ;  and  Thomas,  his  brother,  whom 
he  makes  his  executors.  The  witnesses  are  Sir  Henry 
Russell  and  Nicholas  Boremont,  who  had  married  liis 
dauo-hter  Elizabeth.  Another  daughter,  Thomasin,  was 
wife  of  Robert  Hussey,  of  Shapwick,  Dorset.  His  sou 
John,  mentioned  in  the  will,  is  stated  to  have  been  born 
at  Kingston  Russell,  the  ancient  seat  of  the  family  in 
Dorsetshire.  He  resided  at  Barwick,  near  Bridport. 
He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  varied  accomplish- 
ments, and  to  have  shown  early  promise  of  that  celebrity 
to  which  he  afterwards  attained.  He  was  present  with 
the  Army  in  the  expeditions  to  France  in  the  reign  ot 
Henry  VII,  and  ultimately  became  a  trusted  servant 
of  that  monarch.  His  immediate  introduction  to  the 
King's  notice,  however,  was  in  some  degree  accidental. 
The  Archduke  Philip  of  Austria,  son  of  Maximilian,  the 
Emperor,  upon  his  man-iage  with  Joan,  daughter  of 
Ferdinand   of  Castile,   was  driven  uito   Weymouth  by 

^  Wise  red.,  p.  178,  ante. 


2C4  DEVOFSHIRE  PARISHES. 

stress  of  weather  during  his  passage  from  Flanders  to  the 
Spanish  Court.  He  was  received  and  hospitably  enter- 
tained by  Sir  Thomas  Trenchard,  with  whom  he  remained 
until  notice  of  his  arrival  on  these  shores  had  been  com- 
municated to  Windsor.  John  Kussell  who  had  but 
recently  returned  from  abroad,  was  invited  by  his  cousin, 
Sir  Thomas,  to  attend  the  Archduke  during  his  stay  in 
Weymouth.  The  Prince  was  so  much  impi-essed  with 
his  convei'sation  and  deportment  that  when  lie  received 
an  invitation  irom  the  King  to  join  the  Court  at  Windsor 
he  asked  Mr.  Russell  to  accompany  him,  and,  upon  their 
arrival,  he  most  strongly  and  warmly  recommended  him 
to  his  Majesty  "  as  a  gentleman  fitly  qualified  to  serve 
him  in  some  considerable  station,"  and  he  was  at  once 
appointed  a  "Gentleman  of  the  Privy  Chamber."  Upon 
the  accession  of  Henry  VIII  he  was  continued  In  this 
appointment.  In  1517  he  obtained  certain  lands  in 
Tournay  as  a  reward  for  his  services  in  France,  and  in 
1523  was  knighted  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey  after  the 
capture  of  Morlalx.  The  next  year  Sir  John  Eussell  was 
made  Marshal  of  the  Marshalsea,  and  was  afterwards  em- 
ployed in  several  negotiations  to  the  Emperor  Charles  V, 
to  the  French  King,  to  the  Pope,  and  to  the  Duke  of 
Lorraine  ;  and  in  the  16th  of  Henry  VIII  he  was  present 
at  the  battle  of  Pavia.  He  became  Comptroller  of  the 
Household,  and  one  of  the  Privy  Council  in  1538.  On 
the  9th  March,  1538-9,  he  was  raised  to  the  Peerage  by 
the  title  of  Baron  Russell,  of  Cheyneys,  in  the  county 
of  Buckingham,  an  estate  which  he  had  acquired  in  right 
of  his  wife  Anna,  daughter  and  heir  to  Sir  Guy  Sapcott, 
knight,  and  widow  of  Sir  John  Broughton,  of  Tudington, 
Bedfordshire. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  2G5 

By  lettei-s  patent,  dated  Westminster,  4th  July,  31st 
Henry  VIII  (1539),  the  King  granted  to  "  Sir  John 
Russell,  otherwise  called  Lord  Russell,  and  to  the  Lady 
Anne,  his  wife,"  the  entire  house  and  site  of  the  late 
Monastery,  Abbey,  or  Church  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary 
of  Tavistock,  lately  dissolved,  and  the  whole  Church, 
CampanUe,  and  Cemetery  of  the  same,  and  all  messuages, 
&c.,  as  well  within  tis  without  the  site  and  the  whole 
borough  and  town  of  Tavistoke,  together  with  the  manors 
of  Hurdewyke,  Morwell,  and  Morwelham,  with  all  their 
members  and  belongings. 

The  hundred  of  Hurdewyke,  otherwise  called  the  hun- 
dred of  Tavistoke,  as  well  as  the  Bartons  or  Granges  of 
Hurdewyke,  Morwell,  and  Morwelham,  and  the  Lordships 
07'  Manors  of  Milton  Abbot,  otherwise  called  Milton  Legh, 
Lamerton,    Hele,    Brentor,   Wykedavernon,   Peterstavy, 
Ottrew,  otherwise  called  Ottery,  Whitchurch,  and  New- 
ton,  together   with    the    Rectory    and    Vicarage,    the 
advowson  an.l  right  of  Patronage   of  the   Parish  Church 
and  of  the  Vicarage  of  Tavistock,  and  the  whole  Manor 
of  Antony,  in  Cornwall,  and  all   other   messuages  and 
tenements,  &c.,  whatsoever  in  Tavistoke,  lately  belonging 
or  pertaining  to  the  Monastery  aforesaid,  to  be  held  as 
they  were  held  and  enjoyed  by  John,  late  Abbot  of  the 

said  Monasteiy. 

These  letters  further  grant  them  "  The  whole  borough 
of  Denbury  and  all  the  manors  of  Denbury,  Plymstock, 
Woryngton,  Cowyke,  Barleigh." 

1  Francis  Earl  of  IkJford  and  William  Lord  Russell,  his  hcir-apparciit, 
sold  much  of  their  property  in   St.  Thomas's  parish,  Exeter,  comprising 
Barley  and  Fi-anklyn  about  the  year  1611.     (Oliver  Hist.  CoU.) 
2   L 


266  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Olderich,  Cavelynche,  Whymple,  Woodmanston,  Chris- 
tenstowe,  Boryngton,  and  Cornewood,  and  the  Manor  of 
Hawkewell,  in  the  county  of  Somerset,  and  all  other 
hereditaments,  &c.,  in  the  aforesaid  "  ac  in  parochia 
Thome  Bekket,  quondavi  vulyanter  muncupata  Sajjnt 
Thomas  Parisshe  Extra  Portam  Occidentalem  Civitatis 
Exoniae,"  lately  belonging  to  the  aforesaid  Monastery, 
"  and  the  advowsons  of  the  Rectories "  of  the  Parish 
Churches  of  Whitchurch,  Lamerton,  Milton  Abbot,  other- 
unse  called  Milton  Legh,  and  Boryngton,  and  the  Chapel 
of  Oldei'idge,  St.  Thomas,  without  Westgate,  Exeter, 
Christenstowe,  Okehampton,  and  Sprayton  in  Devon, 
Antony,  Peterwyn,  otherwise  called  Northepetherwyn, 
in  Cornwall,  lately  appropriated  to  the  Monastery  of 
Tavistocke. 

And  the  Rectories,  &c.,  of  the  Parish  Chmxhes  of 
"  Old  Donkyswell  and  Awllscombe,"  and  the  free  chapels 
there,  lately  belonging  to  the  Monastery  of  "  Donkyswell, 
and  the  Rectory  of  Blakaveton,"  lately  belonging  to 
Plympton ;"  also  those  of  Virgenstowe,  Denbury,  and 
Whimple.  The  whole  site  of  the  Abbev  of  "  Dinikys- 
well "  with  its  appurtenances,  the  Water-Mill,  two 
gardens,  and  four  courtleges  in  Olde  Donkyswell,  four 
other  closes  of  arable  land  called  "  Beyn  Crofts,"  one 
close  of  arable  land  called  "  Yeoman  Leysse  "  and  one 
other  close  of  land  called  "  Debere  Crofte,"  in  all  17 
acres,  in  "  Dunkyswell,"  and  all  our  other  meadows  called 
Brytport  meadow,  Culverhey  ball,  Leyrehouse  mede, 
Mylbale  mede,  Churchehaye  mede,  Swyne  mede,  Synr 
mede,  and  Polmede,  in  all  24  acres,  and  situated  in 
"  olcle  Donkyswell,"  together  with  numerous  other  fields. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  2G7 

woods,  &c.,  all  similarly  specified,  situated  in  the  parish 
of  Dunkeswell,  in  all  about  451  acres.  And  the  grange 
and  barton  of  "  Brodeheraby,"  with  its  belongings  in 
"  Brodehemby,"  with  298  acres,  two  fields  called  "  Le 
Great  or  Grangemede  and  Lodpytt  mede,"  containing  25 
acres.  The  moor  called  Kouge  Mershe,  10  acres,  the 
woods,  parke,  grangewode,  and  the  grove,  in  all  13 
acres,  situated  in  Broadhembury,  and  late  belonging  to 
Dunkeswell. 

Three  arable  fields  called  "  Shapcombe  Filde,"  1 00 
acres ;  the  meadow  known  as  "  Shapcombe  Mede,"  24 
acres  ;  and  the  wood  called  "Shapcombe  Wootl,"  20  acres 
— all  in  the  parish  of  "  Luppyt  " — with  the  bartons  and 
gi'anges  of  Bowreheys,  Bywoode,  Sheldon,  and  Brode- 
hemby,  to  be  held  as  they  were  held  and  enjoyed  by  the 
late  Abbot  of  Dunkeswell ;  the  manor  of  Blakeaveton 
(Blackawton),  lately  belonging  to  the  Abbey  of  Tor. 

Then  follows  the  grant  of  what  was  afterwards  known 
as  "  Bedford  House,"  in  words  of  which  the  following 
are  a  translation  : — "  The  whole  house  and  site  lately  of 
the  Brothers  Preachers,  within  the  city  of  Exeter,  lately 
dissolved,  and  the  whole  church,  campanile,  and  cemetery 
of  the  same  house,  late  of  the  Brothers  Preachers,  and  aU 
messuages,"  &c.,  to  be  held  as  the  rest  of  the  property 
ah'eady  specified. 

Then  comes  the  tenure. 

The   secular   property    of   the   Abbey   of   Tavistock, 

including    the    rectory    and    advowson    of    the    Parish 

Church,  is   to   be   held    from    the  King,    his  heirs  and 

successors  in  chief,  by  the  service  of  one  Knight's  fee,  and 

by  the  annual  return  of  £36  to  the   "Coni-t  of  Augmen- 
2  L' 


268  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

tation,"  to  be  paid  at  Michaelmas.  The  remaining 
grants,  both  secular  and  spiritual,  are  to  be  held  by  like 
service  by  the  additional  payment  of  £248  5s.  annually 
at  the  same  feast. 

These  "  letters  patent "  were  published  in  extenso,  and 
in  the  original  Latin  from  the  copy  in  the  collection  of  the 
late  Mr.  Jones,  of  Franklyn,  by  Dr.  Oliver,  in  his  Hist. 
Coll.,  p.  xxviii.,  et  seq. 

The  same  author  afterwards  reprinted  them  from  an 
"  examined  copy  "  of  the  oi'iginal,  in  tlie  Monasticon  of 
the  Diocese,  p.  104. 

By  other  letters  patent,  dated  December  20th,  1539, 
and  which  refer  to  those  I  have  quoted,  it  is  ordered 
that  since  the  Abbot  of  Tavistock  had  allowed  Sir 
William  Saunder  Clerk,  the  Vicar  there,  and  his  prede- 
cessors X20  a  year  ;  that  the  said  Lord  Russell,  Anne  his 
wife,  and  his  heirs  male,  shall  pay  the  said  Vicar  £10 
annually,  to  be  allowed  upon  the  said  grant  of  the  former 
letters.  The  Kinof  is  further  to  allow  another  £10,  and 
the  whole  sum  of  £20  is  to  be  deducted  from  the  £36 
payable  to  the  Crown,  according  to  the  terns  of  the  said 
letters  of  the  preceding  July. 

Besides  these  Abbey  lands  in  Devonshhe,  Lord  Russell, 
as  most  of  my  readers  are  aware,  had  large  grants  of 
others  in  other  counties,  such  as  Northamptonshire,  and 
in  Bedfordshire,  where  "  Woburn  Abbey "  is  still  the 
principal  seat  of  his  race.  It  would  be  apart  from  my 
present  purpose,  however,  to  do  more  than  refer  to  them. 

At  the  period  of  the  grant  to  Lord  Russell  the  net 
annual  value  of  the  lands,  &c.,  of  Tavistock,  amounted  to 
£812     Is.     0|d.,    that    of   the    manor    of   Blackawton 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  269 

£54  Us.  8id.,  and  of  Duiikeswell  £255  8s.  8d.  The 
last  property  appears  to  have  speedily  reverted  to  the 
Crown.  Dr.  Oliver  says,  "  Most  probably  by  exchanges, 
since  in  1545,  we  find  the  King  granting  the  manor  of 
Sheldon  to  John,  Earl  of  Bath,  while  his  successor  in  1549 
granted  the  rectory  of  the  Church  there  to  Keilway." 

In  the  year  15'i9  Lord  Russell  was  admitted  into  the 
most  noble  Order  of  the  Garter ;  he  had  been  nominated 
for  this  dignity  some  years  previously  ;  and  in  1540  he 
was  constituted  Lord  Admiral  of  England.  He  was  also 
Lord  Warden  of  the  Stannaries,  and  President  of  the 
Comicil  established  for  the  better  government  of  the 
western  parts  of  the  Kingdom,  for  the  counties  of  Devon, 
Cornwall,  Somerset,  and  Dorset ;  and  in  conjunction  with 
the  Earl  of  Southampton,  he  then  proceeded  to  Picardy 
to  oppose  De  Vendome,  who  was  raising  forces  there. 

On  the  3rd  December,  1543,  he  was  appointed  Lord 
Privy  Seal,  and  in  1545  he  commanded  the  vanguard  of 
the  Army  in  the  attack  upon  Boulogne,  made  by  the 
King  in  person. 

It  is  sho^\Tl  by  the  will  of  King  Hemy  VIII,  which  is 
dated  Westminster,  30th  December,  1536,  that  Lord 
Russell  retained  to  the  last  the  confidence  of  the  capricious 
master  he  had  so  long  and  honourably  served.  He  is 
constituted  one  of  the  Royal  Executors,  is  bequeathed  a 
legacy  of  £500,  and  is  appointed  one  of  the  sixteen 
Counsellors  or  Governors  to  the  young  Prince  Edward 
"  until  he  shall  have  fully  completed  the  eighteenth  year 

of  his  age." 

The  King  died  on  the  night  of  Januaiy  27th,  1547, 
and    at    the    Coronation    of    King   Edward    VI,    Lord 


270  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Russell  was  constituted  Lord  High  Steward  of  England 
for  the  day,  and  in  the  same  year  he  was  granted  the 
house  and  estates  of  the  dissolved  Abbey  of  Woburn. 

On  Whit  Sunday,  1549,  the  Act  for  reforming  the 
Church  Service  was  put  in  force,  and  a  very  large  section 
of  the  community  was  violently  opposed  to  the  change 
of  Ritual  ;  consequently  disturbances  were  speedily 
threatened  all  over  the  country  ;  but  in  Devonshire  these 
riots  soon  acquired  the  appearance  of  an  insurrection. 
Upon  the  receipt  in  London  of  the  news  of  the  serious 
manifestation  at  Sampford  Courtenay,  and  of  the  march 
of  the  rioters  towards  Exeter,  Sir  Peter  and  Sir  Gawen 
Carew  were  at  once  despatched  to  "  quiet  the  people," 
and  they  were  speedily  followed  by  Lord  Russell  with 
siroUar  instructions. 

The  circumstances  of  the  subsequent  events  at  tliis 
period,  which  culminated  with  the  siege  of  Exeter,  are 
too  well-known  to  need  repetition.  Suffice  it  that  after 
the  dis]:iersion  of  the  rebels  at  Clist-heath  Lord  Russell 
was  enabled  to  advance  to  the  relief  of  the  city,  which 
had  been  beleaguered  upwards  of  a  month,  and  the  in- 
habitants of  which  had  been  reduced  to  great  straits  for 
want  of  provisions.  This  was  on  the  6th  of  August, 
1549,  and  in  memory  of  their  deliverance  the  Magistrates 
appointed  that  day  to  be  observed  annually,  and  thus 
originated  the  custom  of  the  annual  visit  of  the  Mayor, 
Chamber,  and  Incorporated  Trades  to  the  Cathedral  to 
hear  a  sermon  from  the  Mayor's  Chaplain. 

On  the  19th  January,  1549-50,  Lord  Russell,  as  a 
fui'ther  reward  for  his  services,  was  created  Earl  of 
Bedford. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  271 

The  Earl  went  to  Fi-ance  in  the  following  year,  as  one 
of  the  Ambassadors  to  "  Guisnes,"  to  treat  for  peace 
between  the  two  kin;3^doms,  which  was  concluded,  and 
upon  the  accession  of  Queen  Mary,  1553,  his  lordship 
obtained  a  new  patent,  dated  November  3rd,  for  his 
office  of  Privy  Seal.  But  the  career  of  this  illustrious 
man  was  fast  drawing  to  a  close,  and  it  is  remark  ible 
that  his  last  public  act  was  to  conduct  and  attend  to  this 
country  Philip  of  Spain,  the  grandson  of  the  Archduke 
Philip,  his  early  patron. 

His  Lordship  died  at  his  house  in  the  Strand,  London, 
on  the  14th  March,  1554,  and  was  buried  at  Chenies,  m 
the  Bedford  Chapel,  on  the  north  side  of  the  Parish 
Church,  wliere  the  remains  of  his  descendants  have  ever 
smce  been  deposited.  His  figure,  in  alabaster,  clad  in 
mail,  and  with  the  collar  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  with 
that  of  his  Countess,  habited  in  a  mantle,  and  both 
wearing  Coronets,  may  be  seen  on  the  tomb  at  the 
eastern  end  of  the  chapel.  The  wiU  of  the  Countess  is 
dated  19th  August,  1558,  and  by  it  she  bequeathed  Iier 
Manor  of  Thornhaugh  to  her  grandson,  Lord  "  Edward  " 
Russell  who  married  Jane  SibiUa,  daughter  of  Sir 
Richard  Morrison,  graduated  at  University  College, 
Oxon,  December  IGth,  15G7,  and  died  without  issue  vita 
patns,  and  was  succeeded  at  Thornhaugh  by  his  youngest 
brother,  Sir  William  Russell,  afterwards  raised  to  the 
Peerage  by  the  title  of  Lord  Russell  of  Thornhaugh. 
Patent  dated  21st  July,  1G0.3,  1st  James  I. 

Francis,  second  Earl  of  Bedford,  the  only  son  of  the 
first  Earl,  was  28  years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  fathei-'s 
death.     The  Heralds'  Coll.    Records   sho^v  that  he  had 


272  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

been,  with  others,  created  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  at  the 
Coronation  of  Edward  VI ;  and  upon  the  King's  death 
we  find  him,  with  Berkeley,  Fitz-WiUiam,  and  Neville, 
proclaiming  Queen  Mary,  and  taking  up  arms  against  the 
supporters  of  Lady  Jane  Grey.  In  1556  he  was  present 
at  S.  Quintin,  and  in  the  1st  Elizabeth  he  was  sworn  a 
member  of  the  Privy  Council. 

During  the  next  few  years  he  was  tmce  Ambassador 
to  the  Court  of  France,  and  by  Patent,  6th  Elizabeth,  he 
was  constituted  Governor  of  the  Town  and  Castle  of 
Berwick-upon-Tweed  ;  and  on  the  14th  May  in  this  year 
he  was  installed,  by  his  proxy,  Sir  George  Howard,  a 
Knight  of  the  Garter,  and  Sir  Gilbei't  Dethick,  Garter, 
King  of  Arms,  was  sent  to  him  with  the  ensigns  of 
that  most  noble  Order. 

In  the  7th  year  of  Ehzabeth  he  treated  with  the 
Scotch  Commissioners  relative  to  a  projected  marriage 
between  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots  and  the  Earl  of  Leicester  ; 
and  three  years  afterwards  he  was  proxy  for  the  English 
Queen  at  the  baptism  of  Prince  James,  afterwards  King 
James  I,  and  he  carried  with  him  a  "  Font  of  pure  gold  " 
as  a  complimentary  gift  on  this  occasion. 

In  1570  he  obtained  from  the  Crown  the  wardship  of 
George,  Earl  of  Cumberland,  and  the  curious  letter  which 
he  addressed  to  the  Queen  at  this  time  will  have  its 
interest. 

"  It  may  please  j-our  most  excellent  Majestic  to  be  advertised  that 
heretofore  (as  it  is  well  known  to  many)  there  hath  been  communication 
betweene  my  Lord  of  Cumberland  and  mee  for  the  marriage  of  Ms  sonne 
to  one  of  my  daughters  ;  and  being  now  informed  that  he  is  in  some 
danger,  T  do  presume  to  be  a  suter  to  your  Highness,  that  I  may  have 
the  wardship  of  his  sonne,  if  it  shall  see  stand  with  youre  INIajestie's 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  273 

pleasure,  and  therein  I  shall  think  my  selfe  most  bounden  (as  I  have 
every  way  good  cause)  to  your  Highness.  And  thus  I  beseech  God  to 
send  unto  your  Majestic  a  most  prosperous  heithfuU  Raignc  to  God's 
Glory,  and  your  Heart's  desire,  &c. 

From  Russel-Place,  this  3rd  January,  1570." 
He  is  said  to  have  been  Godflither  to  Sir  Francis  Drake 
— "That  ever-famous  circumnavigatoi-."  He  founded  a 
school  at  Woburn,  and  by  his  will,  dated  7th  April,  1583, 
he  gave  an  annuity  of  £20  to  found  two  Divinity  Scholar- 
ships at  the  University  of  Oxford.  It  is  stated  that  his 
hospitality  was  so  great  that  the  Queen  used  to  say  of 
him,  that  "  he  made  all  men  beggars."  The  inscription 
on  his  monument  at  Chenies  shows  that  "  he  departed 
this  life  with  much  comfort,  in  assurance  of  a  better," 
the  28th  day  of  July,  1585,  aged  57. 

By  his  wife,  Margaret,  daughter  of  Sir  John  St.  John, 
and  sister  of  Oliver,  1st  Lord  St.  John  of  Bletso,  he  had 
issue  four  sons  and  three  daughters.  Of  his  eldest  son, 
Edward,  I  have  already  spoken,  and  also  of  his  youngest, 
Sir  William,  created  Lord  Russell  of  Thornbaugh.  It 
remains,  therefore,  for  me  to  state  that  John,  Lord 
Russell,  after  the  death  of  his  eldest  brother,  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  Anthony  Cook,  and  widow  of 
Sir  Thomas  Hobby,  of  Bisham,  Berks,  and  had  issue  two 
daughters.  He  was  summoned  to  Parliament,  by  writ, 
in  the  lifetime  of  his  father,  but  died  before  him,  when 
Sir  Francis,  his  brother,  assumed  the  Earl's  second  title, 
and  is  stated  by  Sir  Bernard  Burke  to  have  been  also 
called  to  the  Upper  House.  He  married  Julian, 
daughter  and  coheir  of  Sir  John  Foster,  Knight,  and  was 
killed  on  the  Borders  of  Scotland,  27th  July,  1585— the 

day  before  his  father's  death. 
■2u 


274  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

His  only  son,  Edward,  succeeded  his  grandfather  as 
third  Earl,  and  maiTied  Lucy,  daughter  of  John,  Lord 
Hai'ringtou,  and  died  without  issue,  3rd  of  May,  1627- 
Of  the  daughters  of  the  second  Earl,  Lady  Anne  married 
Ambrose  Dudley,  Earl  of  Wai-wick. 

liady  Elizabeth,  the  second  daughter,  maiTied,  at  St. 
Stephen's  Church,  Exeter,  three  years  before  her  father's 
death,  7th  August,  1582,  William  Bourchier,  Earl  of 
Bath. 

This  lady  had  been  born  in  Bedford  House,  and  there- 
fore the  citizens  of  Exeter  gave  her  a  wedding  present, 
consisting  of  a  bason  and  ewer  of  silver,  richly  gilt. 

There  were  also  high  festivities  on  Southernhay  in 
honour  of  the  said  mamage'.  The  Guild  of  Merchant 
Adventurers^  provided  "105  calyvers,  34  corslettes,  and 
5  almon  Ryvetts  " — the  latter  for  the  captains — "  with 
the  requisite  number  of  men  m  annour  for  a  muster  or 
shewe "  in  honour  of  the  occasion.  She  afterwards 
resided  ot  Tawstock  Court,  where  her  eldest  son,  Lord 
Fitzwarren,  died  suddenly,  aged  sixteen  months,  11th 
March,  1587;  and  on  the  loth  August  the  same  yeai- 
another  son,  called  Robert  Godfar,  was  e.iristened,  the 
sponsors  being  "  Su-  Richard  Greynfylde,  for  the  Lord 
Chancellor  ;  Sir  William  Marsh,  for  the  Earl  of  Essex  ; 
Lady  Denys,  for  the  old  Countess  of  Bedford."^ 

Collins  says  thct  she  left  at  her  death,  24th  March, 
1604,  one  son,  Edward,  Lord  Fitzwanen,  and  one 
daughter,   the  Lady  Frances,  who  died  unmarried,  and 

'  Izacke,  Hist,  of  Exeter,  p.  137 ;  Juiikins'  Hist,  of  Exeter,  \\  125. 

2  Elizabethaji  Guild  of  City  of  Exeter,  y\\  44  and  119  (Cotton). 

3  Diary  of  Pli.  Wyot,  Tuwii  Clerk,  Baruni.      Edited  by  J.  K.  Chanter 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  275 

was  burled  at  Chenles.  Philip  Wyot's  diary  shows  that 
EUzabeth,  Countess  of  Bath,  died  at  Tawstock  Court  on 
Pahn  Sunday,  24th  March,  1605.  "  That  night  following 
she  was  buried,  but  the  solemnization  of  her  funeral  was 
deferred  until  some  time  after."  The  "  solemnization  " 
referred  to  appears  to  have  taken  place  on  the  6th  of  the 
following  May,  when  the  ceremony  was  superintended 
by  three  officers  of  the  College  of  Arms,  who  came  down 
from  London  for  that  purpose.  The  Lady  Frances 
Bouchier  was  chief  mourner,  and  says  Wyot,  "much 
meate  and  drinke  eate  and  drank  at  Tawstock  Court." 

There  are  in  existence  two  Interestmg  printed  accounts 
of  Lady  Margaret  Kussell,  the  youngest  daughter.  The 
first  appeared  In,  I  think,  the  Exeter  News,  early  m  this 
century.  The  second,  which  is  a  reprint  of  the  firat,  in 
another  paper,  at  a  much  later  date.  Both  are,  unfortu- 
nately, unsigned  and  undated,  but  they  both  include  a 
biography  of  the  Princess  Henrietta,  daughter  of  King 
Charles  I,  and  are  both  headed  "  Illustrious  Ladies  of 

Exeter." 

These  articles  state  that,  "  Tliis  lady  may  take  prece- 
dence in  the  order  of  time  as  the  brightest  ornament  of 
her  sex  that  has  graced  this  ancient  city.  She  was  the 
third  and  youngest  daughter  of  Francis  Russell,  second 
Earl  of  Bedford,  by  his  first  wife,  Margaret,  daughter  to 
Sir  John  St.  John,  of  Bletnesho."'  At  Bedford  House 
(formerly  the  Dominican  convent  here),  and  which  had 
been  gi-anted  by  King  Henry  YIII.   to  her  grandfather, 

1  Her   father  married,   secondly,   Biidget,   daughter   of    John,  Lord 
Hussey,  and  widow  of  Sir  Richard  Morison,  s.p.,  and  this  hidy  is  the 
"  old  Countess  of  Bedford,  referred  to  in  Wyote's  diary." 
2  M' 


276  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

4th  July,  1539,  Lady  Margaret  Russell  was  born  7th 
July,  1560,  and  two  days  later  was  baptised  in  St. 
Stephen's  church.  At  the  tender  age  of  two  years  she 
had  the  misfortune  to  lose  her  mother,  who  died  of  the 
small-pox  at  Wobourn.  After  an  education  suitable  to 
her  birth,  and  when  she  had  attained  her  17th  year,  she 
married  her  cousiti  George  de  Clifford,  third  Earl  of 
Cumberland,  at  St.  Maiy  Overy's  Church,  South wark. 
This  union  was  anything  but  a  source  of  happiness ;  for 
she  had  much  to  endure  from  a  husband  naturally  of  an 
austere  and  unamiable  charactei-,  who  greatly  neglected 
her,  was  highly  extravagant,  and  most  dissolute  in  his 
morals. 

She  bore  him  two  sons,  Francis  and  Robert,  who  both 
died  before  they  had  completed  their  sixth  year,  and  one 
daughter  Ann,  who  was  born  30th  January,  1590.  Her 
husband  died  at  the  Duchy  House,  Savoy,  London,  30th 
October,  1605,  regretting  his  unbecommg  treatment 
towards  his  virtuous  and  accomplished  Countess. 

This  illustrious  widow  had  an  unexpected  enemy  in 
her  husband's  only  brother,  Francis,  who  I;  id  succeeded 
to  the  Earldom  of  Cumberland.  He  basely  attempted  to 
deprive  her  only  daughter  of  the  hereditary  rights, 
tithes,  and  estates  of  the  CHfFord  family,  and  his 
sovereign  King,  James  I,  meanly  supported  such  illegal 
and  unworthy  pretensions. 

But  the  mother's  spirit  triumphed  over  all  opposition  ; 
she  ably  vindicated,  and  effectually  secured  to  her 
daughter,  the  ancient  Baronies  of  Vipont,  Clifford,  and 
Vescy.  She  had  the  comfort  shortly  after,  on  the  29th 
February,    1609,    of  seeing   her   attentive   and  grateful 


PARISH  OF  MILTOX  ABBOT.  277 

daughter  married  to  Richard  Sackvllle,  Earl  of  Dorset. 
Seized  with  her  last  illness  at  Brougham  Castle,  she 
expired  24th  May,  1616,  M  56,  in  the  very  chamber 
where  her  husband  had  been  born.  Her  mortal  remains 
were  deposited  in  the  Church  of  Appleby." 

In  the  second  of  these  articles  the  following  is  inter- 
polated : — "  On  the  roadside  between  Penrith  and 
Appleby  stands  a  small  pillar  with  this  inscription, 
'This  pillar  was  erected  in  the  year  1656  by  Ann, 
Countess  Dowager  of  Pembroke,  for  a  memorial  of  her 
last  parting  in  this  place  with  her  good  and  pious 
mother,  Margaret,  Countess  Dowager  of  Cumberland,  on 
the  2nd  April,  1616,  in  memory  whereof  she  hath  left  an 
annuity  of  £4  to  be  distributed  to  the  poor  of  the  pai'ish 
of  Brougham  every  2nd  day  of  April  for  ever,  upon  the 
stone-table  placed  hard  by.  Laus  Deo.' "  Both  accounts 
then  proceed  with  a  narrative  of  the  after  life  of  the 
Countess  of  Dorset,  who  married  secondly,  Philip,  4th 
Earl  of  Pembroke  and  ]\Iontgomeiy.*  She  survived 
until  the  22nd  March,  1675,  and  desired  by  her  will  to 
be  interred  near  her  mother.  In  1654  she  gave  in 
memory  of  her  mother  a  field  of  tour  acres  and  a-half, 
situated  near  "  St.  Ann's  Chapel,  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Sidwell's,"  Exeter,  the  annual  jirofits  to  be  disposed  in 
apprenticing  to  some  honest  trade  or  employment  a  child 
horn  and  residing  in  the  parish  of  St.  Stephen.     She  was 

'  The  two  daughters  of  Lady  Dorset  were  Isabella  and  Margaret — the 
1st  marrii'd  5tli  July,  1627,  James  Coniptou,  Earl  of  Northampton,  and 
the  latter,  21st  April,  1629,  John  Tufton,  afterwards  Earl  of 
Thauet.  Their  mother's  second  marriage  took  place  June  3rd,  1630, 
but  she  had  no  further  issue. 


278  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

buried  at  Appleby,  1 4th  April,   1675,  when  Dr.  Raiabow 
preached  the  sermon. 

Sir  William  Russell,  the  youngest  son  of  Francis, 
second  Earl  of  Bedford,  was  knighted  for  his  military 
service ;  he  was  employed  by  Queen  Ehzabeth  in  the 
wars  in  the  low  countries,  and  was  afterwards  Lord- 
Deputy  in  Ireland  in  1594. 

He  had  previously,  in  1580,  commanded  150  horge  in 
that  countiy,  which  had  been  raised  for  the  "  reduction 
of  the  Queen's  rebellious  subjects"  by  the  clergy  of 
England.  On  the  accession  of  King  James  1st  he  was, 
as  abeady  stated,  raised  to  the  peerage  by  the  title  of 
Baron  Russell,  of  Thornhaugh,  County  Northampton. 
He  had  been  educated  at  Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  and 
in  July,  1594,  the  University  conferred  upon  him  the 
honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  In  1581,  when  the 
French  King's  brother  was  in  England  with  the  Prince 
D'Ausine,  and  a  Royal  combat  and  fight  on  foot  was 
performed  before  Queen  Elizabeth,  wherein  the  French 
Piince,  with  the  Prince  D'Ausine  and  others,  were 
challengers,  the  Lord  Thomas  Howard  and  Sir  WilUam 
Russell  were  the  two  fii'st  that  were  called  out  as 
defender?.'  Lord  Russell  man-ied  Ehzabeth,  daughter 
and  heir  of  Henry,  son  and  heir  of  Sir  Richard  Long,  of 
Shenghay,  county  Cambridge,  and  died  9th  A.ugu8t, 
1613.  His  only  son,  Francis,  second  Lord  Russell,  of 
Thornhaugh,  upon  the  death  of  his  cousin  Edward,  Earl 
of  Bedford,  succeeded  to  the  title  and  estates  of  the 
elder  branch  of  his  family  as  fourth  Earl,  3rd  May,  1627. 

As  might  be  expected  from  his  eminent  position,  he 

1  Hon.  Mil.  and  Civ.  Sir  Wm.  Segar,  Garter. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  279 

became  intimately   associated   with   the   distractions  of 
this  kingdom  immediately  prior  to  the  Great  Rebellion. 

In  1630  his  Lordship,  with  the  Earl  of  Clare,  Sir 
Robert  Cotton,  Seldon,  and  St.  John,  was  committc;d  to 
prison  for  circulating  a  book  written  by  Sir  Robert 
Dudley,  but  upon  the  discovery  of  the  real  author  by  Sir 
David  Fowlis  he  was  released. 

Lord  Clarendon  tells  us  that  in  the  House  of  Peers  he 
was  the  "  great  contrivor  and  principal  agent  of  those 
who  were  for  according  the  liberty  of  the  subject,  but  a 
wise  man  and  of  too  great  and  plentiful  a  fortune  to  wish 
a  subversion  of  the  Government." 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Privy  Council,  and  the  King 
offered  to  make  him  Lord  Treasurer,  but  the  Earl 
declined  this  honour.  He  appears  to  have  been  much 
opi)osed  to  the  attainder  of  Strafltord,  although  Arch- 
bishop Land  makes  a  virulent  and  unfounded  attack 
upon  him  in  its  connection,  and  says  : — "  But  God  would 
not  let  hun  live  to  take  joy  therein,  but  cut  him  off  in 
the  moi-ning,  whereas  the  bill  for  the  Earl  of  Strafford's 
death  was  not  signed  till  night." 

His  untimely  death  was,  without  doubt,  a  very  serious 
loss  to  the  King,  since  his  good  sense  and  moderation, 
coupled  with  his  higli  position  and  interest,  largely 
helped  to  "  calm  and  compose  the  people."  He  died  of 
small-pox  on  Sunday,  the  9th  of  May,  1641,  and  was 
bui-ied  at  Clieyneys. 

By  his  marriage  with  Catherine,  only  daughter  and 
heir  of  Giles  Bridges,  Lord  Chandos  (who  died  29th 
Januaiy,  165|),  he  had  four  sons  and  four  daughters. 
Catherine,    the   eldest,  married   Robert,   Lord  Brooke ; 


y 


280  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Anne,  George,  Eai-1  of  Bristol ;  Margaret,  James,  Earl  of 
Carlisle  ;  and  Diana,  Francis,  Lord  NeA^'port,  ancestor  of 
the  Earls  of  Bradford.  Of  the  sons,  Francis  died  a 
month  before  his  father,  in  France,  and  unman-ied. 
John  held  a  Colonel's  commission  on  the  King's  side 
during  the  civil  war,  and  upon  the  restoration  was  given 
the  command  of  the  1st  regiment  of  Foot  Guards ;  he 
also  died  unmarried.  Edward,  the  youngest  son,  mariied 
Penelope,  daughter  of  Sir  Moses  Hill,  of  Hillsborough,  in 
Ireland,  and  widow  of  Sir  William  Brook,  K.B. ;  he  had 
five  sons  and  two  daughters.  Letitia,  the  eldest,  mamed 
first  Thomas  Cheek,  of  Pergo,  Essex.  (Their  daughter 
and  heir  Anne,  Sir  Thomas  Tipping,  Bart.,  of  Whitfield, 
Oxon.)  She,  married  secondly  her  cousin.  Lord 
Eobert  Russell,  fourth  son  of  the  first  Duke  of  Bedford, 
s.p.  Catherine  mamed  Captain  William  Harbord,  a 
younger  son  of  Sir  Charles  Harbord.  (The  ancestor  of 
the  present  Lord  Suffield,  Sir  WUliam  IMorden,  K.B., 
created  a  Bart.  1745,  took  the  name  of  his  maternal 
grandfather  Harbord  in  1742.) 

WUham,  his  eldest  son,  who  was  standard-bearer  to 
King  Charles  II,  died  unmarried.  Edward  was  a  naval 
ofiicer,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Household  of  Kmg 
James  II,  when  Duke  of  York ;  but  upon  the  execution 
of  his  cousin.  Lord  Russell,  in  1683,  he  retired  from 
Court,  and  was  afterwards  one  of  the  most  ardent  sup- 
porters of  the  Revolution,  and  gi-eatly  distinguished 
himself  as  a  naval  commander,  more  particulai'ly  by  his 
victory  over  the  French  Fleet  at  La  Hogue  in  1692.  He 
■was  Vice- Admiral  of  Enofland  under  Kinof  Wilham,  and 
a  Privy  Councillor  to  George  I.     He  was  raised  to  the 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  281 

Peerage  7th  May,  1697,  as  Baron  Shengay,  Viscount 
Barfleur,  and  Earl  of  Orford.  By  his  marriage  with  his 
first  cousin,  Lady  Margaret  Russell,  he  had  no  issue,  and 
at  his  death,  in  1727,  his  titles  became  extinct.  His 
other  brothers  were  John,  Francis,  and  James. 

William,  the  eldest  son  of  Francis,  fourth  Earl  of 
Bedford,  became  head  of  the  family  upon  the  melancholy 
demise  of  his  father  in  1641.  He  had  been  born  in  1614, 
was  educated  at  Magdalen,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
"  Long  Parliament."  He  declared  aofainst  the  measures 
of  the  Court,  and  commanded  a  reserve  of  horse  at 
Edge-Hill,  which  force  is  stated  to  have  been  the  only 
portion  of  the  troops  that  stood  firm  on  that  memorable 
day.  He  never  appears  to  have  been  a  cordial  supporter 
of  the'ParUamentary  faction,  and  in  1643  he  joined  the 
Royal  Standard  and  fought  with  great  bravery  at  the 
battle  of  Newbury,  together  with  Lords  Holland  and 
Clare.  Although  treated  kindly  by  the  King,  yet  the 
behaviour  of  the  Court  so  irritated  these  three  noblemen 
that  they  wert;  induced  to  retire  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  at 
St.  Albans,  and  soon  afterwards  Lord  Russell  was  arrested 
by  "  Black  Rod"  and  his  property  was  sequestrated,  but 
in  1644  this  sequestration  was  removed. 

In    1645,    however,    the    Devonshire    property   was 

granted  by  the  Kmg  to  the  notorious  Sir  Richard  Gren- 

ville,  but  the  Earl  never  afterwards  sat  in  the  House  of 

Peers  or  conciu-red  ui  any  of  the  Parliamentary  Councils 

during  the  Commonwealth.     He  heartily  joined  in  all  the 

measures  for  the  Restoration,  and  resumed  his  attendance 

in   the   Upper  House  in  1660;    on  April    21st,    1661, 

he  had  the  honour  to  carry  St.  Edwai'd's  Sceptre  at  the 
2  N 


282  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Coronation  of  Charles  II ;  and  on  the  29th  May,  1672, 
he  was  made  Knight  of  the  Garter. 

He  married,  much  against  his  father's  wish,  Anne, 
daughter  and  heir  of  Robert  Carr,  Earl  of  Somerset, 
who  was  a  most  admirable  wife.  The  names  of  their 
children  who  arrived  at  matuxity  are  over  the  tomb  at 
Clienies  as  follows  : — 

Francis  Russell,  eldest  son,  died  1679,  JE  41,  un- 
married, 

William,  of  whom  presently. 

Edward,  married,  1688,  Frances,  widow  of — Lloyd, 
and  died  s.p.,  30th  June,  1714,  JE  72.  Elected  nine 
times  Knight  of  the  Shire  for  the  county  of  Bedford. 

Robert,  fourth  son,  whose  mai-riage  with  his  cousin 
Letitia  I  have  already  mentioned. 

James,  fifth  -son,  educated  at  Magdalen,  M,A.,  4th 
February,  16G6-7.  He  resided  at  Maidwellin  the  county 
of  Northampton,  and  died  22nd  June,  1712.  His  only 
child,  a  daughter,  married  Thomas  Scawen,  Esq.,  M.P. 
for  Surrey,  and  her  mother's  second  husband  was  Sir 
Henry  Houghton,  of  Houghton  Towers,  Lancashire.  She 
died  at  Reading,  September  1st,  1736. 

George,  youngest  son,  M.A.,  Magdalen  Coll.,  Oxford, 
4th  February,  1666-7,  married  Mary,  daughter  and  heir 
of  Mr.  Pendleton,  of  the  City  of  London,  and  died  in 
1692.     His  only  son,  William,  died  unmarried. 

Of  the  daughters.  Lady  Anne,  the  eldest,  died  un- 
married. 

Lady  Diana  married  twice,  first  in  August,  1667,  Sir 
Orevil  Verney,  K.B.  ;  secondly,  William,  Lord  Allington. 

Lady  Margaret,  as  I  have  said  already,  was  the  wife  of 
her  cousin,  the  Earl  of  Orford. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  283 

In  the  year   1683  a  fearful  calamity  came  upon  the 
Earl  by  the  attainder  and  subsequent  execution  of  his 
second  son  and  heir-apparent,WUUam,  Lord  Russell.   This 
eminent  and  distinguished  nobleman  was  first  returned 
to  Parliament  as  member  for   Bedford,   in   1678-9,   and 
gave  offence  to  the  Court  by  the  action  he  took  when  the 
Duke  of  York  was  presented  as  a  "  Recusant."  and  he 
subsequently  carried  up  the  Bill  of  Exclusion  of  that 
Prmce  to  the  Upper  House  at  the  head  of  200  members 
of  the  Lower.     He  was  afterwards  accused  of  participa- 
tion in  the  Rye  House  conspiracy,  and  was  indicted  for 
high  treason,  and  was  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey  13th  June, 
1683,  and  convicted.     It  seems  certain  that  the  law  was 
stretched  to  his  destruction,  and  his  condemnation  was 
deemed  iUegal  by  Judge  Atkins  and  other  authorities. 

His  fears  for  the  Protestant  succession  certainly  nn- 
plicated  him  in  the  plan  of  insurrection,  favoured  l^y  the 
Duke    of  Monmouth,   the  Earl    of  Argyll'    and    others, 

The  Dukedom  of  Aigyll  was  not  created  until  23rd  Juno,  1701,  12tli 
William  and  Mary.     The  Earl,  referred  to  in  the  text,  was  the  son  of 
Archibald,   8th  Earl  of   Argyll,  who  had   been  advanced  to  the  Mar- 
quessate,  by  Letters  Patent,  dated  15th  November,  1641.     Although 
this  nobleman  sided  against  the  King,  yet,  after  the  murder  of  Charles  I, 
he  submitted  to  his  son,  and  actually  placed  the  Crown  on  his  head  at 
the  Coronation,  at  Scone,  January  1st,  1650.     Sub.sequently,  however, 
he  compromised  himself  so  seriously  during  the  Protectorate  that  on  the 
King's  restoration,  in   1660,   His  ^lajesty  declined  to  receive  h.m,  and 
the  Marquess  was  tried  and  executed  at  the  Market  Cross,  Edinburgh, 
27th  May,  16G1.     King  Charles  II  never  restored  the  title  of  Marquess, 
but  he  pe^itted  liis  son  Archibald  to  inherit  his  father's  estates  and  to 
succeed  him  as  9th  Earl  in  1663.     Previously  to  the  execution  of  Lord 
KusseU  he  hud  b<.eu  tried  and  condemned  for  high  treason  for  refusing 
the  Test  Act,  but  he  escaped  from   Edinburgh  Castl.   in  disguise  of  a 
2N= 


284.  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

but  it  is  also  certain  that  Lord  Russell  looked  only  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  Duke  of  York,  and  that  he  never  for  an 
instant  contemplated  or  countenanced  the  idea  of  the 
lesser  conspiratoi's  for  the  assassination  of  the  King. 

Between  his  condemnation  and  execution  he  nobly 
refused  the  offer  of  escape,  by  change  of  clothes, 
generously  made  to  him  by  Lord  Cavendish,  and  with 
equal  generosity  he  declined  the  proposal  of  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth,  then  in  concealment,  to  deliver  himself  up  if 
he  thought  the  step  would  be  serviceable  to  him. 

After  his  parting  with  his  admirable  wife — Lady 
Rachel,  second  daughter,  and  ultimately  heir,  to  Thomas 
Wriothesley,  Earl  of  )Southampton,  and  widow  of  Francis, 
Lord  Vaughan,  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Carbery — he 
declared  that  the  "  bitterness  of  death  was  past,"  and  his 
head  fell  on  the  scaffold  in  Lincoln's  Imi  Fields,  after  two 
blows  from  the  executioner,  on  the  21st  July,  1683. 

He  left  issue  one  son,  Wi-iothesley,  second  Duke  of 
Bedford,  born  1st  November,  1680,  and  two  daughters  — 
Rachel,  mari'ied  William  Cavendish,  Duke  of  Devonshire  ; 
and  Catherine,  married  John  Manners,  Marquess  of 
Granby,  afterwards  Duke  of  Rutland. 

Upon  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  his  Lordship's 
attainder  was  reversed,  and  as  some  sort  of  reparation 
for  what  was  then  felt  to  be  an  unjust  sentence,  the  aged 
Earl  was  created  Marquess  of  Tavistock  and  Duke  of 

page  and  holding  up  the  train  of  his  step-daughter,  Lady  Sophia 
Lindsay.  He  contrived  to  leave  the  kingdom  and  to  preserve  his  life  until 
1685,  when  with  a  few  men,  he  invaded  Scotland  just  before  the  Duke 
of  !Monmouth  landed  in  England,  and,  his  force  of  2,000  men  having 
been  defeated  at  Kilpatrick,  he  himself  was  taken  prisoner,  and  suflered 
like  bis  father,  and  on  the  same  spot,  30th  June  in  that  year. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  285 

Bedford,  and  tlie  patent,  dated  11th  May,  1694,  after 
recapitulating  the  virtues  of  the  deceased,  says,  "  There- 
fore, to  solace  his  excellent  father  for  so  great  a  loss,  to 
celebrate  the  memory  of  so  great  a  son,  and  to  excite  hia 
worthy  grandson,  the  heir  of  such  mighty  hopes,  more 
cheerfully  to  emulate  and  follow  the  example  of  his 
illustrious  father,  we  entail  this  High  Dignity  upon  the 
Earl  and  his  posterity.'"  In  1695  the  Duke  was  enabled 
to  arrange  a  marriage  between  his  said  grandson, 
Wriothesley,  and  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  heii'  of  John 
Rowland,  of  Strethara,  Esq.,  and  upon  this  occasion 
Wriothesley  Russell  was  raised  to  the  peerage  by  the 
title  of  Baron  Howland,  of  Stretham— Pat.  dat.  June 
13th,  1695. 

The  Duke  died  on  the  7th  September,  1700,  aged  87, 
and  was  buried  with  his  ancestors  at  Chenies.  His 
monument  there  exhil^its  the  figures  of  himself  and  his 
wife.  His  Grace  is  represented  sitting,  habited  as  a 
Duke,  and  with  the  collar  of  the  Garter,  his  head  leaning 
on  his  hand  ;  whilst  the  Countess  (she  had  died  10th 
May,  1684)  is  wrapped  in  a  shroud.  The  speech,  written 
by  Lord  Russell,  and  delivered  by  him  to  the  Sheriffs  on 
the  morning  of  his  execution,  is  preserved  at  Woburn  in 
gold  letters. 

His  son  Wriothesley,  Lord  Howland,  succeeded  his 
grandfather  as  second  Duke.  After  his  marriage  with 
Miss  Howland,  of  Stretham,  whose  mother  was  half- 
sister  to  Sir  Richard  Child,  afterwards  Viscount  Castle- 
maine  and  Eai-1  of  Tilney,  his  Lordship  had  travelled  in 
France  and  Italy  until  his  accession  to  the  title. 

»  Pat  6tli  Wni.  and  Mary. 


286  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

As  soon  as  he  became  of  age  he  was  made  Lord- 
Lieutenant  of  the  counties  of  Bedford,  Cambridge,  and 
Middlesex,  and  one  of  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Bedchamber. 
On  the  accession  of  Queen  Anne,  he  was  Lord  High 
Constable  of  England  and  one  of  the  Privy  Council,  and 
was  installed  a  Knight  of  the  Garter  March  13th,  1702-3. 

Like  his  great-grandfather,  he  fell  a  victim  at  an  early 
age  to  that  fatal  disease  small-pox,  in  his  31st  year,  May 
26th,  1711,  and  left  issue  by  the  Duchess  (who  died  at 
Stretham,  20th  July,  1724)  two  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Lady  Rachel  married  to  Scroop  Egerton,  Duke  of  Bridg- 
water, 4th  August,  1722.  She  was  his  second  wife,  and 
by  him  had  issue  five  sons  and  three  daughters.  Lady 
Elizabeth,  her  sister,  was  also  the  second  wife  of  William 
Capel,  Earl  of  Essex.  She  was  married  3rd  of  February, 
1726,  and  her  son,  William- Anne-Holles,  Viscount 
Maiden,  succeeded  as  fourth  Earl  of  Essex  8th  January, 
1743.  Of  the  sons,  Wriothesley,  Marquess  of  Tavistock, 
succeeded  to  the  title  as  third  Duke  of  Bedford.  His 
Grace  was  born  in  1708,  and  married,  22nd  April,  1725, 
Lady  Anne  Egerton,  the  only  daughter  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  the  Duke  of  Bridgwater,  by  his  first  marriage  with 
Lady  Elizabeth  Churchill,  third  daughter  and  coheir  to 
John,  Duke  of  Marlborough.  In  consequence  of  the 
state  of  his  health,  the  Duke  was  advised  to  undertake  a 
journey  to  Lisbon,  but  died  during  the  voyage,  23rd 
October,  1731.  His  body  was  brought  home  and  interred 
in  the  mortuary  chapel  at  Chenies.  His  widow  after- 
wards married  William,  third  Earl  of  Jersey. 

His  Grace   having   died   without   issue,    his   honours 
devolved  on  his  brother,  the  Lord  John  Russell,  who  was 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  2S7 

bom  30th  September,  1710.  He  married  October  11th, 
1731,  the  Lady  Diana  Spencer,  youngesc  daughter  to 
Charles,  Earl  of  Sunderland,  and  a  grand-daughter  of 
John,  Duke  of  Marlborough,  by  whom  he  had  issue 
a  son,  who  died  on  the  day  of  his  birth,  6th  November, 
1732. 

The  Duchess  died  27th  September,  1735,  and  his  Grace 
married  secondly,  in  April,  1737,  Lady  Gertrude,  eldest 
daughter  of  John,  first  Earl  Gower,  and  had  issue  one 
son,  Francis,  Marquess  of  Tavistock,  born  26th  September, 
1739,  and  a  daughter.  Lady  Caroline,  who  married  George, 
third  Duke  of  Marlborough.  In  1756  his  Grace  was 
Lord-Lieutenant  of  Ireland;  and  in  1762,  as  Minister 
Plenipotentiary  to  the  Court  of  France,  he  signed,  at 
Fontainebleau,  the  preliminaries  of  peace  with  France 
and  Spain. 

The  red  deer,  called  in  Devonshire  the  forester  or 
forest  deer,  were  once  abundant  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tavy  and  Tamar.  Mrs.  Bray  remarks,  when  quoting 
from  a  letter  on  this  subject  whicli  she  had  received  from 
the  Eev.  Thomas  Johnes — formerly  Rector  of  Bradstone — 
"  a  solitary  straggler  now  and  then  visits  us  from  the 
North  of  Devon  ;  one  was  seen  in  the  woods  of  Hornacott 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tamar  in  the  spring  and  summer  of 
1831."  To  this  note  I  may  add  from  personal  know- 
ledge that  a  wandering  and  solitary  stag  wivs  seen  for 
several  successive  seasons  in  the  Buckland  woods,  within 
two  miles  of  Ashburton.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  I  think 
from  about  1870  to  1875,  the  extu'pation  of  the  red  deer 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Milton  Abbot  appears  to  have 
been  undertaken  by  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  who,  upon  the 


288  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

petition  of  the  farmers  in  the  district,  that  they  caused  a 
great  deal  of  injury  to  their  crops,  sent  down  his  hounds 
from  Wobum  to  hunt  them.  Mrs.  Bray,  in  a  foot-note, 
declares  that  Mr.  Bray,  the  father  of  the  late  Vicar  of 
Tavistock,  well  remembered  this  circumstance,  and  she 
adds,  "  so  glutted  was  the  town  with  venison  at  the  time 
that  only  the  haunches  were  saved,  and  the  rest  given  to 
the  dogs." 

Upon  the  death  of  the  4th  Duke,  15th  January,  1771, 
the  succession  devolved  upon  his  grandson  Francis,  whose 
father,  the  Marquess  of  Tavistock,  had  been  accidentally 
killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  22nd  March,  17(>7.  The 
Marchioness,  who  was  a  daughter  of  Lord  Albemarle,  l.ad 
married  him  in  1764,  and  had  boi-ne  him  two  children, 
Francis  and  John.  Her  youngest  son,  William,  was  not 
born  until  five  months  after  his  father's  death. 
He  attained  maturity,  and  married,  in  1789,  Lady 
(^harlotte  Villiers.  They  had  issue  three  sons  and  two 
danghters,  but  he  unhappily  came  to  an  untimely  ^nd  at 
the  hands  of  a  domestic  servant  (who  was  executed  for 
his  crime),  6th  May,  1840. 

Francis,  5th  Duke,  was  but  five-and-a-half  years  old  at 
the  period  of  his  grandfather's  death. 

He  bad  been  bom  22nd  July,  1765,  and  was  educated 
ut  Westminster  and  Oxford.  On  his  entry  into  public 
life  he  became  intimately  connected  with  C  J.  Fox  and 
the  Whig  Party,  and  in  1791  opposed,  in  the  House  of 
Loi'ds,  the  hostilities  against  Finance  and  the  designs 
of  the  Ministry  to  form  a  corps  of  emigrants  in  the  pay 
of  this  country.  From  1796  he  was  seldom  in  his  place 
until  after  the  change  of  Ministry  in  1801.     He  spent  a 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  289 

great  deal  of  his  large  fortune  in  the  encouragement  of 
agricultural  pursuits  and  rural  economy,  and   he  estab- 
lished a  public  festival  and  the  distribution  of  prizes  for 
sheep-shearing  on  his  estates.     He  was  always  a  steady 
advocate  for  peace  with  France,  but  he  did  not  live  to 
witness  it.     He  died  unmarried  on  the  2nd  March,  1802, 
when  he  was  svicceeded  by  his  brother  John  as  6th  Duke. 
This  nobleman   had  been   born  6th  July,   1766.     He 
married,    21st   March,    1786,   Georgiana   Elizabeth,    2nd 
daughter  of  George,  4th  Viscount  Torrington,  and  by 
her  had  issue,  1st,  Frances,  7th  Duke,  April  2nd,  Major- 
General  Lord  George  Russell,  born  Sth  May,  1790,  3rd 
Lord  John  Russell,  created  Earl  Russell  and  Viscount 
Amberley,  30th  July,  1861,  died  28th  May,  1878,  whose 
history  is  well-known  to  all  of  us.    The  second  son.  General 
Lord   George   Russell,  married,   first,  21st  June,   1817, 
Elizabeth  Anne,  neice  of  1st  Marquess  of  Hastings,  and 
died  July,  1840,  leaving  issue,  Francis  Charles  Hastings, 
who  is  the  present  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  the  Lords  Arthur 
and  Odo  Russell.     The  latter  teas  created  Lord  Ampthill, 
7th  March,  1881,  and  died  1884.     By  his  2nd  wife,  Lady 
Georgiana,  5th  daughter  of  Alexander  4th  Duke  of  Gordon, 
his  Grace  had  seven  sons  and  three  daughters. 

On  a  beautiful  spot  in  the  Abbot's  Park  at  Innisleigh, 
now  called  Endsleigh,  in  the  parish  ot  Milton  Abbot,  this 
Duke  built  in  1810,  from  the  designs  of  Sir  Jeffery 
Wyattville,  the  house  now  known  as  Endsleigh  Cottage, 
on  a  site  which  was  selected  by  the  Duchess.  It  is  built 
in  a  very  irregular  manner,  and  has  many  ornamental 
gables,  in  one  of  which,  as  I  have  said,  there  is  a  statue 
of  the  last  Abbot  of  Tavistock,  The  lawn  and  grounds 
2  o 


200  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

immediately  .surrounding  the  house  comprise  about  twenty 
acres,  but  there  are  between  three  and  four  thousand 
acres  of  plantations,  and  drives,  in  the  midst  of  the  most 
magniliceut  scenery.  His  Grace  once  told  Mrs.  Bray 
that  he  had  made  "  forty  miles  of  road  at  Endsleigh." 
By  the  liberality  of  the  present  Duke,  permission  to  view 
these  beautiful  paths,  which  wind  along  the  banks  of  the 
Tamar,  may  be  obtained  on  application  at  the  Duchy 
Office  at  Tavistock. 

His  Grace  died  20th  Oct.,  1839,  and  was  succeeded  by 
his  eldest  son  Francis  as  7th  Duke,  who  had  been 
summoned  to  the  Upper  House  by  wi-it  in  the  Barony  of 
Howland,  15th  January,  1833.  He  was  a  Knight  of  the 
Garter,  was  born  13th  May,  1788,  and  married  8th  August, 
1S08,  Lady  Anna,  daughter  of  Charles,  3rd  Earl  of 
Harrington.  He  died  14th  May,  1361,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  only  son  William,  Marquess  of  Tavistock,  as 
8th  Duke.  His  Grace  who  was  born  30th  June,  1809, 
died  unmarried  27th  May,  1872,  when  the  title  descended 
to  his  first  cousin,  Francis  Charles  Hastings  Kussell,  the 
present  Duke  of  Bedford,  who  was  formerly  M.P.  for 
Bedfordshire.  His  Grace  frequently  resides  upon  his 
propex'ty  at  Milton  Abbot. 

It  may  be  thought,  possibly  that  the  long  account  I 
have  given  of  this  great  and  distinguished  house  has 
caused  nie  to  digress  somewhat  needlessly  from  my 
primary  subject,  "  The  History  of  Milton  Abbot."  Still 
I  feel  sure  that  the  collected  facts  which  have  formed  the 
matter  of  the  preceding  pages  will  be  read  with  great 
interest  by  many,  and  1  do  not  know  how  I  could  have 
attempted    an    account    of  this    pai'ish  without    special 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  291 

mention  of  those  who  have  been  the  lords  of  the  greater 
portion  of  its  soil  for  nearly  350  years,  and  who   have 
been  intimately  associated  with  the  history  of  our  county 
for  a  similar  p-riod.     I  think  that  we  may  congratulate 
ourselves   that,    since    the    alienation    of    Ecclesiastical 
property     became    inevitable,     the    lands     of    Tavistock 
fell    into    the   hands   of    those    who    have   so    worthily 
represented  the  original  owners.     The  first  Lord  Russell 
obtained  his  honours  and  grants  as  the  reward  of  a  life 
literally  spent  in  harness,  in  the  service  of  his  Country, 
under  four  Sovereigns,  to  each  and  to  all  of  whom  he 
was  a   most  trustworthy   and    trusted   Coiuisellor.     His 
descendants,  to  use  the  word  in  its  true  sense,  have  been 
equally  nohle  as  soldiers,  statesmen,  &nd  landlords,  and, 
although  some  may  perhaps  consider  that  tliey  have  been 
well  rewarded  for  their  exertions  and  loyalty  yet  it  must 
be   remembered   that   the   value  of  their  lands  has  very 
largely    Increased   in    process     of  time,    and    that    their 
original  value  was  scarcely  equal  to  the  sums  frequently 
gi-anted  at  the  present  day  for  somewhat  similar  service. 
As  a  correspondei^t  to  a  London  paper  remarked  a  year 
or  two  since  :— "  Among  all  the  great  houses,  not  one  has 
rendered  to  the  people  such  noble  service  as  the  Eussells, 
and  I  believe  that  they  bear  quite  as  honourable  a  name 
as  landlords  as  they  do  as  politicians,  and  my  own  observa- 
tions of  the  farms  and  cottages  on  then-  estates  confirms 
that  impression." 

Tlie    family    residence    in    Exeter,    the    site    of    the 

Dominican  Convent,  was   taken  down    in    1773,  and    the 

first  stone  of  Bedford  Circus  was  laid  on  May  27th  in  that 

year.     A  carved  shield,  with  angels  for  supporters,  which 

2  0= 


292  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

was  taken  from  the  old  dwelling,  still  exists  over  one  of 
the  modern  houses  there.  There  are,  moreover,  interest- 
ing shields  of  arms  belonging  to  the  family  and  their 
alliances  (which  I  have  already  described  elsewhere) 
at  Dean  Court,  in  the  Parish  of  Dean  Prior,  and  also  in 
Totnes  Guildhall.' 


Ashburton  and  its  Neighbourhood,"  pp.  136-7. 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  203 


CHAPTER  XII.     PART  III. 


The  Church  of  Milton  Abbot. 

The  Parish  Church,  dedicated  to  SS.  Constantine  and 
Giles,  is  a  handsome  Perpendicular  structure  with 
some  slight  First  pointed  characteristics  ;  it  appears  to 
have  been  almost,  if  not  entirely,  rebuilt  in  the  fifteenth 
century. 

It  consists  of  a  deep  chancel,  nave  opening  into  a  south 
aisle  through  an  arcade  of  four  bays,  supported  by  third 
pointed  columns, — the  arches,  which  are  deeply  moulded, 
are  of  a  very  debased  character,  a  south  porch,  north 
door,  and  a  handsome  western  tower,  buttressed  at  the 
angles,  embattled,  and  crowned  by  four  pinnacles,  with 
finials,  but  without  crockets. 

The  staii-8  leading  to  the  belfry  are  on  the  north  side^ 
and  there  are  six  bells.  The  edifice  was  restored  in  1860  ; 
and  there  are  several  modern  memorial  windows,  one  in 
the  south  aisle  to  the  memory  of  Maria,  wife  of  John  Jago^ 
1820.     Dr.  Jago  was  a  former  vicar. 

The  priest's  door  on  the  south  side  opens  into  the  large 
seat  supplied  with  a  fire  place,  whieh  is  apportioned  to  the 
Duke  of  Bedford.  This  door  has  a  modern  j)orch,  which 
has,  unfortunately,  blocked  one  of  the  windows  of  the 
aisle. 


294  DEV0^'SH1RE  PARISHES. 

The  octagonal  Font  is  ornamented  with  quatrefoils, 
shields,  and  the  cross  quarterly.  I  noticed  some  good 
pei'pend\cular  bosses  of  foliage  in  the  roof,  and  there  is  a 
fine  circular  tower-arch. 

The  steps,  which  anciently  led  to  the  rood-loft,  remain 
on  the  north  side,  and  are  contained  in  a  turret.  The 
entrance  to  the  south  porch  is  beneath  a  pointed  arch,  and 
the  interior  door  also  has  one  of  similar  character,  with  a 
hood  weather-moulding.  The  entrances  beneath  the  tower 
and  on  the  north  side  of  the  church  have  also  arches  of 
the  same  form.  The  ancient  screen  has  been  entirely 
removed.  There  are  memorials  for  Robert  A.  A.  Hammick, 
ob.  1861,  agedlO  years,  and  for  Sir  Stephen  Hammick,  finst 
Baronet,  who  died  the  15th  June,  1867,  aged  90.  There 
are,  or  were,  also  inscriptiovis  for  various  members  of  the 
families  of  Edgcumbe  and  Doidge.  Thomas  EdgcumlDe, 
1589  ;  Richard,  1642  ;  Thomas,  1670  ;  Richard,  son  of 
Thomas,  1702  ;  Thomas,  son  of  Richard,  1725  ;  Richard, 
son  of  Thomas,  1748  ;  Thomas,  his  brother,  1763  ; 
Thomas,  son  of  Thomas,  1777  ;  Pierce  (or  Piers)  Edg- 
cumbe, M  94,'  1781  (the  last  erected  by  his  sons,  Richard 
Edgcumbe,  of  Brompton,  and  GUes  Edgcumbe,  of  Canter- 
bury). Richard  Doidge,  of  Leigh  ob.  1584  ;  Richard 
Doidge,  1661  ;  Richard  Doidge,  1717. 

The  living  is  a  Vicarage,  valued  in  the  King's  Books  at 
£l9  l3s.  6^d.  I  first  find  it  mentioned  in  the  Bull  of 
Exemption,  granted  to  the  Monastery  of  Tavistock  by 
Pope  Celestine  3rd,  29th  May,  1193.  "  Middleton,  et 
ecclesiam  S.  Constantmi  confessoris  in  eadem  villam 
constructaui."  About  ninety  years  later  the  double  dedi- 
cation   is    proved   by   the   letters   of    confirmation,   per 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  295 

inspeximuf:,  of  Peter  (Quivil)  Bishop  of  Exeter,  dated 
7th  Ides  Januii  (Jan.  7th.),  1283.  Ecclesiam  Sanctorum 
Constantini  et  Egidii  de  Middleton." 

I  would  note  that  at  p.  450  of  the  Monasticon  of  the 
Diocese  the  church  of  Milton  is  stated  to  have  been 
dedicated  to  SS.  Constantine  and  Eligius,  the  last  bein^ 
a  misprint  for  St.  Egidius,  or  Giles. 

In  the  "  Taxatio  "  of  Pope  Nicholas,  1291,  the  living  is 
taxed  at  £lO.  Lastly,  in  the  v-dor  Ecclesiasticus  of 
Henry  VIII.,  I  read  as  follows  ; — 

"  Rectoria  de  Mylton  in  decanatu  et  diocesi  predictis. 

"  Rectoria  ibidem  valet  per  annum  £15  3s.  pro  decima 
garbarura.  Inde  solutum  Henrico  Hawkyns  et 
successoribus  suis  pro  quadam  annuali  pencione  iniper- 
petuum  £1  7s.  Sd.  Et  remanet  clare  £13  l5s.  8d."  It  is 
noteworthy  that  the  first  institution  to  Tavistock,  under 
the  llussells,  is  that  of  JoJm  Pcriiis,  "  ad  vicariani  certo 
modo  vacantem,"  September  13th,  1554.  Could  he  have 
been  a  relative  of  the  last  Abbot  whose  will  had  been 
proved   April   30th^  1550  ^ 

The  present  Vicar  of  ^Milton  Abbot  is  the  Rev.  Sir  St. 
Vincent  Love  Hammick,  Bart.,  who  was  instituted  in  1836, 

He  has  a  good  residence.  Iniilt  in  1838,  and  eighty-seven 
acres  of  glelje.  He  has  kindly  informed  me  that  the  regis- 
ters of  baptisms,  marriages,  and  bm-ials,  commence  alike, 
3rd  December,  1635,  from  which  date  they  are  regularly 
continued.  1  Iiave  described  the  church  as  I  found  it  on 
the  occasion  of  my  visit,  July,  1875. 

The  fii'st  deed  relating  to  the  parish  land  is  dated  18th 
July,  1659,  between  Richard  Doidge  and  others,  feoffees, 


29G  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

aud  Davad  Hawkyns,  lease  of  messuage,  &c.,  in  Tavistock 
for  90  years.  21st  October,  1695.  Grant  by  Richard 
Edgcumbe,  John  Tooker,  and  John  Robins  to  Richard 
Doidge  the  younger,  and  others,  tenement  and  garden  in 
Tavistock,  &c.  Oliver  Maynard  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  donor.  For  the  use,  separation,  and  maintenance  of 
the  Parish  Church. 

The  dividends  of  £540  stock,  left  by  Nicholas  Jewell, 
of  Stoke-climsland,  mason,  by  will  dated  7th  January, 
1738,  belong  to  the  poor  of  this  parish  and  of  Stoke- 
climsland,  in  the  proportion  of  one- third  to  the  former, 
and  two  to  the  latter.  At  this  date  the  Rev.  William 
Salmon  was  Vicar  of  Milton  Abbot,  since  his  name  occurs 
as  one  of  the  original  Trustees. 

There  were  several  families  of  the  name  of  Rundle 
resident  at  Milton  Abbot,  late  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
"  The  Monthly  Magazine  or  British  Register,"  vol.  xxix., 
part  1,  jjp.  458,  462  (A.D.  1810),  contains  a  Transcript  of 
the  Parish  expenditure  there  for  the  year  158S.  There  is 
no  statement  to  show  how  it  was  procured,  and  the  original 
document  does  not  appear  to  have  been  returned  to  its 
rightful  (Avners,  and  no  information  whatever  concerning 
it  is  now  procurable.  But  the  piinted  copy  has  been  re- 
edited  by  Mr.  Pengelly,  F.R.S.,  Trans.  Devon  Assoc.  I 
learn  from  it  that  in  this  year  (1558)  there  was  one  John 
Rundle  living  on  the  farm  known  as  "  Wilsley,"  a  certain 
Thomas  Rundle  resident  in  the  hamlet  of  Foghanger,  and 
another  Thomas  at  "  Yoimgecot," 

Thomas  Rundle,  born  at  Milton  Abbot  in  the  year  1 6S6, 
was  educated  at  Exeter  Grammar  School,  and  in  due  course 
entered  at  Exeter  Coll.  as  a  sojourner,  where  his  tutor  was 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  297 

Thomas,  son  of  Thomas  Rennel,  of  Chudleigh.  He  took 
his  degree  as  Bachelor  of  Laws  in  1710.  In  1716  he  was 
collated  to  a  Prebend  in  Salisbury  Cathedral,  that  of 
Gillinghara  Minor,  on  the  cession  of  John  Holland,  and  was 
installed  on  the  20th  October  ;  and  on  the  13th  January, 
1720-1,  he  became  Treasurer  of  the  same  church.  On  the 
26th  April,  1720,  he  was  appointed  Archdeacon  of  Wilts 
and  in  the  following  January  was  preferrerl  to  a  stall  at 
Durham.  He  was  consecrated  Bishop  of  Derry  1734-5. 
His  friend  and  patron  appears  to  have  been  Bishop  Talbot, 
of  Oxford  and  Salisbury,  who  was  afterwards  translated  to 
Durham,  by  whom  he  had  been  ordained,  and  by  whose 
influence  he  would  have  doubtless  reached  the  English 
Bench  had  it  not  been  for  the  opposition  of  Gibson,  Bishop 
of  London,  caused  by  the  suspicions  entertained  of 
his  orthodoxy. 

According  to  Whiston,  he  had  become,  at  an  early  age, 
"a  convert  to  Arianism,"  which  seems,  however,  doubtful. 
Gorton  says  that  the  resistance  offered  to  his  promotion 
by  the  Bishop  of  London  "  alone  makes  a  notice  of  him 
necessary,"  and  he  only  accords  him  about  a  dozen  lines. 
Bishop  Rundle  died  on  the  15th  April,  1743.  He  printed 
a  few  sermons  ;  and  his  letters,  with  a  memoir,  were  pub- 
lished in  1790. 

The  family  of  Doldge  have  been  for  centuries  settled  in 

this  parish,  and  their  ancestors  are  said  to  have   been 

tenants    to    the   Abbot   of    'J'avistock   as  early   as   the 

thirteenth  centuiy.     In  1558  I  meet  with  the  names  of 

George  Doidge,  of  Quether.     Joan  Doidge,  widow  ;  Ileniy 

Doidge ;    John,    of    "  Lydarow  ;  "  John,   of  Newhouse ; 

John,  of  Weke    (Dabernon?)  ;  Roger  Doidge,  Tristram  ; 
•1  V 


298  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

William,  of  Josapke  ;  William,  of  Weke  ;  Edmond 
"Doydge,"  John,  and  Paul.  In  1822  Morris  Doidge,  of 
Comb,  was  the  representative  of  this  family.  Lysons, 
gives  a  blazon  of  their  arms'  the  same  as  those  used 
by  the  Dodge  family  of  Kent : — Barry  of  six  or  and  sa., 
over  all  on  a  pale  gu.,  a  woman's  breast  distilling  milk, 
all  ppr.  This  ancient  name  is  not  yet  extinct  in  Milton 
Abbot. 

Before  I  conclude  this  chapter  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  say  a  few  words  as  to  the  family  of  the  present 
Vicar  of  Milton  Abbot ;  who  has  now  been  resident  there 
for  more  than  fifty  years. 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  a  certain  Captain 
Stephen  Hauunick  of  the  Royal  Navy  resided  at  Plymouth. 
He  had  an  only  son,  Stephen  Hammick,  Alderman  of 
Plymouth,  who  by  his  marriage  in  1776  with  Elizabeth 
Margaret  only  child  of  John  Love  of  Devonport,  or  Ply- 
mouth Dock  as  it  was  then  called,  had  five  children, 
1st  Stephen  Love  Hammick  ;  2nd,  John  Love  Hammick, 
who  was  an  officer  in  the  Navy  ;  3rd,  Frederick  Love 
Hammick,  who  died  in   Poland  ;  and  two  daughters. 

The  eldest  son,  Stepheii  Love  Hammick  was  born  28th 
February,  1777.  He  was  an  eminent  physician.  Fellow 
of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  and  Doctor  of  Medicine. 
He  was  the  first  surgeon  of  the  Royal  Naval  Hospital  at 
Plymouth  and  an  original  member  of  the  Senate  of  the 
University  of  London.  He  was  created  a  Bai-onet  by 
King  William  IV.  Patent  dated  25th  July,  1  884.  He 
married  7th  February  1800,  Francis,  only  daughter  of 
Peter    Turquand    by    Eliza,  daughter  of  Thomas    Hicks 

Mag.  Brit  Devon,  vol.  i,  162 


PARISH  OF  MILTON  ABBOT.  299 

of  Blackheath,  Kent.     She  died  in  1829,  but  Sir  Stephen 
survived  her  until  the  15th  June,    1867.     He  left  two 
sons   and   a   daughter,    Frances,    who    died    1871.      His 
eldest  son  (who  followed  his  father's  profession,  and  had  the 
degree  of  M.D.),  was  born  in   1804,  and  died,  v.p.,  and 
unmarried  9th  December,  1839.     His  second  son,  the  Rev. 
Sir  St.  Vincent  Love  Hammick,  the  present  Baronet,  was 
born  at  Plymouth,  9th  July,  1806.     He  matriculated  at, 
Exeter  College,Oxford,  2nd  February,!  824 ;  B.A.  12th  June 
1828  ;  2nd  Class  Classics,  and  2nd  Mathematics.     Fellow 
of  Exeter  College,lst  July,!  829,vacated  6th  January,!  837, 
by  being  instituted  to  the  Vicarage  of  Milton  Abbot,  6th  of 
Januar^in  the  preceding  year.     Sir   St.  Vincent  married, 
6th     April,    1837,     Mary,    second   daughter     of  Robei-t 
Alexander  of  Gloucester  Place,  Portman  Square,  London, 
and  has  had  issue,  1st  St.  Vincent  Alexander  of  the  43rd 
Light  Infaritry  and  52nd  Oxfordshire  Light  Infantry,  born 
1839  ;    married    1869,    Penelope  Sarah   Blanche,  second 
daughter  of  the  late  Charles  William  Beauclerk  of  Winch- 
field  House,  Hants,  and  has,  with  other  issue,  Stej^hen 
Frederick  Hammick,  born  2nd  February,  1871. 

2.  llobei-t  Frederick  Hammick,  R.N.,  born  1843. 

3.  Stephen  Hammick,  Bombay  Civil  Sex-vice, born  1846. 

4.  William  Maxwell  Hammick,  born  3rd  March,  1848. 
Married  and  has  issue. 

5.  Ernest  Austen  Hammick,  Jjorn  3rd  January,  1850, 
matriculated  at  Exeter  College,  l8th  May,  1869  ;  B.A., 
1873  ;  Rector  of  Thombury  and  Minster,  in  Cornwall. 
Instituted  1887. 

G.  John  Eustace  Hammick,  born  4th  November,  1852. 
7.  Murray  Hammick  Madras  Civil  Service,  born  1854. 

2r 


300  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

1.  Frances  Grace,  married  G.  Spottiswoode,  1863. 

2.  Mary  Caroline. 

3.  Kachel,  married  Everard  Allen  Ford,  1877. 

The  Arms  of  Hammick  are — Paly  of  fom-  or  and  vert  ; 
a  bordure  arm,  charged  with  seven  hurts,  on  a  chief  az.  a 
lion  passant  arg. 

Crest :  A  demi  lion  p.p.  or  and  vert  holding  an  escar- 
buncle  of  the  tirst. 


PARISH  OF  AHHPRINGTON.  301 


CHAPTER  XIII.     PART  L 

The  Parish  of  Ashprixgton — General  Description 

AND  History. 

The  parish  of  Ashpiington,  with  its  model  village,  and 
beautiful  Third  Pointed  Church,  is  situated  in  the  hundred 
of  Coleridge,  and  in  the  Archdeaconry  and  deanery  of 
Totnes,  from  which  latter  place  it  is  two  and  a  half  miles 
distant.  It  includes  about  2,790  acres  of  land,  populated 
(according  to  the  census  returns  of  1881)  by  450  persons. 
Ashprington — ^written  in  the  Exchequer  Domesday,  Ais- 
beitone,  and  in  that  of  Exeter,  Aisberton — was  originally 
the  property  of  Brictric  the  son  of  Algar,  who  appears 
unfortunately  to  have  inspired  Queen  Matilda  in  her 
younger  days  with  an  attachment  for  him  which  he  was 
quite  unable  to  i-eturn,  a  circumstance  which  she  never 
seems  to  have  forgotten  or  forgiven,  since  she  ultimately 
compassed  his  disgrace  ard  ruin  after  her  husband's  con- 
quest had  placed  her  in  a  position  to  revenge  herself  for 
the  slight  which  she  conceived  the  Saxon  noble  had 
formerly  inflicted  upon  her.  Much  of  Brictric's  ])roperty, 
including  the  honour  of  Gloucester,  of  whicli  Ashprington 
was  a  portion,  was  confiscated  by  the  crown  after  the 
Norman  inv;ision  and  w.-is  conferred  upon  this  Queen, 
a   circumstance  to   which  I  have   fully  ret'errod  in  the 


302  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

"  History  of  the  Manor  of  Winkleigh  "   which  was  the 
seat  of  the  Honour  of  Gloucester  in  this  county.' 

Under  Queen  Matilda,  the  Manor  of  Ashprington  was 
held  by  Juhal  or  Judhel,  (the  Norman  founder  of  Totnes 
Prioiy,)  and  the  following  is  the  entry  in  the  Exeter 
Domesday  which  refers  to  it  "  Rex  habet  mansionem  que 
vocatur  Aisbertona,  quam  tenuit  Bristricus,  ea  di  qua  rex 
Edvardus  fuit  vivus  et  moi-tuus,  et  reddidit  gUdum  pi'o 
iii  hidis.  Hanc  possunt  arrare  x  caiTucse.  Inde  habet 
rex  in  dominio  i  hidam  et  ii  carrucas  et  villani  ii  hidas  et 
iii  caiTucas.  Ibi  habet  rex  vii  villanos  et  viii  bordarios  et 
iiii  servos,  et  i  runcinum  et  ii  animaHa  et  c  oves  et  ii. 
piscatorias,  et  i  salina,  et  i  leagam  in  longitudine  nemoris 
et  dimidiam  leagam  in  latitudine  et  iii  agros  prati  et  xli 
agros  pascuEe  et  reddit  per  annum  iiii  Ubras. 

Haec  est  mansio  quam  tenuit  Juhellus  de  regina. 

Lysons  in  the  "  Magna  Britansia,"  is  "  evidently  mis- 
taken "  says  "  Devoniensis  "  in  his  newspaper  account  of 
Ashburton,"  Ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  Devon,  No  38," 
in  stating  that  Ashburton  is  the  Aisbertone  of  Domesday 
and  which  was  vested  in  the  crown  when  the  survey  was 
taken  ;  this  Manor,  is  Ashprington.  "  In  Ashburton  and 
Its  Neighbourhood,"  which  I  published  many  years  since, 
I  uufortmiately  followed  Lysons'  statement,  which  is 
manifestly  incorrect,  since  Essebretone  or  Ashburton 
belonged  at  the  Conquest  to  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  and 
remained  with  his  successors  for  many  centiiries  until 
King  Edward  VI  in  the  thu-d  year  of  his  reign  licensed 
Bishop  Veysey  to  alienate  the  Manor  to  Fi-ancis  Poole  and 
others.     "  Essebretone  "  appears  to  have  been  converted 

1  Manor  of  Winkleigh,  p.  10. 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTON.  303 

into  Aisbertone  or  Ayshebertone  at  an  early  period  and  it 
is  thus  described  in  the  mining  Charter  of  9th  Richard  I 
and  in  that  of  33rd  Edward  I  creating  the  Stannary 
Towns.  But  the  unaccountable  incoi-rectness  of  another 
public  record  was  very  possibly  the  means  of  misleading 
the  authors  of  the  "  Magna  Britannia."  Since  the 
Exemplification  of  the  Manor  of  Aisbertone  in  "  Teuetone  " 
hundred,  Rot.  Pat.  3x-d  Henry  IV  recapitulates  the 
Domesday  entiy  as  to  Ashprington.  But  the  mention 
of  the  "  two  fisheries,  and  the  salt  pit,"  in  the  Domesday 
entry  which  would  naturally  exist  in  a  Manor  like 
Ashpi'ington,  situated  near  the  estuary  of  the  Dart  must 
alone  convince  the  most  sceptical  that  the  Aisbertona  or 
Aisbertone  of  Domesday  cannot  possibly  refer  to  the 
Episcopal  manor  of  Essebretone  or  Ashburton  ;  besides 
which  the  description  of  the  latter  Manor  in  Domesday 
shows  that  it  was  of  much  greater  extent,  than  "  Ais- 
bertone "  as  was  certainly  the  case,  and  it  mentions  the 
Bishop's  demesne  lands  there  upon  which  several  of  them, 
especially  Bishop  Stapledon,  were  accustomed  occasionally 
to  reside. 

Judhel  gave  the  Land  of  Ashprington  to  his  priory 
of  Totnes,  and  it  remained  with  that  foundation  until 
the  diss(jlution  of  monasteries  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  it  was  valued  at  £35  per  annum. 

In  additioji  to  the  priors  of  Totnes  others  appear  to 
have  held  land  within  this  manor.  Property  was  owned 
here  by  tlie  ancient  name  of  Pipard  as  early  as  the  14th  of 
Henry  III  (1230),  and  afterwards  in  the  33rd  Edward  I 
(1305).  They  were  succeeded  by  a  member  of  the  once 
powerful  house  of  Pomeroy. 


304  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

It  appears  that  there  was  some  connection  between  this 
parish  and  Canonsleigh  Priory,  in  the  parish  of  Burlescombe, 
wliich  was  founded  for  Augustinian  monks  by  Walter 
Claville  in  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century. 

I  do  not  find  that  any  land  within  Ashprington  manor 
ever  belonged  to  Canonsleigh,  yet  it  is  evident  from  the 
early   chai-ters    belonging  to   the   latter   that   the   land 
yielded  to  it  by  the  Lords  of  Burlescombe  were  parcel  of 
the   honour   of  Gloucester,  and    could    not   be  alienated 
effectually  without  the  consent  of  the  earls  of  that  place  ; 
other  benefactors  were  sub-feudatories  under  the  Cla villas, 
and  from  these  sources  and  from  the  most  part  contem- 
poraneous donations  of  the  families  of  Boys,  or  De  Bosco, 
Lowman,  Boty,  &c.,  the  priory  became  possessed  of  lands 
and  tithes  in  Burlescombe,  and  other  places  in  Devon  and 
Somerset. 

Thus  the  barton  of  Bowden,  within  this  parish,  was 
given  according  to  the  Hundi-ed  Eoll  in  the  year  1268  to 
the  Hospital  of  Bothemescombe. 

Lysons  refers  to  this  gift,  and  a  Ids  that  he  "  has  been 
imable  to  discover  where  this  hospital  was  situated." 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  bequest  referred 
to  :— 

"  They  say  also  "  Isabella  de  Bodeton  freely  gave  by 
way  of  alms  (elemosinavit)  the  land  of  Bodeton,  in  the 
manor  of  Harberton,  which  had  been  fief  of  that  manor,  to 
the  Hospital  of  Bothemescoume,  by  the  cor  sent  of  Roger 
de  Yalletort,  chief  lord  of  that  manor."* 

As  I  have  ali'eady  said  the  manor  of  Leige,  or  Leigh 
upon  which  the  Canonsleigh  house  was  situated,  is  within 
1  "  Rot.  Hund. 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTOK  305 

the  parish  of  Burlescombe,  which  was  then  variously 
written  Burghelescombe,  Burthelescombe,  etc.,  and  I  am 
convinced,  therefore,  that  this  pious  gift  to  the  Hospital 
of  Bothomescombe  meant  that  the  land  was  given  to  the 
Priory  of  Canonsleigh,  which  in  those  early  days  was 
doubtless  commonly  kno\vn  as  the  "  House  of  Bui'les- 
combe." 

The  family  of  Boty,  Botuston,  or   Boditon  were  great 
benefactors  to  Canonsleigh  Priory,  and   I  gather  from  the 
cai-tulary  of  that  house  that   William  Boty  gave  to  the 
priory  there  a  hamlet  (hamel)   called   Butisham  on  the 
occasion  of  his  wife's  death.     Another  deed  proves  that 
Walter  Botty,  Lord  of  Botuston,  confirmed  to  the  canon- 
esses  of  the  Church  of  Leigh  the  land  in  Botuston,  which 
had  been  given  by  liis  father,  Balph,  to  their  predecessors, 
the  canons.     The  said  priory,  under  the  auspices  of  Matilda 
de  Clare,  Countess  of  Gloucester,  having  been  given  over 
by  the  Augustinian  monks  tocanonesses  of  the  same  order 
in    1284,   and   hence   the  place  is  frequently   called  in 
subsequent  records  Mynchinleye  instead  of  Canonleigh, 
the  word  mynchin  signifying  a  nun  or  veiled  virgin. 

Thus  we  see  that  this  laud  of  Ashprington  was  connected 
with  two  important  monastic  estabUshments  in  the  county, 
as  I  have  already  said.  Totnes  having  survived  the 
periodical  suppression  of  many  other  alien  priories,  held 
the  manor  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VI H  ;  but  Canons- 
leigh lost  her  portion  of  the  Land  here  before  the  dissolution, 
and  the  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  contains  no  mention  whatever 
of  these  grants  distinctly  referred  to  in  the  early  charters. 
The  manor  of  Ashprington  has  been  long  dismembered, 
and  the  property  is  now  held  by  various  owners, 
2q 


30G  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

amongst  whom  I  may  mention  the  Durant  family  ;  and  the 
rector  of  the  parish,  the  Rev.  G.  T.  Carwithen, 

Boditon,  Botuston,  or  Bowden  is  stated  to  have  been 
sold  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of  the  eighth 
Henry  to  the  ancestor  of  the  redoubtable  Sir  Edward 
Giles,  of  whom  I  have  already  written.' 

He  represented  Totnes  in  Parliament  during  the  reigns  of 
James  I.  and  Charles  1.  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
happened  in  1G37.  In  the  eleventh  James  I.  he  was  made 
lord-lieutenaut  of  this  county,  having  been  knighted  by 
that  King  upon  the  occasion  of  his  coronation  in  1604. 
By  his  wife  Mary  daughter  and  heir  of  Edmund  Drewe 
of  Hayne,  he  had  no  issue  ;  he  therefore  adopted  his 
uncle's  son  John  Giles,  and  settled  upon  liim  in  his  lifetime 
the  Barton  of  Bowden  and  the  manor  of  Ashprlngtun.  He 
himself  retired  to  the  manor  of  Dean  Prior  where  he 
died  in  1637.  Administration  to  his  effects  was  granted 
at  the  Principal  Registry,  Exeter,  to  Lady  Marie  Giles, 
his  relict,  24th  January,  1637-8  the  personal  estate  being 
valued  at  £968. 

Through  the  daughter  and  heir  of  John  Giles,  who  died 
in  167G,  Bowden  passed  to  Sir  Richard  Gipps  ;  it  was 
afterwards  ibr  some  descents  in  the  Trists,  and  is  now  by 
inheritance  the  property  and  residence  of  Mr.  Adams.  It 
is  situated  partly  in  this  parish  and  partly  in  the  parish 
of  Totnes. 

The  manor  of  Painsford  in  the  Confessoi's  reign  was 
held  by  Edwin,  or  Sedwin,  and  afterwards  became  appro- 
priated to  Baldwin  the  sherift',  who  granted  it  in  demesne 
to  Nigel  ;  it  was  then  wiitten  Pautisfoit.     It  was  for  some 

*  Ashburton  ai.cl  its  Neighbourhood  in  Dean  Prior, 


PARrSII  OF  ASHPRINGTON.  307 

years  the  seat  of  the  ancient  family  of  Plperell,  whose 
heiress  brought  it  to  Halwell.  The  So.uasters  purchased 
it  of  the  latter  family  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  and  one 
of  them,  as  Westcote  says,  "  sealed  with  a  gate."  Robert 
Somaster,  who  died  before  his  father,  used  the  portcullis, 
having  acquired  the  right  to  that  heraldic  distinction 
through  his  mother,  who  was  daughter  and  heir  of  De 

la  Port. 

This  Robert  died  in  his  father's  life-time  ;  he  married 
Margaret  daughter  and  heir  of  John  Herward  and  had 
issue  Ralph,  William,  and  Adam.     From  the  last  of  these 
the  Painsford  Branch  are  said  to  be  descended  through  a 
certain  Thomas  Somaster  who  was  presented  by  the  Crown 
to  the  Archdeaconry  of  Cornwall  3rd  January    1570-71, 
and  died  in  1 603.     The  last  of  the  Somasters  of  Painsford, 
John  Somaster,  died  in  1G81 ,  and  was  buried  at  Stokeuham. 
Rather  before  the  latter  date  a  certain  John  Kelland  or 
Kellond  had  settled  in  Totnes  as  a  merchant  and  acquired 
considerable    property.     The    Kelland   family    had    been 
spread  over  the  North  of  Devon  from  an  early  period,  and 
although  they  have  no  pedigree  recorded  in  the  Heralds 
visitations,   they    are   known    to   have   been   people   of 
substance  and  to  have  constantly  resided  upon,  and  formed 
their  o^v^^  property.     Their  principal  estate  appears  to  have 
been  in  the  parish  of  Lapford,  where  Richard  Kelland  is 
shown  by  the  parish   Registers  to  have  been  resident  in 
1567.     His  son  John  Kelland    of  Lapford,   born    1588, 
married  Charity  Snell  of  Zeal  Monachorum  in    1612,  and 
was  the  ancestor  of  the  present  William   Henry  Kelland, 
of  Kelland,  in  the  said  parish.     Although  the  fact  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  cleai-ly  established,  the  said  Richard 
2q' 


308  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Kelland  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  grandfather  of  Jolin 
Kelland  of  Totnes.  A  certain  Thomas  Kelland  appeai'ed 
before  the  Heralds  at  Tiverton  in  1620,  but  failed  to 
satisfy  them  upon  some  points  and  his  name  was  con- 
sequently struck  off.  He  may  have  been  the  father  of 
the  Thomas  Kelland  of  Exeter,  whose  licence  to  marry 
Elizabeth  "  Courtney  "  dated  18th  June  1632  is  recorded 
in  the  Episcopal  Registers. 

John  Kelland  of  Totnes,  could  not  have  been  the  son  of 
John  of  Lapford,  who  was  married  in  1612,  since  he  was 
born  in  1608,  four  years  previously  to  this  marriage,  but 
he  may  veiy  possibly  have  been  a  sou  of  Thomas  who 
appeared  before  the  Heralds  in  1620  and  this  Thomas  may 
have  Ijeen  another  son  of  Richard  of  Lapford. 

John  Kelland  of  Totnes  born  in  1601,  married  Susanna, 
daughter  and  heir  of  John  Somaster  of  Painsford  and 
Stokenham.  She  died  in  1648,  and  her  father  survived 
until  1681  when  he  was  buried  at  Stokenham  where  he 
seems  to  have  resided.  Her  husband  (who  is  said  to  have 
purchased  it)  lived  at  Painsford.  The  latter  was  a  Deputy 
Lieut,  for  this  County  and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  High 
Sheriff  of  Devon,  19th  Charles  IL  He  died  in  1679. 
His  son  John  Kelland  was  retui-ned  to  Parliament  for 
Totnes  in  conjunction  with  Sir  Edward  Seymour  in  1678-9 
when  he  is  described  as  John  Kelland,  Junr,  Esq.  In 
1680-1  he,was  again  I'eturned  for  the  same  borough  together 
with  his  son  Charles.  He  was  High  Sheriff  of  Devon  in 
1688,  and  was  returned  to  Parliament  for  the  last  time 
in  1685.  He  died  in  1691.  Besides  his  son  Charles  who 
married  JIargaret,  daughter  of  Thomas  Drewe  of  the 
Grange,  he  left  issue  a  daughter,  Susanna  who  was  three 
times  married. 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTON.  309 

Charles  Kelland  by  his  wife  Margaret  Drewe,  had  issue 
John,  and  a  daughter  married  to  Colonel  Arundell,  who 
appears  to  have  died  previously  to  1712  since  she  is  not 
mentioned  in  her  brother's  will,  by  which  her  husband 
receives  a  legacy  of  .£1,000. 

John  Kelland  of  Painsford  died  without  issue  in  1712 
aged  22,  and  the  property  went  to  his  aunt,  Susannah  who 
had  then  married,  secondly,  William  Courtenay  and  was 
the  mother  of  William,  and  Kelland  Courtenay.  The 
elder  died  young.  Kelland  Courtenay  was  of  Painsford. 
He  left  a  son  Charles  Courtenay,  killed  in  Germany  in 
17G6,  when  Painsford  was  carried  by  his  sisters  to  their 
husbands,  William  Poyntz,  of  Midgham,  and  Edward, 
seventh  Earl  of  Cork  and  Orrery,  whose  sun,  the  eighth 
ear),  marrying  his  cousin.  Miss  Poyntz,  they  together 
sold  the  estate  to  the  Michelmores.  ]\Ir.  Michelmore  is 
the  present  proprietor. 

After  the  death  of  John  Kelland  in  1712,  his  friend, 
William  Kitson,  whose  name  appears  in  his  will  for  a 
legacy  of  £200,  appears  to  have  resided  at  Painsford. 
His  children,  as  shown  by  the  Parochial  llegisters  were 
born  there,  and  his  eldest  daughter  married  the  Hector  of 
the  Parish.  His  eldest  son  William,  born  1  (599,  purchased 
Shiphay  in  1742,  and  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Kitsons  of 
Shiphay.  A  seal  to  a  deed  executed  by  William  Kitson 
of  Painsford  in  1 729  is  engraved  with  the  arms  of  Kitson 
of  Hengrave. 

Washburton  manor  may  have  been  the  Wachetone  of 

Null'. — I  have  adopted  the  general  mode  of  spelling  the  name  but  I 
have  remarked  that  the  Totnes  KuUands  are  usually  written  "  Kellond." 


310  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Domesday,  which  was  held  by  King  Edward  the  Confessor 
in  demesne. 

It  was  for  some  years  in  the  family  of  Lord  Morley,  and 
afterwards  became  the  property  of  the  Parrotts. 

The  manor  of  Sharpham  may  possibly  be  the  Sepisberie 
of  Domesday,  if  so   it    was   held   by  Earl    Harold,  and 
was  afterwards  assumed  by   no  less   a   personage    than 
the    Norman    Conqueror  liimself,  and    one    can    scarcely 
wonder  that  with  his  well-known  predilection  for  other 
men's  property,  he  selected  this  lovely  spot,  one  of  the 
fairest  in  the  whole  llxir  county  of  Devon,  nay,  T  would 
almost  say  the  fairest,  for  wh;it  can  be  more  level}'  than 
the    alternation   of  hill,  dale,  and   woodland   ;  or   more 
picturesque  than  the  sunny  reaches  and  apparently  land- 
locked lakes  of  the  river  Dart  that  Queen  of  English  rivers. 
As  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  IV  (1399)  the  manor  of 
Sharpham  belonged  to  Robert   Winard.      His   daughter 
and  heiress  Anne  married  Robert  French,  and  she  had  no 
son,  consequently  her  daughter  Amy  brought  this  property 
to  John  Prideaux    of  Modbury,  when  she    became   his 
second  wife.     She  had  two  daughters — Joan  married  to 
William  Drewe,  and  EHzabeth  to  William   Somaster  of 
Painsford  of  whom  I  have  already  spoken,  who  used  the 
Tudor  badge  for  his  Crest,  and  who  died  in  vita  patris. 
Sharpham  fell  to  the  portion  of  Joan,  and  from  her  was 
descended  Edward  Drewe,  who  is  believed  to  have  been 
born  here.     He  was  called  to  the  degree  of  serjeant-at-law 
in  the  .S.Oth  Elizabeth,  together  with  Thomas   Harris  of 
the  Middle  Temple,  and  John  Glanvill    of  Lincoln's-inn. 
Prince  rem  ;rks  concerning  them   that  one  gained,  one 
spent,  and  one  gave  as  much  as  the   other  t^v•o,  and  adds 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRIXGTON.  311 

that  Drewe  was  ou  the  getting  side,  for  he  acquired  much 
land  iu  Combe  Raleigh,  Broadhembury,  Broadclist,  and 
elsewhere.  Izaac  tells  us  that  he  was  made  Recorder  of 
Exeter  in  the  '35th  EUzabeth,  1592,  and  that  he  sur- 
rendered this  office  upou  becoming  Recorder  of  London. 
In  1596  he  was  called  to  the  dignity  of  Queen's  Serjeant. 
He  sold  Sharpham  to  John  Giles,  of  Bowden,  and  took  up 
his  residence  at  Killerton,  in  the  parish  of  Broadclist,  tiow 
the  residence  of  Sir  Thomas  Acland,  by  whose  ancestor  it 
was  purchased  from  the  Serjeant's  son.  Sir  Thomas  Drewe. 
Henry  Blackhaller,  justice  of  the  peace,  held  the  propei'ty 
in  Prince's  time,  and  probably  succeeded  the  Giles  here. 
The  inscription  to  his  memoiy  in  the  parish  church  proves 
that  he  died  in  1G84.  The  families  of  Yarde,  Cockey, 
and  Pownall  have  been  successively  resident  here  since 
his  time,  and  the  heiress  of  Captain  Philemon  Pownall, 
of  the  Royal  Navy,  brought  the  proj^erty  to  her  husband, 
Edmund  Bastai-d,  M.P.,  a  cadet  of  the  house  of  Kitley. 
Tradition  in  this  neighbourhood  declares  that  Mr.  Bastard 
eloped  with  the  heiress,  and  that  he  provided  against  pur- 
suit by  the  ingenious  expedient  of  hiring  all  the  post 
horses  in  the  whole  district.  Some  say  that  he  owed  his 
success  to  an  old  wych  elm  still  remaining  in  the  park, 
and  that  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  Sharpham  he  was  as 
much  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  spot  as  was  his 
ancestor's  Royal  master,  the  rapacious  William.  Walking 
round  this  ancient  tree  three  times  he  devoutly  wished 
that  he  might  marry  the  heiress  of  this  very  desii'able 
property,  and  having  plenty  of  faith  in  the  virtue  of  the 
proceeding,  he  instantly  made  arrangements  for  his 
successful  elopement,  and  by  his  bold  stroke  for  a  wife  was 


312  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

enabled  to  leave  the  estate,  to  his  son  John,  from  whom 
it  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Durant.  Tlie  cedars  of  Lebanon 
here  are  remai'kably  fine,  the  rookery  is  supposed  to  be 
the  largest  in  the  West  of  England,  and  the  heronry  is 
believed  to  be  the  only  one  remaining  of  any  extent  in 
this  or  any  other  of  the  Western  counties. 

The  wych  elm  to  which  I  have  referred  stands  on  an 
area  of  400  feet  in  circumference  ;  some  of  its  branches 
in  an  horizontal  line  from  the  stock  of  the  tree  are  eighty 
feet  ;  circumference  of  the  stock,  sixteen  feet,  and  some  of 
the  large  branches  are  nine  feet  round.  Those  hanging 
over  the  carriage  drive  are  supported  on  huge  props,  while 
others  on  the  opposite  side  are  lying  on  the  ground. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  family  of  Bastard  have  been 
constantly  resident  in  this  county  ever  since  the  Norman 
Conquest,  and  that  Robert  Bastard  appears  in  Domesday 
as  the  recipient  of  large  grants  of  lands. 

Although  they  have  not  continued  upon  their  original 
land  their  seat  was  for  many  generations  at  Garstou,  near 
Kingsbridge,  until  they  acquired  Kitley  by  marriage  with 
a  daughter  and  heir  of  Pollexfen,  towards  the  end  of  the 
17th  century. 

William  Bastard,  of  Kitley,  who  died  in  1782,  had  two 
sons,  John  and  Edmund.  Edmund  the  younger,  was  the 
Edmund  Bastard  who  acquired  Sharpham  by  his  marriage 
with  Jane,  daughter  and  heir  of  Captain  Philemon  Pownall. 
He  was  M.P.  for  Devon,  and  upon  the  death  of  his  brother 
John,  without  issue  4th  Apiil  1816,  he  also  succeeded  to 
the  Kitley  property  and  became  the  head  of  the  family. 

He  was  succeeded  at  Kitley  by  his  eldest  son  Edmund 
Pollexfen  Bastard,  whilst  Sharpham  was  settled  upon  his 


PARISH  OF  ASIIPRINGTON.  313 

second  son  John,  a  captain  in  the  Royal  Navy  and  M.P. 
for  Dartmouth.  He  married  Frances  daughter  and  co-heir 
of  Benjamin  Wade  of  the  Grange,  co.  York,  and  died  11th 
January,  1835,  leaving  an  only  child,  Frances.  She 
married  William  Frederick,  Viscount  Chewton,  who  died 
in  1854  at  Scutari,  of  wounds  received  at  the  battle  of 
the  Alma  leaving  three  children  the  eldest  of  whom 
succeeded  his  grandfather  in  1859  as  9th  Earl  Waldegrave. 


2  R 


314  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  XIII.    PART  11. 

The  Parish  of  Ashpringtox. — The  Parish 
Church. 

The  parish  church,  dedicated  to  St.  David,  is  situated 
in  the  centre  of  the  village,  and  comprehends  chancel, 
nave,  separated  from  north  and  south  aisles  by  an  arcade 
of  four  bays,  supported  upon  perpendicular  columns,  a 
south  porch,  and  a  tower  at  the  westei'n  end  containing 
five  beEs. 

The  ancient  screen  has  been  removed,  but  the  fragments 
are  still  preserved  in  the  disused  vestry  on  the  north  side 
of  the  church.  The  stalls  and  other  modern  decorations 
of  the  chancel  have  been  provided  by  Mr.  Carwithen, 
the  present  rector,  who  has  raised  this  portion  of  the 
chiu'ch  a  step,  and  defined  it  by  a  dwarf  screen  of  stone. 
He  assured  me  that  he  should  be  glad  to  see  the  rood 
screen  refixed  in  its  proper  position,  and  that  he  should 
have  spared  no  pains  or  expense  to  effect  this  had  he 
known  of  its  existence  at  the  time  he  restored  the  chancel. 
The  eastern  window  (a  transom  of  five-lights)  is  to  the 
memory  of  Mrs.  Duraut,  of  Sharpham.  The  windows 
on  the  north  and  south  sides  have  been  blocked,  but  the 
arches  shew  that  they  were  placed  further  westward  than 
is  generally  the  case. 


PARISH  OF  ASUPRINGTON.  315 

Tlie  ancient  trefoiled  piscina,  which  has  been  restored, 
is  of  Third  Pointed  date  ;  it  is  square  headed,  with  quatre- 
foiled  spandrils,  and  has  a  rather  cvirious  draui  hole  slant- 
ing backwards.  » 

The  priest's  door  has  been  completely  modernised,  but 
the  opening  is  in  the  original  position.  The  nodi  in  the 
roof  of  the  nave  are  also  of  fifteenth  century  work,  but 
the  wall  plates  are  modern. 

The  font,  of  red  sandstone,  is  ch'cular  and  of  Norman 
date,  and  is  ornamented  with  the  cable  moulding  and 
rudely  executed  foUage.  I  believe  it  to  be  in  its  origuial 
position  ;  but  the  door  which  anciently  existed  near  it  has 
been  closed  up. 

We  are  many  of  us  well  aware  that  in  the  middle  ages 

the  sexes  were   separated   during  Divine  worship,  and 

that  the  distance  westward  women  were  permitted  to 

advance   (never   further   than   the   second  column)  was 

specified  by   some   difference   in   the   architecture,  such 

as  the  decoration  of  a. pillar,  or  a  step  in  the  floor.     That 

this  rule  was  enforced  at  Ashj)ring-ton  is  clear  from  the 

circumstances  of  the  capitals  of  two  of  the  pillars  being 

perfectly  plain,  whilst  the  rest  are  adorned  with  foliage, 

and  as  women  were  in  the  habit  of  entering  through  the 

south  door,  the  blocked  up  entrance  on  the  north  side 

must  have  been  provided  for  the  accommodation  of  the 

men.      The  Apostolical  constitutions,  supposed  to  have 

been  compiled  in  the  twelfth  century,  require  the  sepai'a- 

tion  of  the  sexes,  and   females  occupied   therefore  the 

western  part  "  in  occidentali  parte  nos  est  feminis  orare;  " 

and  an  inscription  of  the  fourth  century  in  the  portico  of 

the  Vatican  Basilica  describes  the  position  of  a  grave  near 
2r" 


3  1G  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

the  second  column,  and  the  words  "  quomodo  intramus 
sinistra  parte  virorum,"  prove  that  men  used  to  enter 
through  the  door  on  the  left,  or  north  side  of  the  church. 

The  tower  arch  is  of  plaster,  and  if  this  could  be  removed 
the  ancient  and  much  loftier  arch  would  probably  be  found 
concealed  beneath  it.  All  the  windows  are  of  Per- 
pendicular date. 

The  church  is  built  of  dun  stone,  with  red  sandstone 
dressings  ;  It  is  handsomely  embattled,  and  the  walls  ai'e 
supported  by  plain  buttresses. 

Of  the  two  vestries,  both  compai'atively  modern,  that 
on  the  north  is  oldest  ;  they  are  both  built  in  prolongation 
of  the  aisle,  and  block  the  chancel  windows,  unfortun- 
ately disfiguring  and  destroying  the  original  plan  of  the 
sacred  structure. 

There  is  a  fine  octagonal  rood  turret  on  the  north  side. 
The  handsome  south  porch  once  contained  a  parvise, 
or  room  for  a  chantry  priest,  which  has  been  destroyed, 
but  the  turret  containing  the  stairs  which  led  to  this 
room  still  remains,  and  is  pierced  with  a  handsome 
quatrefoiled  light. 

I  believe  the  tower  to  be  a  relic  of  a  much  earher  church 
than  the  present  one,  which  was  probably  built  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  perfectly  plain  and 
unbuttressed.  From  the  cii'cumstance  of  its  battermg  or 
diminishing  upwards,  I  should  consider  that  it  dates  from 
the  twelfth  century,  although  in  some  districts,  such  as 
Northamptonshire,  I  beheve  this  mode  of  construction 
was  continued  to  a  later  period.  The  staircase  is  pecuhar, 
only  ascending  three  quarters  of  its  height,  and  terminating 
in  a  curious  lean-to  roof.     A  small  wuidow  on  the  eastern 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTON.  317 

side  is  partially  blocked  by  the  roof  of  the  church.  Of 
course  the  western  windows  and  doorway  prove  nothing  ; 
they  were  jn-obably  inserted  when  the  body  of  the  church 
was  rebuilt. 

The  lower  portion  of  the  ancient  cross  and  a  magnificent 
yew  tree  still  remain  on  the  south  side  of  the  churchyard. 

In  this  parish  was  discovered  in  the  year  1605  (as 
Westcote  and  Risdon  tell  us)  "  a  well  which  was  ftimous 
for  a  short  time,  and  the  virtues  of  whose  water  was 
medicinal  for  all  griefs  and  diseases ;  to  which  resorted 
an  incredible  number  of  people  from  all  quarters,  and  so 
many  bottles  thereof  were  carried  far  into  the  country 
that  there  was  not  enough  to  serve  every  man's  turn  ; 
but  in  a  little  time  the  people,  satisfied  of  the  novelty  and 
the  virtue  decreasing,  the  resort  also  ceased."  Risdon  also 
says  that  this  well  was  dedicated  to  St.  David,  and  that 
a  chapel  was  built  there  and  dedicated  to  the  same  saint. 

In  the  registers  of  the  Bishops  of  Exeter  mention  is 
made  of  the  chapels  of  St.  David,  St.  James,  and  St.  Jolm 
the  Baptist  at  Painsford.  The  Painsford  Chapel  was 
rebuilt  in  1687  by  John  Kelland,  and  consecrated  by  the 
title  of  St.  Mary,  August  4th,  in  that  year.  Divine  service 
was  performed  in  it  to  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
after  which  it  gradually  fell  into  a  dilapidated  state.  In 
the  Ashprington  Register  I  find  it  referred  to  as  follows  : 
— "  John  Hayne,  jun.,  clerk,  and  Elizabeth  Blackball, 
spinster,  both  of  Totues,  were  married  1)y  license  in  the 
chapel  at  Painsfurd,  on  Thursday,  xMarch  7th,  1754,  by 
Elias  Browne,  curate  of  Cornworthy.  In  the  presence 
of  X ,  the  mark  of  Joan  Lee  ;  X ,  the  mark  of  Elizabeth 
Stephens."     A  suit  of  armour,  probably  a  relic   of  some 


318  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

ancient  owner  of  the  manor,  was  for  some  years  preserved 
in  this  chapel,  which  is  now  entirely  desti-oyed.  In  Bishop 
Lamplugh's  Register,  I  have  found  the  following  marginal 
note  in  connection  with  this  chapel.  "  17th  August,  1787 
paid  Mr.  Broomer  for  horse  hire  in  attending  my  Lord  at 
the  consecration  of  Mr.  Kellands  chapell,  7s." 

It  is  shown  by  the  Chantry  Rolls  that  there  was  a 
chantry  in  Ashpringtou  Church  founded  by  Thomas 
Coterell  "  To  find  a  priest  to  pray  for  his  soul  and  the 
souls  of  his  ancestors  in  the  parish  church  of  Ashpringtou' 
and  he  to  have  for  his  salary  106s.  8d.  per  annum.  To 
distribute  to  poor  people,  4s.  4d.  To  keep  an  obit  yearly 
4s.  8d.,  and  the  surplus  to  find  bread,  wine,  and  wax  for 
mass,  and  for  repairing  the  ornaments." 

Total  value  of  lands,  &c.,  £5  18s.  lOd. 

Outside  the  chancel  door  is  a  brass  with  the  following 
inscription  :  — "  Wm.  Sumaster,  of  Pynesford,  Esq.,  died 
the  xxix  of  June,  1589,  and  lyeth  here  buried.  Christ  is 
my  Hght  and  death  my  advantage."  The  arms  are  repeated 
upon  two  shields.  Arg.  ;  a  castle  trij^le  towered  within  an 
orle  of  fleur  de  lis  sa.  It  is  possible  that  the  armour  long 
preserved  in  Painsford  Chapel  may  have  once  belonged  to 
Sir  S.  Somaster,  who  with  his  four  sons  took  an  active 
part  on  the  Royal  side  in  the  great  rebelhon,  selhng  Old 
Port  and  other  estates  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  field. 
Close  to  this  brass  is  a  stone  inscribed  to  some  members 
of  the  Cockey  family,  with  the  quaint  remark  that  its 
different  members  repose  each  "  m  a  hd  chest."  I 
noticed  no  mural  tablets  or  leger  stones  within  the  church 
of  any  great  antiquity.  The  most  interesting,  perhaps,  is 
that  in  the  north  aisle  to  the  memoiy  of  "  John  Kellond, 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRTXGTON:  319 

of  P.  Ford."  The  inscription,  which  is  in  Latin,  and 
probably  refers  to  the  purchaser  of  Painsford  from  the 
Somasters,  states  that  he  was  a  Deputy-Lieutenant  of  the 
County  and  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  and  that  he  died  Gth 
June,  l<i79.  His  son  John  (whose  decease  is  recorded 
under)  erected  the  memorial. 

The  rectory  of  Ashprington  appears  always  to  have  been 
in  private  patronage,  although  it  paid  a  small  pension  to 
the  monastic  community  of  Totnes,  hj  whose  exertions 
the  church  was  doubtless  originally  provided  by  some  one 
of  the  neighbouring  landowners.  In  the  Taxation  of  Pope 
Nicholas,  finished  in  1291,  it  was  valued  at  £9  13s.  4d. 
per  annum,  and  in  the  Valor  Ecclesiasticus  of  1535  when 
Richard  Weston  was  rector,  its  income  is  stated  to  be 
£29  Is.  7:gd.,  and  the  pension  to  the  prior  of  Totnes  is  there 
described  as  a  chief  rent,  and  amounted  to  6s.  8d.  a  year. 
Durmg  the  great  rebellion  the  then  rector,  the  Rev.  John 
Lethbridge,  was  turned  out  of  his  preferment  and  lost  his 
private  estate  as  well.  He  underwent  great  haixlships 
and  was  very  much  harassed  and  abused  both  in  his  person 
and  liis  family,  the  charge  against  him  being  that  he  was 
a  malignant,  and  that  he  persisted  in  using  the  Book  of 
Conmion  Prayer.  Once  he  was  compelled  to  hide  in  tlie 
Sharpham  Woods  and  to  continue  there  fourteen  days, 
during  which  tune  his  wife  and  six  children  wave  tm'ned 
out  of  tlie  rectory.  He  died  before  the  restoration,  Sep- 
tember 2nd,  1655.  He  lies  buried  in  Exeter  Cathedral 
For  some  time  before  his  death  he  resided  privately  in 
Cornwall. 

George    Carwithen,    2nd    son   of   the    Rev.    Thoma.s 
Carwithen,  rector  of  Manaton,  Devon,  and  of  Anna  his 


320  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

-wife  married   Mary,  daughter   of  Frauds,  son  of  John 
Cooke,  of  Exeter,  who  had  a  grant   of  arms  from   the 
Hei-alds'  College  in  1687.     "  Gu.  3  crescents   or,  a  chief 
of  the  last."     His  eldest  son,  George  Carwithen,  baptised 
January  I3th,  1729,  was  rector  of  Manaton,   July  16th 
1766.     He    married    Elizabeth,  daughter    of  the    Rev. 
Naithaniel  Terry,  rector  of  Ashprington,  and  succeeded 
his  father-in-law  in  the  latter  rectory  7th  June,  1730. 
(His  son,  the  Rev.  G.  Terry  Carwithen,  was  of  Ashprington 
House.)     He  was  succeeded  in  the  rectory  by  the  Rev. 
Jacob  Ley,  M.A.,  in    1795.     The   Rev.    G.   Teny   Car- 
withen was  instituted  to  the  vicarage  of  Newton  St.  Cyi-es 
24th  September  1813,  and  resigned  it  9th  October,  1817. 
He  died  in   1854.     His  son,  the  Rev.  George  William 
Carwithen,  is  the  present  rector  of  the  parish  and  patron 
of  the  rectory  to  which  he  was  instituted  in  1859.     He  is 
also  a  large  landowner  in  the  parish  and  the  owner  of 
Ashpring-ton  House,  which  was  erected  by  the  Rev,  G. 
Carwithen  in  1783.     The  Cai'withen  family  are  of  Cornish 
extraction,  and  in  the  time  of  Henry  VI  John  Carwy  than 
of  Carwythan  in  that   county  married  the  eldest  daughter 
and  heir  of  Robert   Panston,  of  Panston,  co.  Devon,  and 
their   descendants   continued   to   reside   at  Panston   for 
many  generations.     A  branch  of  this  family  settled  in 
Exeter.     Nicholas  Carwithen,  was  of  the  parish  of  St. 
Petrock,  in  1630.     The  inscription  on  his  stone  was  un- 
fortunately lost  or  destroyed  duiing  the  restoration  of  St. 
Petrock's  Chm-ch  but  I  am  fortunately  able  to  reproduce 
it. 

"  Copy  of  a  gi-ave  stone  in  St.  Petrock's  Church,  Exeter 
on  the  left  of  the  entrance  from  Fore  Street  near  the  north 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTON:  321 

wall,  and  numbered  3-2  in  the  plan  taken  of  the  vaults  bj 
Mr.  Charles  Hedgeland,  architect,  January  27th,  1829." 
Here  lyeth  the  body  of  |  Nicholas  Carwithen  of  | 
this  city  gi'ocer  who  |  died  20th  Aug.  1643.  |  Here 
lyeth  also  Margaret  j  wife  of  ye  said  Nicholas  ]  Car- 
withen who  died  ye  |  6th  Decbr.  1675.  Also  1  here 
lyeth  Elizabeth  daugh  ]  ter  of  Thomas  Walrond  |  of 
ye  famUy  of  Bradfield  &  |  wife  of  John  Carwithen  |  son 
of  ye  said  Nicholas  \  Carwithen  who  died  14th  of 
December  1692.  Also  here  lyeth  the  Body  of  ye  I  s"" 
John  Carwithen  Grocer  [  sometime  Sheriff  of  this  City 
and  County  who  died  12th  June  1693. 

His  will  was  proved  Principal  Registry,  Exeter    19th 
June  1645,  and  Admon,  granted  to  Margaret,  his  wife. 

His  son  John  married  Elizabeth  daughter  of  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Walrond  of  Woodflirdisworthy,  and  had  issue 
Nicholas,  Thomas,  John  and  William.  The  second  son 
Thomas,  I  have  already  mentioned  as  the  great  great 
grandfather  of  the  present  rector  of  Ashprmgton.  He  was 
the  first  of  his  name  rector  of  Manaton  in  this  county  to 
which  church  he  was  instituted  1 9th  May  1698.  By  his 
will  dated  6th  October  1735,  and  proved  by  George 
Carwithen,  son  and  executor  in  the  Principal  Registry 
Exeter,  30th  March  1737  he  directs  his  body  to  be 
buried  in  the  chancel  of  St.  Sidwell's  church,  in  the  same 
grave  with  his  wife  and  daughter  and  disposes  of  his  share 
of  the  effects  of  his  late  brother  John,  who  was  Town 
Clerl^  of  Exeter.  He  mentions  his  grandson  George  and 
gives  the  latter  a  "  stone  ring."  He  gives  his  eldest  son 
Charles  a  ruby  ring  and  a  gold  seal  with  the  arms  of  the 
family  cut  in  red  Cornelian.  There  are  legacies  to  his 
2  s 


322  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

sons  Edmund,  llobert,  and  Joseph  to  his  daughters  and 
EHzabeth  and  Maiy,  and  to  his  cousin  "widow  Deborah 
Rice,  "Cousin  Ann  Gill,  widow,  and  to  Elizabeth  daughter 
of  "  Cousin  Judith  Hallett." 

He  was  succeeded  at  Manaton  by  his  eldest  son  Charles. 
The  advowson  of  the  rectory  of  Manaton  was  purchased 
in  1720  by  John  Carwithen  of  Exeter,  gentleman.  Town 
Clerk,  for  the  sum  of  £100  for  a  term  of  1,000  yeai"s  and 
in  1723  he  bought  the  fee,  of  the  said  rectory  fur  £5  5s. 
of  Francis    Kirkham,  Esq.     Since  Thomas     Carwithen's 
time,  there  have  been  seven  of  the  name  rectors  of  Manaton 
and  the  advowson  still  belongs  to  the  family.     John  Car- 
withen, son  of  Nicholas,  eldest  brother  of  Thomas  aforesaid 
rector  of  Manaton,  was  rector  of  Willand  and  Woolfai'dis- 
worthy  and  vicar  of  Crediton.   He  married  Hester  daughter 
of  Henry  VValrond  of  Bradfield.    Her  marriage  settlement 
is  dated  September  21st,  22nd,  1719.     By  it,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  intended  marriage  and  of  the  sum  of  £600, 
secured  to  be  paid  to  him  by  the  said  Henry  Walrond 
as   the  marriage  portion  of  his  daughter  he    grants  to 
certain  trustees  for  the  benefit  of  the  first  son  of  the 
contemplated  marriage     "  All  that  messuage  or  Mansion 
House,  wherem  John  Carwithen  deceased,  his  gi-andfather 
lately  dwelt — and  the  messuage  or  house  and  shop  &c., 
&c.— in  the  parish  of  St.  Petrock's.     The  house  alluded 
to  is  the  corner  house  in  High  Street,  Exeter,   on   the 
east  of  North  Street  which  contains  m  a  niche  or  recess 
the  ancient  well  known  figure  of  S.  Peter. 

Hester  Walrond  died  November  3rd,  1772.  Her  great 
grandson,  the  llev.  John  Bayly  Somers  Carwithen,  born 
April  10th,  1781,  was  Bampton  Lecturer  at  Oxford  1809  ; 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTON.  323 

vicar  of  Sandhurst  1810  and  of  Fremley,  Hants  1814.    He 

was  the  well  known  author  of "  Carwitheu's  history  of 

the   Church    of  England."     His   brother  the   Kev.   W. 

Carwlthen,  D.D.,  who  held  various  preferments  in  this 

diocese,  including  the  family  living  of  Manaton,  was  for 

many  years   well   known   and   respected   as   an   Exeter 

clergyman,   and   died    on    the    18th   April    1S50.       He 

was  the   father  of  the  Kev.   WQliam   Carwithen,  vicar 

of  Aylesbeare,  and  also  of  the  Rev.  George  E.  Carwithen 

R.N.,  who  was  appointed  a  chaplain  to  H.R.H.  the  Duke 

of  Edinburgh,  April  25th,  1883.     The  arms  of  this  family 

recorded  at  the  Heralds'  College  may  be  seen  there  in  a 

MS.   entitled  "  An  Alphabet  of  Devonshire  and  Cornish 

Arms  compiled  sometime  about  the  year  1689." 

"  Carwithen  of  Exon,  Arg.  a  Flore  de  lus  gu.  a  border 

ingreld  of  the  second. 

"  J.  Pulman  "  (Portcullis) 

"October  22nd,  1833." 

A  trick  of  the  same  arms  may  be  found  in  MS.  No.  3532. 

Deau  and  Chapter  of  Exeter. 

The  Charity  Commissionei'S  repoi-t  upon  an  almshouse 

in  this  parish  inhabited  rent  free  by  six  poor  persons,  and 

which  is  reputed  to  have  been  formerly  held  under  a  deed 

of  feoflfment,  although  no  such  deed  can  now  be  found. 

The  returns  made  to  Parliament  in  1786  state  this  house 

to  have  been  given  by  Sir  Edward  Giles,  Knt.,  by  deed, 

in    1622  ;  and    it    is   also   mentioned   that    "  from   the 

condition  of  the  original  deeds  it   was  not  possible  to 

collect  any  other  matter."     The  Commissioners  also  report 

upon  "  the  Church  House  "  and  upon  "  Knowluig's  Gift." 

The  former  was  once  let  as  a  public-house,  and  the  rents 
2s' 


324  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

were  then  applied  to  the  repair  of  the  chiu'ch,  but  it  was 
afterwards  occupied  by  poor  persons  of  the  parish  rent 
free.  With  respect  to  "  Knowling's  Gift,"  the  ParHa- 
mentaiy  returns  above  referred  to  mention  a  sum  of  £30 
as  having  been  given  by  the  will  of  Alice  Knowling  in 
1729  for  such  poor  families  as  had  not  relief  from  the 
parish,  and  as  being  vested  in  the  churchwardens  and 
overseers,  and  it  is  added  in  a  note  "  that  when  Peter 
Knowling  paid  in  the  pi'incipal  to  the  parish  the  interest 
ceased."  There  is  a  tradition  in  the  parish  that  after  the 
principal  of  this  legacy  was  paid  by  Peter  Knowling,  it 
was  applied  at  a  time  when  Ashprington  was  visited  by 
an  infectious  disorder  in  the  payment  of  bills  for  medical 
attendance  to  the  poor  not  receiving  parochial  relief. 

Jolin  Kelland  of  Painsford,  who  died  in  1712,  gave  by 
his  will  to  the  Bishop  of  Exeter  and  to  his  executors  John 
Fownes  of  Tretheway,  Esq.,  and  Francis  Dre we  of  Exeter, 
barrister,  the  sum  of  £2,000  in  trust  for  the  augmentation 
of  charity  schools. 

The  following  is  the  inscription  on  the  Kelland 
memorial,  which  is  a  large  mural  tablet  of  black  and  white 
marble  and  is  placed  over  the  door  which  anciently  led  to 
the  rood  loft  on  the  north  side  of  the  church. 

"  MS." 

"  Hie  jacet  Johannes  KeUond  de  Painsford  Armiger 
nuper  vice  comes  hujus  comitatus  Devonice  Regis  pro 
pace,  qui  obiit  sexto  die  Junii. 

Anno  I  ^^^^"*^«  1679. 
3  ^tatis    71. 
Susanna  uxor  ejus,  1648. 
Pietatis  ei-go  posuit  hoc  Johannes  filius. 


PARISH  OF  ASHPRINGTON.  325 

Arms  of  Kellond  of  Paiiisford.     Sa.  a  fesse  arg,  m  chief 
3  fleur-de-lis  of  the  last. 

Crest ;  A  demi  tiger  salient  or,  maued  arg. 
The  Parish  Registers  commence  alike  in  1G07. 


326  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 


CHAPTER  XIV.    PAET  I. 

The  History  of  Dartmouth. — General  Description 
AND  History. 

The  ancient  borough  and  port  town  of  Dartmouth,  is 
situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Dart,  about  ten  miles 
below  Totnes,  and  its  harbour  was  recognized  as  of  im- 
portance at  a  very  early  period,  since  it  was  the  chief 
one  of  the  district,  kno^vn  as  the  "Littus  Totonesimn" 
(the  Totnes  Strand).  From  thence,  according  to  Alan, 
of  Lisle,  the  passage  was  wont  constantly  to  be  made 
from  the  greater  to  the  lesser  Britain. 

Early  writers  also  say  that  this  town,  originally  desig- 
nated Lud-hill,  cannot  boast  of  an  equal  antiquity  with 
Totnes,  and  we  are  told  that  it  only  began  to  flourish 
when  the  latter  haven,  "  by  over  much  land  brought 
down  by  the  Tin  Works,  was  so  choked  up  that  it  was 
spoiled ;  "  but,  be  this  as  it  may,  its  deep  and  capacious 
land-locked  harbour,  easy  of  access  and  capable  of  afibrd- 
ing  a  safe  refuge  for  the  largest  ships,  must  necessarily 
hiiXQ  merited  attention  at  a  very  remote  date,  and, 
according  to  the  Saxon  chronicle,  it  witnessed  before  the 
Conquest  the  death  of  Earl  Beorn,  who  was  killed  by 
order  of  his  enemy,  Swain,  the  son  of  Godwin,  into 
whose  bands  be  had  fallen  by  stratagem. 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  327 

This  Wiis  ill  the  year,  1049.  Three  years  previously 
Sweyn  had  ravaged  South  Wales  aud  had  carried  off 
the  Abbess  of  Leominster,  whom  he  proposed  to  espouse, 
but  as  he  was  not  permitted  to  do  so  he  fled  to  Bruges, 
then  the  capital  of  Baldwin  IV  of  Flanders,  who  had 
married  Eleonora,  the  niece  of  Queen  Emma,  and  who 
appears  to  have  been  the  general  protector  of  English 
fugitives,  since  before  this  he  had  received  with  hospi- 
tality Gunhllda,  the  widow  of  Hacon  and  niece  of 
Canute,  together  with  her  sons,  when  they  were  banished 
from  England  in  1045. 

When  Sweyn  fled  to  this  Court  his  lands.,  were,  of 
course,  cpntiscated,  and  in  order  to  obtam  their  restitu- 
tion he  joined  King  Edward  with  seven  ships  in  the 
fleet,  assembled  by  that  Monarch  to  assist  the  Emperor 
(Henry  III),  against  the  aforesaid  Baldwin. 

Sweyn's  endeavours  to  recover  the  favour  of  his 
Sovereign,  appear,  to  have  been  circumvented  by  his 
brother  Harold  and  by  his  kinsman  Beorn ;  and  the 
mtu-der  of  the  latter,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  buried 
"  in  the  church  at  Dartmouth,"  was  the  consequence  of 
his  interference  in  the  plans  of  Sweyn,  who  afterwards, 
strange  to  say,  again  fled  to  Bruges,  and  in  1050  was 
once  more  restored  to   his   possessions. 

It  is  said  of  William  llufus  that,  while  iiunting  in  the 
year  1099,  a  messengei'  from  Normandy  brought  him 
intelligence  that  the  city  of  Mans  was  besieged-  With- 
out dismounting  from  his  horse  the  King  hastened  to 
the  neai'est  seaport,  and  on  being  reminded  that  it  was 
necessary  to  collect  truo])s  he  said,  "I  shrdl  see  who  will 
follow  me  ;  and  if  I  understand  the  youtli  of  this  kingdom 


328  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

I  shall  have  people  enougli."  Though  it  was  almost  a 
storm  and  the  wind  contrary,  he  insisted  on  embarking 
immediately,  and  when  the  sailors  pointed  out  the  danger 
of  putting  to  sea,  and  entreated  him  to  wait  for  favourable 
weather,  he  exclaimed,  "  I  never  heard  of  a  King  that 
was  shipwi'ecked  ;  weigh  anchor,  and  you  will  soon  see 
that  the  winds  will  be  with  vis." 

Accordmg  to  William  of  Malmesbuiy  and  others  the 
seaport  from  which  the  monarch  sailed  was  Dartmouth, 
and,  if  this  was  the  case,  he  was  probably  following  his 
favourite  pastime  upon  Dartmoor,  the  mountainous  wastes 
of  which  nuist  have  afforded  good  harbour  for  all  sorts  ot 
wild  animals  at  this  period,  even  if  It  had  not  then  become 
a  Royal  forest. 

At  this  time,  too,  the  whole  Manor  of  LIdford  still 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  Crown,  from  which  it  was 
not  alienated  until  the  year  1238,  when  Henry  Til 
granted  it  to  his  brother  Richard,  commonly  called  King 
of  the  Romans  ;  and  although  the  visits  of  our  early 
Sovereigns  to  ])artmoor  were,  perhaps,  not  very  frequent 
in  consequence  of  its  distance  from  the  capital,  yet  it  is 
probable  that  they  came  there  occasionally,  and  there  is 
evidence  that  "  Roger  Mirabel  held  land  "  (in  Skeradon, 
Hundi-ed  of  Stanborough) "  from  the  Lord  the  King-In- 
Ohief  by  the  Serjancy  of  three  arrows  lohen  the  King  should 
hunt  in  the  forest  of  Dertemore,  who  committed  felony, 
for  which  he  was  outlawed,"  and  then  the  said  land  came 
into  the  King's  hands,  who  gave  it  to  Master  Walter,  the 
physician,  and  now  (temp.  Edwd.  I.)  "John  de  BoyviUe, 
and  Dionisia,  liis  wife,  daughter  and  heir  of  the  aforesaid 
Walter,  hold  it  ;  and  moreover,  two  furlongs  of  land  in 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  329 

Kingdon,  who  gave  it   to   the    Abbot   and   Convent  of 
Buffestie"'  (Buckfast),  "and  it  is  vakied  at  10s.  a  year.' 

Kino-  Kichard  I  (who  had  taken  the  cross  before  his 
accession)  entered  at  the  very  commencement  of  his  reign 
into  an  alliance  with  Philip  of  France,  that  they  might 
proceed  together  to  the  Holy  Land  to  rescue  Jerusalem 
from  the  Infidels ;  an  enterprise  which  is  known  in  his- 
tory as  the  Third  Crusade.     The  King  liimself  departed 
from  Dover  and  proceeded  to  the  Continent  during  the 
month  of  December,   1189;    and  kept  his  Christmas  at 
Bures,  in  Normandy.  After  a  meeting  with  the  French 
monarch  at  Eheims,  and  the  ratification  of  the  treaty 
between  them,  Eichard  proceeded  to  Gascony,  where  he 
took   the   castle    of    William   de   Chisi,   and   forthwith 
hanged  him  for  having  plundered  some   pilgrims  while 
passing  through  his  lands  ;  he  then  proceeded  to  Anjou 
and  Tours  (at  the  latter  place  he  received  from  the  Arch- 
bishop, the  scrip  and  staff    of   his  pilgrimage),   and  he 
ultimately  joined  the  King  of  France  on  the  plains  of 
Vezelay  about  the  end  of  June,  1190, 

But  in  the  six  months  which  had  elapsed  since  his 
departure  from  England,  the  reckless  and  violent  means 
to  which  he  had  resorted  had  enabled  him  to  raise  the 
most  formidable  fleet  and  army  which  had  ever  left  our 
shores.  These  had  been  recruited  from  all  parts  of 
England,  Normandy,  Poitou,  Brittany  and  Aquitaine. 
and  were  ultimately  assembled  at  Dartmouth,  where  such 
of  the  Crusaders  as  had  not  accomjmnied  the  King,  as 
well  as  the  warlike  engines,  stores,  and  other  material  for 
the  army,  were  embarked.     Peter  of  Langtoft  says  : — 

1  Rot.  IIuiiJ. 


330  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

"Thei  liad  in  tlier  route  a  hundretli  sliippes  and  ten, 
But  God  thei  had  no  doubtc,  nc  no  defaute  of  men." 

This  large  armament  was  to  join  Richard  at  Marseilles, 
from  whence  it  was  to  proceed  to  Messina,  which  was  the 
appointed  rendezvous  for  both  expeditions  before  sailing 
for  Palestine.  This  is  the  earliest  evidence  yet  discovered 
of  English  vessels  having  been  sent  on  so  distant  a 
voyage  ;  part,  if  not  all  of  them,  sailed  from  Dartmouth 
towards  the  end  of  April,  1190.  There  were  a  hundred 
lai'ge  ships  and  numerous  smaller  ones  under  the  nominal 
command  of  Gerard,  Archbishop  of  Aix,  and  Bernard, 
Bishop  of  Bayonne,  assisted  by  Richard  de  Camville, 
Robert  de  Sabloil,  and  William  de  Fortz,  who  were  styled 
"  leaders  and  governors  of  all  the  King's  ships,"  or  "  sea 
justices,"  and  they  had  received  their  appointments  at 
ChLnon,  in  Anjou,  in  the  precedmg  year. 

For  five  days  after  the  commencement  of  the  voyage 
the  wind  remained  fair,  and  this  was  so  far  fortunate,  as 
the  vessels,  both  from  construction  and  equipment,  seem 
to  have  been  quite  unfit  to  encounter  the  fury  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  ;  many  disasters  subsequently  befell  them, 
and  on  Ascension  Day  (3rd  May),  while  they  were  still 
crossmg  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  they  were  dispersed  by  a 
violent  storm.  One  of  these  vessels,  which  belonged  to 
London,  had  among  her  passengers  (who  numbered  100 
all  told)  a  certain  William  Fitz-Osbert,  supposed  to  have 
been  the  citizen  sometimes  called  "  William-with-the-long- 
beard,"  conspicuous  in  the  annals  of  the  City,  and  who 
was  hanged  at  Tyburn  in  1196.' 

To  this  ship  a  special  miracle  is  said  to  have  been 

1  Rot.  Cur.  Reg.  Pref.  Palgrave  1.  vii. 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  331 

vouchsafed.  The  temfied  ci'ew  having  invoked  tlie 
Divine  aid,  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury  appeared  to  them 
three  times  and  assured  them  that  he,  together  with  the 
martyrs  SS.  Edmund  and  Nicholas,  were  appointed 
protectors  of  their  ship,  and  would  conduct  it  in  safety 
jirovided  they  repented  of  their  sins  and  did  penance. 
These  easy  terms  were  gladly  accepted,  and  the  Saint 
having  vanished  the  storm  instantly  ceased,  and  the  vessel 
passed  Lisbon  and  Cape  St.  Vincent  and  finally  reached 
Sylves.  St.  Nicholas  was  considered  to  be  the  special 
guardian  of  sea-faring  men.  To  quote  again  from  Peter 
of  Langtoft — 

"  The  Bishop  St.  Nicholas  whos  help  is  ny  rodic, 
To  shipmcn  in  alio  cas  whan  thai  on  hiin  crie." 

Of  the  scattered  fleet,  nine  soon  after  arrived  in  Lisbon, 
where  they  were  joined  by  sixty-three  other  large  ships 
under  Camville  and  Sabloil  "  cum  Ixiil  magnis  navibus  de 
storio."  The  word  "  storium  "  is  explained  by  Benedict, 
Abbas,  "  idem  est  quoid  navagium."  After  sei'ious  mis- 
understandmgs  with  the  good  people  of  Lisbon  the 
EngUsh  ships  again  put  to  sea  on  the  24th  of  July,  and 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Tagus  thty  fell  in  with  de  Fortz 
with  thirty-three  sail  ;  and  after  a  favourable  passage  of 
twenty-eight  days  along  the  coast  they  ultimately  reached 
Marseilles  in  safety  on  the  22nd  of  August  ;  but  the 
King,  who  had  waited  eight  days  for  them  at  the  beginning 
of  the  month,  had  given  them  up  in  despair,  and  his 
patience  being  exhausted  he  had  gone  on  to  Messina  in 
hired  transpoi-ts,  which  port  our  Dartmouth  fleet  ulti- 
mately reached  on  the  14th  of  September. 

In  the  early  summer  of  the  year  1205   King  John  was 
2  T" 


332  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

preparing  a  force  for  the  invasion  of  Normandy,  and 
although  he  afterwards  abandoned  the  design  yet  he 
appears  to  have  visited  Dartmouth  at  this  period,  and 
may  have  possibly  contemplated  using  it  as  a  port  of 
embarkation.  His  Itineraiy  shows  that  he  remained  here 
for  three  days,  from  June  18th  to  June  22nd,  when  he 
returned  to  Dorchester.* 

Nine  years  later  this  King  invaded  France  and  landed 
at  Rochelle  February  15th,  1214,  and  in  conjunction  with 
the  Flemings  his  troops  were  defeated  at  the  Battle  of 
Bouvines,  when  the  Earl  of  Salisbuiy  and  the  Count  of 
Flanders  were  made  prisoners  by  Philip.  On  July  27th  in 
the  same  month  John  himself  was  repulsed  before  the 
Castle  of  Roche  Aux  Moines,  in  Anjou,  where  he  heard  of 
the  disastrous  result  of  the  combat  at  Bouvines.  He  at 
once  returned  to  England  and  landed  at  Dartmouth  on 
Wednesday,  October  15th,  having  concluded  a  truce  with 
the  French  King.  Leland  says'*  : — "  King  John  gave 
privilege  of  mairaltie  to  Dartmouth,"  This  assertion  is 
stated  in  the  Magna  Britannia,  to  be  an  error,  and  there 
still  aj^pears  to  be  nothing  to  substantiate  it  ;  but  Mere- 
wether  says'  that  the  Dartmouth  Charter  was  confirmed 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  HI.  and  the  same  author  cites  an 
mquisition  "  ad  quod  damnum  "  of  1319  which  shows  that 
the  inhabitants  claimed,  according  to  the  evidence  then 
produced,  to  have  been  a  free  borough  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  I. 

This  town  is  called  in  ancient  records  Clifton,  Dart- 

1  Hardy,  Disc,  of  Rot.  Pat. 

'  Itin.  V.  2,  p.  39. 

»  ilun.  Corp.  vi.  p.  470. 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  333 

mouth,  Hardnesse,  and  it  really  comprised  three  adjacent 
vills  or  manors.  Of  these,  Dartmouth,  which  in  the  year 
1203,  with  all  its  dues  and  privileges,  belonged  to  Totnes, 
seems  to  have  passed  as  parcel  of  that  Great  Barony  until 
the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  when  it  was  conveyed  by  Willianr 
de  Zouch  to  Nicholas,  of  Tewliesbury  ;  and  the  Patent 
Rolls,  35th  Edward  I.,  No.  38,  show  that  tliLs  conveyance 
received  the  Royal  Assent  in  1305. 

Hardnesse,  now  known  as  Sand-quay,  was  situated  in 
the  ancient  manor  of  Norton,  which  was  originally  the 
property  of  the  unfortunate  Brictric,  the  son  of  Algar, 
and  was  given  at  the  conquest  to  ludhel,  Baron  of  Totnes, 
under  whom  it  was  held  by  William. 

Clifton,  within  "  Sutime,"  or  South  Town,  occupied 
the  position  implied  by  its  name,  and  included  St.  Petrock's 
Church  and  the  Castle.  In  the  Confessor's  reign  it 
belonged  to  the  Saxon  Ulwine,  and  afterwards  passed  to 
William,  who  may  well  have  been  identical  with  the  sub- 
tenant of  Norton,  but  who  in  the  case  of  South  Town  is 
particularly  described  as  the  "  Portitor  "  or  door-keeper. 
A  certain  Richard  (possibly  the  ancestor  of  the  Fitz- 
Stephens,  one  of  whom  conveyed  the  property  at  an  early 
date  to  Fleming),  held  Soutli  Town  under  this  Royal 
official. 

Townstall,  within  which  the  Mother  Church  of  Dart- 
mouth is  situated,  appears  to  have  been  an  appendage 
of  the  manor  of  Norton.  It  is  considered  by  Lysons' 
to  have  been  the  "  Dunestal "  of  the  survey,  which  was 
taken  from  Ansger,  who  owned  it  "  when  King  Edward 
was  alive  and  dead,"  and  was  afterwards  given  to  that 
puissant  warrior,  Walter  De  Douay,  Baron  of  Bampton. 

'■  Mas.  Krit.  i.  63. 


384  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Dartmoutli  is  said  to  have  been  burnt  by  the  French 
ill  the  reign  of  Richard  I.,  but  the  tradition  is  unsub- 
stantiated.' A  market  was  granted  for  this  town  in  1226 
to  Eichard  of  Gloster,  son  of  WilHam  Fitz-Stephen,  to  be 
held  on  Wednesday,  and  a  fair  for  three  days  at  the 
festival  of  St.  John  the  Baptist.  The  Fines  28th  of  Henry 
III.,  cited  by  Brown-Willis,  and  Lysons,  contain  the 
agreement  between  WilUam  de  Cantilupe,  Baron  ofTotnes, 
and  the  burgesses  of  Dartmouth,  for  their  weekly  markets 
as  early  as  the  year  1243  ;  and  in  the  year  1301  Edward 
I.  granted  Gilbert  Fitz-Stephen,  Lord  of  Townstall,  a 
market  at  "  Clifton  Super  Dartmouth  "  on  Thursday,  and 
a  fair  for  two  days  at  the  Festival  of  St  Margaret. " 

In  the  21st  of  Edward  I,  Dartmouth  is  supposed  to 
have  furnished  six  ships  for  the  King's  service,  their  aid 
having  been  rendered  necessary  by  a  quarrel  which  had 
occurred  l)etween  some  sailors  in  a  foreign  port,  and  which 
led  to  important  consequences. 

A  coujile  of  the  crew  of  a  vessel  from  the  Cinque  Ports 
landed  to  obtain  water,  and  became  involved  in  a  dispute 
with  some  Norman  seamen,  which  ended  in  blows  on  both 
sides.  One  of  the  Englislunen  was  slain,  and  his  comrade 
fled  to  his  sliip,  followed  by  a  number  of  his  antagonists, 
but  the  vessel  left  the  harbour  immediately.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  Norman  squadron  fell  in  with  six  English 
ships  which  they  attacked,  and,  having  taken  two  of 
them,  they  hung  the  crews  at  the  yard-anns.' 

^  Rot.  Cart.  11  th  Hen.  III.  m.  i. 
»  Rot.  Cart.  39th  Edw.  I.  19.  Mag.  Brit  ii.  153-4. 
'  "  Suspeiulentes  homines  in  navibus  ad  trabes  navium  suarum,  nuUam 
faciebant  diiferentiam  inter  canem,  et  Anglicuni."     (Knigliton). 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  335 

Such  outrages  were  not  likely  to  be  committed  with 
impunity  upon  British  sailors,  and  the  nation  rose  to  arms. 
The  four  ships  that  escaped  from  the  Channel  were 
joined  by  many  others,  and  the  whole  fleet  under  the 
command  of  Sir  Robert  Tiptoft'  were  soon  engaged  in 
desultory  sklmiishes.  The  EngUsh  were  helped  both  by 
the  Irish  and  Dutch,  while  the  Normans  obtained  the 
assistance  of  the  French,  Flemish,  and  Genoese.  At 
length  on  the  14th  of  April,  according  to  Knighton,  or 
upon  the  same  date  in  the  month  of  May,  says  Trivet,  the 
two  fleets,  well  armed,  met  by  mutual  agreement  at  a 
spot  ui  mid-channel,  which  had  been  Indicated  by  a  large 
and  empty  ship  anchored  there.'  The  weather  at  the 
time  appears  to  have  Ijeen  very  tempestuous.'  So  that 
the  courage  of  the  respective  combatants  appears  to  have 
been  as  imequal  as  the  elements.  The  English  seem  only 
to  have  had  sixty  ships,  while  the  enemy's  fleet  numbered 
240,  or  "  over  200 "  according  to  some  authorities. 
The  thou.sands  said  to  have  been  slain  and  drowned  was 

'  He  was  son  "f  IK'ury  de  Tiptoft,  who  held  lands  in  co.  York  and 
CO.  Liacoln,  and  died  >:.  1250.  In  12G5  R.b.Tt  dc  Tiptoft  was  governor 
of  Porchester  Ciistle,  and  afterwards  of  Nottingham  Castle. 

2  "  Cum-que  tulia  longo  certamine  agerentur  inter  cos,  missis  inter- 
nunciis  placnit  tandem  partibus  certo  die  congredi  cum  toto  conomino 
scilicet  xiiii  die  Apiilis,  fixo  standardo  quasi  in  media  maris  inter 
Angliam  et  Konnanniam  ibi  enini  cum  communi  assensu,  ancoravcrunt 
navem  pergrandem,  et  vacuam,  in  signum  congrcssionis  facieudae." 

'  "  Et  sicut  in  cis  fuerat  disparattw  animorum  .sic  etiam  in  eodcm  die 
contigit  in  lequalitiis  maxima  cleniontoriuni  nivis  srilioet  et  grandinig 
vcnti<iuc  vali.lissimi "  "et  tandem  victoriam  dedit  nostris  ipse  dcus 
omnipotus,  peiiorunt  que  multa  millia  glndio,  pnvtcr  xnhmersos  cum 
navihus  <iua.si  infinito.%  redurgerunt  que  nostri  onostAs  cum  proeda  naves 
circiter  ccxl."     (Knighton,  col.  2495.) 


SliQ  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

probably  a  gross  exaggeration  on  the  part  of  Knigliton. 
Trivet's  account  varies  considerably  from  liis  ;  he  says 
that  the  French  fleet,  which  amounted  to  20C  saQ  and 
upwards,  had  gone  to  Gascony  intending  to  plunder  and 
destroy  all  they  met  with,  and  were,  on  their  return, 
seized  by  sixty  English  ships  and  brought  to  England 
"  on  the  sixth  feria  before  the  eve  of  Pentecost"  (that  is, 
on  Friday,  the  15th  of  May),  all  their  crews  havmg  been 
slain  or  drowned  excepting  those  who  had  escaped  in 
boats.  Another  contemporary  account  of  this  remarkable 
fight  is  that  left  us  by  Peter  of  Langtoft'  :  — 

In  the  year  1293,  Edward  I.  havmg  concluded  a  three 
years'  truce  with  France,  retm-ned  to  this  country  and 
landed  nt  Sandwich  on  the  21st  of  March.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  marched  towards  Scotland,  which  he 
entered  in  June,  and  on  the  22nd  of  July  he  won  the 
battle  of  Falkii-k.  His  fleet  had  proceeded  to  the  Frith 
of  Forth,  and  two  ships  from  the  port  of  Dartmouth  were 
included  in  the  expedition. 

The  burgesses  of  Dartmouth  first  sent  members  to 
Parliament  in  tliis  year  (1298).  After  this  they  seem  to 
have  intermitted   until    the    14th    Edward    III.   (1340). 

1  "  The  batailed  in  the  se, 
Normans  and  Inglis  were  slayn  grete  pleute, 
The  Normans  that  day  les  for  their  powere  was  nouht, 
The  portes  had  als  thei  ches  schippes  inow  tham  brought 
To  Dovere  and  Germne  cam,  and  unto  "WynchiJse, 
To  Romeneye  and  Schorham  and  to  Poveueshe, 
To  Gipwiche  and  .Saiidwiche,  and  to  Southamptouu, 
Alle  the  portes  were  richc,  Irays  and  Bayoun, 
The  five  portes  thorgh  powere  the  se  had  so  coiKjuerd 
That  Normans  all  that  yere  durst  not  be  sene  for  ferd" 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  3  37 

From  then  the  returns  were  regular  until  1832,  when  the 
borough  lost  one  of  its  two  members ;  it  was  finally 
disfranchised  by  the  operation  of  the  Reform  Bill  of  1868. 
The  right  of  election  was  vested  in  the  freemen  of  the 
borough,  who,  in  1822,  numbered  about  forty-five. 

Nicholas  de  Tewkesbury  conveyed  the  town  and  port 
of  Dartmouth  in  fee-simple  to  King  Edward  III.  in 
1327'.  As  I  have  already  remarked,  considerable  doubt 
exists  as- to  the  exact  period  at  which  Dai'tmouth  became 
a  Municipal  borough.  Merewether^  says  that  its 
privileges  as  such  were  confii-med  in  the  reifrn  of 
Henry  III ;  and  he  further  remarks  that  the  King 
(Edward  III.)  granted  a  Charter  in  the  year  1337,  which 
was  followed  by  a  supplementaiy  one  conceding  addi- 
tional advantages  in  1341.  The  late  Dr.  Oliver,  in  his 
account  of  Tor  Abbey,  also  mentions  the  latter  date, 
while  Lysons,  says  : — "  The  earliest  Charter  which  I  can 
fiind  is  that  of  Edward  III,  who,  in  1341,  "  granted  to  the 
burgesses  of  Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hardnesse,  the  power  of 
choosing  a  Mayor,  with  other  privileges,  such  as  holding 
pleas,^&c."' 

The  "  Charter  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  borough  of 
Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hardnesse,"  I'ecites  by  inspeximus 
the  various  confirmations  of  her  predecessors  to  that  of 
Edward  III,  which  was  dated  at  the  Tower  of  London, 
"  quaiiio  decimo  die  Aprilis,  anno  regni  jiostri  Angliae 
quinto  decimo,  regni  vero  nostri  Franciae  secundo."  I  am 
fortunate   enough  to    be   possessed   of   a   copy   of    this 

I  JlaJox,  •'  Firma  Burgi,"  17. 
*  Mun.  Corp.  i,  470. 
"  Rot.  Ciirt.,  15th  Rl,  iii,  4,  18. 
2  U 


338  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Charter,  whicli  was  printed  by  T.  Brice,  of  Exeter,  but  is 
undated.  T.  Brice  flourished  as  a  printer  in  High-street, 
Exeter,  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  last  century 
and  the  coramencement  of  the  present  one. 

The  Charter  of  Edward  III.  is  the  earliest  referred 
to  in  this  document,  and  it  appears  from  it  that  that 
monarch,  upon  the  date  already  mentioned,  in  1341,  in 
consideration  of  the  great  losses  and  hardships  sustained 
by  the  Burgesses  of  Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hardnesse,  by 
reason  of  the  wai'S,  and  on  account  of  their  previous  good 
behaviour  and  of  their  fitting  out  two  ships  of  war  at 
their  own  expense  when  requisite,  granted  them  that  they 
and  their  heirs  and  successors  for  ever  should  be  free  from 
toll,  pavage,  murage,  &c.'  They  are  also  permitted  to 
elect  yearly  from  among  themselves  a  Mayor,  provided  he 
be  a  fit  person  and  faithful  to  the  King  and  kingdom,  to 
keep  the  said  borough,  and  to  hold  pleas,  &c.,  with  the 
bailiffs  of  the  said  borough.  The  burgesses  are  to  be 
allowed  to  dispose  of  their  lands  freely  by  will ;  they  are 
not  to  plead  or  be  impleaded  out  of  the  borough  by  reason 
of  their  tenures,  &c.,  within  it ;  and  they  are  to  have  in- 
and-out  fang-thief  and  the  return  of  writs.  No  sheriff  is 
to  enter  the  borough  to  execute  his  office  but  in  default 
of  the  mayor  and  bailiffs,  and  the  latter  are  not  to  be  put 
in  assizes,  juries,  &c.,  by  reason  of  their  lands  and 
tenements  outside  the  borough,  as  long  as  they  remain 
in  it.  Aliens  are  not  to  be  placed  with  them  in  assizes 
and  juries,  and  no  "  forestaller  "'^  is  to  be  in  the  borough. 

^  For  explanation  of  these  law  terms  see  "  Lailey's  Dictionary." 
"  "  Forestalling "  is  defined  by  jrCulloch.  as   "  the  buying   or   con- 
tracting for  any  cattle,  provision,  or  merchandise  on  its  way  to  market, 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  339 

All  these  rights  and  privileges  were  approved  and 
confirmed  by  King  Richard  II.  at  Westminster  14tli 
December,  1378,  who,  moreover,  on  the  15th  of  November 
1394,  by  his  letters  patent  granted  to  the  said  Burgesses 
"  that  they  should  not  plead  or  be  impleaded,  but  within 
the  said  town  touching  any  matters  arising  therein  unless 
the  same  concerned  the  late  King  and  his  heirs,  or  the 
Commonalty  of  the  said  Borough,  all  of  which  privileges 
he,  King  Richard,  had  fully  confirmed.  And  now,  con- 
sidering the  heavy  losses  which  the  said  Burgesses  had 
sustained  by  occasion  of  war,  and  that  by  said  recited 
letters  patent  they  were  bound  to  find  two  ships  of  war, 
two-deckers,  each  of  120  tons  burthen  as  often  as 
requisite."  He  further  grants  that  the  said  mayor  and 
bailiffs  shall  have  cognizance  of  all  pleas  of  lands  and 
tenements,  and  of  assizes  of  Novel  Disseisin  and 
Mort  d'Ancestor,  within  the  bounds  and  liberties  of 
the  said  town,  and  that  they  may  also  elect  annually 
a  coroner,  who  is  to  take  an  oath  similar  to  that  of  the 
mayor,  well  and  faithfully  to  perform  his  office,  and  that 
no  other  coroner  shall  in  future  interfere  in  the  said  town 
and  liberty,  saving  to  the  Crown  all  fines  and  amerce- 
ments, so  that  the  said  burgesses,  their  heirs  and 
successors,  ^?ic^  two  ships  as  before  required." 

The  bui'gesses  of  Dartmouth  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV. 
appear  to  have  complained  to  the  King  that  although 
the  village  of  Southtown,  Dartmouth,  was  joined  to  the 

or  dissuading  persons  from  sending  their  goods  there,  encouraging  tliem 
to  raise  the  price  or  disseminating  false  rumours  to  enhance  the  value  of 
particular  articles  of  commerce.     The  penalties  enacted  by  old  statutes 
were  very  severe,  but  they  were  all  repealed  in  1772. 
2v' 


340  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

said  borough,  yet  that  the  municipal  authorities  kept 
watch  and  ward  nightly  on  the  confines  of  the  said  village 
and  beyond  at  a  certain  place  "  called  Gallions  Bower  " 
("  vocatum  Gallions  Bowre  "),  in  order  to  discover  any 
enemy  of  the  King  who  might  endeavour  to  enter  the 
harbour,  without  receiving  any  assistance  from  the 
villagers,  since  the  latter  were  not  at  all  benefited  by  any 
()f  the  p7'ivilegcs  or  immunities  which  had  been  granted  to 
the  borough  of  Dartmouth  by  previous  charters.  The 
King  therefore  on  the  23rd  of  June,  1464,  annexed  and 
incorporated  the  said  village  of  Southtown  to  the  said 
borough  of  Clifton,  Dertemouth,  Hardnesse  as  parcel  and 
member  of  the  same,  the  inhabitants  to  participate  in  all 
municipal  privileges. 

All  these  privileges  were  confirmed  by  King- 
Henry  Vn.  at  Westminster  10th  December,  third  year 
of  his  reign  (1 487),  and  were  also  ratified  by  his  successor, 
by  letters  patent,  also  dated  at  Westminster,  10th  of 
May,,  1510. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  there  was 
an  indenture  made  between  the  King  "  on  the  one  partie 
and  the  mayre,  bayliffes,  and  burgesses  of  the  burrough 
of  Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hardnesse,  otherwise  called  the 
borough  of  Dartmouth,  in  the  county  of  Devon,  on  that 
other  part."  The  latter  (after  reciting  that  they  have 
"  beggone  to  make  a  strong  and  mighty  and  defensive 
new  tower  and  -bulwark  of  lime  and  stone  adjoyning  to 
the  Castle  there  ")  covenant  and  agree  for  them  and  their 
successors  that  they  (will)  "  in  all  hast  goodlye  and 
to  them  possible  fynishe  the  making  of  the  said  tower 
and  bullworke  in  sulhcient  fourme,  and  they  and  their 


F ARISE  OF  DARTMOUTH.  341 

successors     the     same     to  were      uud     bull  works     (will) 
"  gavuishe     with     gouns,    artillerye,     and    with    other 
ordinances  defensive  and  sufficient ;  and  also  in  all  times 
from  henceforth  for  ever"  (will)    "  ordeyne   and   find   a 
cheyne  sufficient  in  length  and  in  strength  to  streche  and 
be  laid  over  thwarte  or  stravers  the  moutli  of  the  haven 
of  Dartmouth  aforesaid,  from  the  one  towre  to  another 
towre  there,  at  all  times  necessary  and  conveniable,  and 
all  times  hereafter  the  same  new  tower  and  bullworke " 
(will)  "  fortify,  repair,    and    keep    garnishe    with    gouns, 
artillerye,    and   other   ordeynances.    sufficient   and   con- 
venient for  the  defence  of  the  said  cheyne   and   porte 
towne    and  parties  there  adjoyning,"     "  In  supportation 
and  relief,"  therefore,  the  King  gi-ants  the  said  mayor,  &c., 
£40  annually  for  ever  from  the  ensumg  Michaelmas  out 
of  the  customs  and  subsidies  of  the  ports  of  "  Excester 
and  Dartmouth,"    to  be  paid  half-yearly  at  Easter  and 
Michaelmas.     There  is   a  proviso   declaring   that   if  the 
payment  of  the  annuity  be  interrupted  the  burgesses  are 
to  be  acquitted  of  their   agreement.      Sealed   with   the 
great    seal    of    England,     and    with    the    seal    of    the 
commonalty  of  Dartmouth,  16th  January,  1st  Henry  VII. 
This    indenture    was    confirmed   by    Henry   VIII.    24th 
April,  1510.     The  latter  Monarch  had,  on  the  4th  June, 
1509,  granted  to  William  Crane,   gentleman   {"  capellfe 
nostrcB  officium  "),  the  appointment  of  water  baihft^  of  the 
tomi  of" Dcartmouth, /'orcc/  of  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall,  then 
vacant,  and,  Crane  having  resigned  the  appointment,  the 
King,  on  the  23rd  of  November,  1510,  granted  the  afore- 
said office  to  the  mayor  and  corporation  of  Dartmouth  for 
ever,  to  be  held  of  the  King  and   his   heirs,    Dukes   of 


342  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

Cornwall,  by  the  yearly  i-ent  of  twelve  marks  to  the 
Crown  and  ten  marks  to  the  said  Crane  during  pleasure, 
and  afterwards  by  the  yearly  rent  of  twenty-two  marks 
to  be  paid  to  ths  receiver  of  the  Duchy  at  Lostwithiel 
every  Michaelmas. 

The  Corporation  may  appoint  a  deputy,  either  one 
of  the  burgesses  or  any  other  person  they  please  ;  but 
express  mention  is  to  be  made  of  the  true  yearly  value  of 
the  office  or  the  profits  thereof  These  various  charters, 
grants,  and  privileges  were  confirmed  by  King  Edward  VI, 
8th  August,  1547  ;  by  Queen  Mary,  6th  November,  1553, 
and  finally  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  at  Westminster,  9th 
November,   1558. 

William  Clark  was  the  first  mayor  of  Dartmouth  under 
the  charter  of  Edward  III ;  his  name  occurs  as  such 
in   1341. 

Dartmouth  vessels  had  their  share  in  the  French  war 
of  Edward  III,  and  in  1347  they  contributed  thirty-one 
ships  towards  the  investment  of  Calais,  a  lai'ger  number 
than  any  poii;  in  the  kingdom,  save  Fowey,  which  sent 
forty -seven,  and  Yarmouth  forty- three. 

I  have  selected  these  examples,  amongst  many  others, 
to  show  the  early  maritime  importance  of  Dartmouth,  To 
jji'olong  them  further  would  be  a  mere  I'ecapitulation  of 
the  history  of  England,  since  it  wiU  be  at  once  seen  that 
by  the  terms  of  their  charter  the  Dartmouth  burgesses 
necessarily  participated  in  every  important  undertaking 
of  the  British  Government  prior  to  the  regular  establish- 
ment of  a  navy, 

Walsingham  speaks  of  a  gallant  exploit  of  the  men  of 
Portsmouth  and  Dartmouth  in  the  year  1383,  when  they 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  343 

took  five  French  ships ;  the  whole  of  the  enemy's  crew, 
except  nine  persons,  having  been  killed,  in  the  action. 

In  1404  the  French  burnt  Plymouth  and  sailed  to- 
wards Dartmouth,  where  they  seem  to  have  met  with  a 
warm  reception.  They  are  said  to  have  effected  a  landing, 
but  to  have  been  immediately  surrounded  by  the  country 
people  of  both  sexes,  and  it  is  stated  that  the  bravery  of 
^^he  women  equalled  that  of  the  men.  However,  the 
French  account  declares  that  the  town  was  garrisoned 
by  6000  trained  soldiers,  who  were  defended  by  a  deep 
trench.  The  leader,  Du  Chatel,  was  killed,  and  numbers 
of  his  followers  were  slain  or  taken  prisoners  ;  the 
names  of  some  of  the  latter  have  been  preserved,  together 
with  those  of  their  captors.  The  landing  of  the  enemy 
appears  to  have  been  made  at  Blackpool. 

In  the  year  1588  the  Crescent,  of  Dartmouth,  is  stated 
"  to  have  been  in  fight  with  the  Spanish  Ainnada  off  the 
Start."  At  this  period  the  Dartmouth  bui'gesses  appear 
to  have  followed  a  course  which  they  had  been  previously 
obliged  to  adopt,  and  to  have  obtained  the  assistance  of 
the  neighbourmg  towns  towards  the  necessary  expense  of 
fitting-out  their  two  ships  for  the  Queen's  service.  In 
point  of  fact,  ;is  long  previously  as  1310  the  inhabitants 
had  })leaded  their  utter  inability  to  provide  even  one  ship 
from  their  own  resources,  and  the  people  of  Totnes, 
Brixham,  Portlemouth,  and  Kingsbridge  had  been  ordered 
to  assist  them  with  their  contributions. 

Among  the  archives  of  the  Corporation  of  Dartmouth 
is  an  account  extending  over  twenty  pages  which  is 
endoi'sed  :  "  1588,  the  booke  of  all  ye  vittayling  and  all 
other  charges  bestowed  upon  the  Crescent  and  the  Ilartc 


344  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

in  settinge  them  forthe  to  serve  the  Queens  Majestie  under 
my  Lord  Admyral  and  Sir  Francis  Dracke  as  followyth, 
the  first  daye  of  Maye  the  Crescent  for  seventy  men  and 
the  Harte  for  thirty  men." 

A  very  full  and  complete  summary  of  this  interesting 
document  was  made  a  few  years  since  and  jommunicated 
to  the  Devonshire  Association  at  the  Totnes  meeting  of 
18S0  by  Mr.  Edward  Windeatt.' 

In  the  year  1599  great  preparations  were  once  more 
made  against  a  threatened  invasion  from  Spain.  The  Earl 
of  Nottingham  was  appointed  Lieutenant-General  of 
England,  as  well  by  sea  as  by  land.^ 

'  Dev,  Assoc.  Trans,  xii,  312. 

'■'  I  find  the  following  instructions  relative  to  the  precautions  which 
were  then  taken  for  the  safety  of  the  kingdom  amongst  the  Harleian 
manuscripts. 

"  Letters  directed  to  the  Maiors  of  the  severalle  porta  townes  here 
under  written  to  sett  out  nimble  vessells  to  discover  intelligens  of  the 
Gominge  of  the  Spanish  fleete." 

"  1599. — You  are  not  ignorant  of  the  dailie  advertisements  that  are 
brought  hither  of  the  greet  preparacons  the  Kinge  of  Spaine  doth  make 
by  sea,  not  only  of  shippes  of  warre,  but  of  a  good  nomber  of  gallies  to 
invade  some  part  of  this  realme,  and  therefore  you  can  consider  how 
behoofoU  and  necessarie  it  is  to  have  certaine  intelligence  of  the 
approache  in  the  narrowe  seas,  and  what  course  they  doe  hould.  For 
which  purpose  we  doe  in  Her  ISIajesty's  name,  will  and  commande  you 
forthwith  to  sett  some  two  or  three  nimble  vessels  unto  the  seas  out  of 
that  harbilrgh,  that  maye  goe  and  plie  uppe  and  downe  between  the 
coastes  of  Ffraunce  and  ours  to  learn  what  tliey  may  discover  of  the 
comminge  of  the  said  fleet,  and  use  all  diligence  to  advertise  the  same 
unto  you,  that  we  maye  by  poasts  receave  from  tyme  to  tyme  such  newese 
as  ye  shall  understand  from  them,  herein  requiring  yoii  to  take  present 
order,  and  soe  we,  &c„  &c." 

"I'osTCRiPT. — Wee   think    it    meete    that   you    should    keepe    theis 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  45 


CHAPTER    XIV.—PART     11. 

History  of  Dartmouth—The  Great  Rebellion, 

The  history  of  that  momentous  and  disastrous  struggle 
betwixt  Kinor  and  Commons,  which  agitated  the  minds  of 
men  during  the  fourth  and  fifth  decades  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  has  always  possessed  a  very  great  charm 
for  the  general  reader,  and  the  interest  it  has  commanded 
could  scarcely  have  been  greater  had  the  period  been 
more  remote  and  the  combat  of  a  different  character. 
The  legendary  tales  of  mediaeval  scribes  are  pervaded  by 
a  kind  of  romantic  halo,  and  their  stories  of  Knight- 
errantry  and  personal  prowess  serve  as  a  stimulus  to 
exertion  to  go  forth  and  emulate  the  mighty  deeds  of 
those  who  have  preceded  us,  and  who,  by  their  valorous 
actions  in  the  "  long  ago,"  made  England  what  it  is  now, 
a  country  upon  whose  dependencies  "  the  sun  never  sets." 

But  the  stirring  scenes  which  were  enacted  between 
the  years  1640  and  1660  tended  i-ather  to  the  univei'sal 
destruction   than   to  the  extension  of  this  Kingdom,  for 

piunaces  and   vesseUs  at  sea  as  you  arc  directed  fur  the  space   of   six 
ivoekes." 

"  Periu  Lymo 

PljToouth  Dartemoutli 

Portismouth  Southampton." 

M.S.  Had,  168,  f.  149,  b. 
2  V 


346  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

brother's  hand  was  then  lifted  against  brother,  and  father 
aeainst  son,  our  land  saw  the  "  abomination  of  desola- 
tion  ;  "  it  was  an  unhappy  and  unholy  time. 

And  the  details,  too,  of  the  whole  of  that  fatal  drama 
have  been  handed  down  to  us  as  absolute  matters  of  fact ; 
we  can  most  of  us  count  back  to  the  actual  ancestor  who 
fought  and  bled  for  his  particular  political  or  religious 
conviction,  and  who,  in  very  many  instances,  bequeathed 
to  his  posterity  encumbered  lands  and  impoverished 
resources  as  the  consequence  of  his  adherence  to  one  side 
or  the  other. 

The   tales   have   been   preserved    in    our    towns   and 
villages  of  the  rapine  and  plunder,  the  terror  of  fire  and 
sword  to  which  they  were  exposed  but  little  more  than 
two  short  centuries  ago,  and  many  a  country  home  still 
bears  witness  by  its  loop-holed  walls,  ruinous  wings,  and 
dismantled  gables,  of  that  terrible  period  in  our  history 
when  our  hiUs    and   valleys   resounded    to    the    roar   of 
cannon  and  to  the  rattle  of  musketry,  when  our  churches 
were  turned  into  fortresses  and  our  land  deluged  in  blood. 
The  war  cloud  which  at  an  early  period  of  the  contest 
enveloped  the  west  country  was  not  long  in  falling  upon 
Dartmouth.     In  the  first  instance  the  town  appeal's  to 
have  declared  in  favour  of  the  Parliament,  but  at  this 
period     the     fortifications     were      neither     strong     nor 
sufficiently  garrisoned.    Still  it  was  able  to  make  a  sturdy 
defence  against  the  attack  of  Prince  Maurice,  who,  after 
the  capture  of  Exeter  4th  September,  1643,  immediately 
marched  his  forces  there  Tor  its  reduction.     However,  the 
Prince  had  no  sooner  accomplished  his  march  thither  than 
a  most  inclement  and  tempestuous  autumn  set  in,  and  the 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  347 

Roval  soldiers,  who  were  insufficiently  provided  with 
shelter  and  ordinary  necessaries,  felt  its  effects  very 
greatly.  Many  of  them  died,  and  according  to  Clarendon' 
"  more  ran  away,"  and  it  was  not  until  after  a  siege  of  a 
month  that  the  place  was  surrendered.  It  was  in  the 
final  assault  that  Colonel  James  Chudleigh  (son  of  Sir 
George  Chudleigh)  was  shot  through  the  body  and 
died  in  a  few  days.  Ensign  John  Buckman  and  three 
soldiers  of  the  King's  were  buried  at  St.  Saviour's  Church 
on  the  4th  and  9th  of  October,  as  shown  by  the  parochial 
register.  On  the  4th,  too,  a  certain  Captain  William 
Brooking,  who  was  probably  a  Parliamentary  officer,  was 
interred  there. 

The  Prince  had  no  sooner  established  himself  in  the 
town  than  his  men  set  about  strengthening  the  fortifica- 
tions, and  preparing  for  the  siege  to  which  they  well 
knew  they  must  inevitably,  sooner  or  later,  be  themselves 
exposed.  On  the  summit  of  the  hill  overlooking  the 
Castle  was  the  strong  fort  called  Gallant's  Bower,  to 
which  I  have  already  dravm  attention  in  my  abstract  of 
the  indenture  made  between  the  burgesses  and  King 
Henry  VII.  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign.  Kingswear 
Fort,  on  the  easten\  side  of  the  river,  also  received  due 
attention,  and  was  garrisoned  by  Sir  Henry  Gary  with  his 
own  regiment.  It  mounted  twelve  guns,  and  was  weU 
victualled,  and  supplied  with  plenty  of  ammunition. 
Tunstall  Church  was  also  fortified  with  earthworks,  and 
supplied  with  a  garrison  of  a  hundred  men  ;  ten  guns 
were  placed  in  position  there,  and  four  more  in  the  West 
Gate,  and  two  upon  the  Mill  Pool.     Paradise  Fort  and 

1  History  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  iv.,  322. 
2  v^- 


348  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Mount  Flaggon,  and  the  northern  part  of  the  town  called 
"  Hardnesse,"  were  also  put  into  a  proper  state  for 
resistance. 

The  narrative  of  the  siege  of  Dartmouth  by  Fairfax 
will  be  best  told  in  the  General's  own  letter,  addressed 
January  20th,  1645-6  to  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  and 
sent  to  London  by  the  hands  of  Hugh  Peters,  the 
chaplain. 

To  the  night  Hon.  the  Speaker,  and  the  House  of  Peers, 

pro   temp. 

My  Lords, — After  my  coming  to  Totnes,  the  enemy 
rising  in  great  disorder  from  their  seige  of  Plymouth 
leaving  their  guns  and  some  ammunition  behind  them^  I 
considered  with  those  about  me  of  attempting  upon 
Dartmoutii,  and,  it  being  concluded  affirmatively,  I  caused 
two  regiments  of  foot  to  march  to  Ditsham,  and  two  to 
Stoke  Fleming,  being  on  the  west-side  of  Dart  river  ;  I, 
having  summoned  the  place  befoi'e,  resolved  upon  Sunday 
night  to  attempt  it  by  storm,  which  was  agreed  to  be 
done  in  three  places.  The  first  post  was  on  the  West- 
Gate,  by  Colonel  Hammond  ;  on  the  north -end  of  the 
town  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pride  ;  and  on  TunstaU 
church  and  works  by  Colonel  Fortescue.  The  time 
resolved  on  was  in  the  evening ;  our  men  fell  in  with 
great  resolution  (to  whom  Cokmel  Lambert's  regiment 
Mere  a  reserve,  and  to  alarm  the  enemy  elsewhere), 
Colonel  Hammonde  entering  the  west  gate,  where  four 
guns  were  planted,  and  two  upon  the  mill-pool  upon  his 
flank.  The  enemy,  firing  his  great  guns  but  once,  his 
men  that  had  the  forlorn  hope  did  veiy  gallantly  (as. 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  349 

indeed,  they  did  all),  and  went  freely  on  and  beat  off  the 
enemy,  and  possessed  one  fort  after  another,  viz..  Mount 
Flaggon,  West-gate,  Paradise  Foi-t,  and  beat  off  the  main 
guard,  where  were  taken  four  Lieut.-Colonels,  and  so 
possessed  the  town  frera  the  West-gate  to  Little  Dart- 
mouth. In  the  interior  Lieut. -Colonel  Pride  attempted 
the  north  part  of  the  town  called  Hardness,  where, 
beating  off  the  enemy,  he  entered  it  and  took  about 
eighty  prisoners  in  it,  and  by  it  possessed  all  the  north 
part  of  tlie  town  unto  the  drawbridge  wliich  divided  the 
north  luu-t  from  the  rest  of  the  town,  where  Colonel 
Plammonde's  men  and  his  met.  Colonel  Fortescue  with 
his  men  attempted  Tunstall  church  which  was  very  well 
manned  with  above  100  men,  and  having  in  it  ten  guns. 
His  men,  after  some  dispute,  with  good  resolution,  entered 
the  place  and  possessed  it,  so  that  the  enemy  was  beaten 
out  of  all  except  the  great  fort  on  the  east  side  of  the 
river  called  Kingsworth  Fort  and  the  castle  with  the  fort 
which  lay  over  the  castle  at  the  mouth  of  the  harbour 
called  Gallante  Bower,  to  which  last  the  Governor  with 
the  Earl  of  Newport  and  as  many  as  escaped  us  fled. 
After  they  were  forced  from  their  strengths  out  of  the 
town,  the  Governor,  coming  back  from  the  Castle  to  see 
in  what  posture  the  town  was,  had  a  remarkable  shot,  as 
he  was  in  the  boat,  one  sitting  by  him,  a  musket  shot  was 
made  at  the  boat,  which  pierced  the  boat  and  through 
both  the  thighs  of  one  that  was  next  to  him,  and  about 
three  inches  into  his  own  thigh,  upon  which  he  retreated 
to  the  castle.  Our  dragoons  with  two  companies  of  our 
tire-locks  and  some  seamen  were  ordered  to  alarm  Kings- 
worth    Fort,    wherein   were    Sii-   Henry    Cary   with   his 


350  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

regiment  having  in  it  twelve  guns  and  twelve  barrels  of 
powder,  and  convenient  proportion  of  ammunition.  This 
had  a  very  strong  bulwark,  strong  enough  to  have  made  a 
troublesome  resistance,  but  the  enemy  came  wiUingly  to 
terms,  and  to  save  time  I  willingly  condescended  to  let 
Sir  Henry  Gary  march  away  with  the  rest,  leaving  the 
arms,  ordnance,  ammunition  with  all  provisions  in  the  fort 
to  me  and  all  engaging  themselves  never  to  take  up  arras 
more  against  the  Parliament,  and  which  were  accordingly 
performed.  Next  morning,  being  master  of  all  but  the 
Castle  and  Gallante's  Bower,  I  summoned  that ;  the 
Governor  was  willing  to  listen  to  me  ;  but  I  held  him  to 
those  terms,  upon  which,  after  some  dispute,  he  yielded, 
which  was  to  deliver  himself  and  all  officers  and  soldiers 
upon  quarter.  He  sent  me  out  Colonel  Seymour  and  Mr. 
Denham  for  hostages,  with  whom  came  out  the  Earl  of 
Newport,  and  all  was  this  day  performed  accordingly.  In 
this  fort  and  castle  were  eleven  guns,  with  proportion  of 
ammunition  and  pi'ovisions.  We  have  taken  in  the 
harbour  two  men-of-war,  one  belonging  to  the  Governor  of 
Barnstaple,  with  twelve  guns,  bui'den  200  tons ;  the  other 
belonging  to  Newcastle,  formerly  Captain  Johnson's,  of 
ten  guns.  In  the  town  103  pieces  of  ordnance  and  about 
600  jDrisoners  and  100  horse,  with  a  good  proportion  of 
arms  and  ammunition,  an  exact  particular  whereof  I  am 
not  able  to  give  your  lordships  at  present  an  account 
thereof,  there  being  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
soldiers  in  Plymouth  and  some  officers.  And,  under- 
standing that  that  town  had  2,500  in  garrison  besides 
townsmen,  J  have  sent  thither  for  500  foot  for  the  place, 
who  quickly  will  increase  to  more,  and  to  this  I  desire 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  351 

your  approbation ;  for,  having  found  more  work  to  do,  I 
held  it  not  fit  to  weaken  my  army  especially  considering 
the  recruits  designed  by  you  I  doubt  wdl  be  too  long 
before  they  come.  I  have  given  your  lordsliips  a  brief 
account  of  this  service,  which  I  desire  might  be  accounted 
a  sweet  mercy  of  God  in  a  very  fitting  season,  and  only 
ascribed  unto  Him  who  truly  did  direct  and  act  it,  and 
made  all  the  preparations  to  it,  both  in  ordering  our 
hearts  and  giving  health  to  the  army  which  laboured  two 
months  ago  extremely  of  sickness,  but  is  now  in  good 
disposition  generally  as  to  health.  I  can  say,  I  find  it  in 
the  hearts  of  all  here  in  all  integrity  to  serve  you,  and 
that  it  is  so  is  still  the  mercy  of  God ;  for,  surely,  success 
of  your  affairs  only  depends  upon  the  ordering  of  a 
gracious  Providence,  which  is  no  less  visible  in  your 
Councils  (which  we  congratulate)  than  among  us,  that 
being  the  common  root  and  spring  of  all,  and  wliich  can 
and  will  carry  you  through  the  greatest  difficulties,  and 
we  in  serving  you  until  God  hath  finished  His  own  work  ; 
wherein  to  possess  the  obligation  of  myself  and  army  by 
the  same  good  hand  of  God  is  all  the  undertaking  of 
Your  lordship's  most  humble  servant, 

Thomas  Fairfax. 
Dartmouth,  January  20th,  1645. 

For  a  further  relation  of  particulars  I  refer  you  to  Mr. 
Peters,  who  was  present  upon  the  place,  and  did  much  to 
encourage  the  soldiers  to  do  their  duty.'" 

1  Prisoners  taken  at  Dartmouth,  January  19th,  1645. 


S52 


DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 


GOVERNOR  : 

Sir  Hugh  Pollard.      The  Earl  of  Xewport.      Colonel  Seymour. 

Lieut. -Colonels  (Four.) 

Codriiigton.       Blunt. 
AYadland  and  Searle. 

Majors.         (Two.) 

Fulford. 
Hooper. 

Captains.         (Fifteen.) 


Pollard. 

Colefin. 

Horton. 

Woodly. 

Ford. 

Conway. 

Sampson. 
Duke. 

Blewitt. 
Start. 

Reynolds 
Leo. 

PowelL 

Do-ivning. 

Phillips. 

Lieutenants.         (Fourteen.) 

King." 

Drew, 

Slanner. 

Pollard. 

Williams. 

Johnson. 

Hunt. 
Duncalf. 

Eldon. 
Blee. 

Hinlay. 
Searle. 

Kigan. 

LibuU. 
Ensigns.         (Seven.) 

Ricliard. 

Dode. 

Fitz-James. 

Upton. 

Praed.               | 

Waggin. 
Vichering. 

"  Many  country  gentlemen,  ministers,  and  inferior  officers,  all  the 
common  soldiers,  being  betwixt  800  and  1,000,  are  set  at  liberty  to  repair 
to  their  dwellings  ;  ordnance  about  120  mounted,  two  meu-of-war  in  the 
harbour." 

Lnmediately  after  the  conclusion  of  this  aflfair  a  French  ship,  ignorant 
of  the  surrender  of  the  town,  entered  the  port  with  despatches  from  the 
Queen,  Lord  Goring,  and  others.  When  the  captain  discovered  Jiow 
matters  stood  he  threw  the  packet  overboard,  as  he  had  been  directed  to 
do  ;  but  it  was  afterwards  recovered  and  sent  up  to  the  Parliament,  by 
which  means,  it  is  said,  some  of  the  Koyal  plans  became  exposed. 

Dartmouth  had  now  fallen  absolutely  into  the  hands  of  the  Parlia- 
mentary forces  and  the  country  people  began  to  see  that  the  Royal  cause 
was  utterly  lost,  and  flocked  to  Fairfax  in  large  numbers.  3,000  of  them 
enlisted  under  the  Puritan  flag  at  Totnes  a  few  days  after  the  capitula- 
ion.     Fairfax  was  awarded  a  pension  for  his  services  here. 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  353 


CHAPTER    XIV.— PART    III. 

History   of   Dartmouth — (Personal    History). 

William  La  Zouche,  of  Harringworth,  county  Bedford, 
inherited  the   whole  barony  of  Totnes   in    right    of  his 
mother,    MiUcent,   great   granddaughter    of    Judhel    de 
Totnais,  and  co-heir  to  her  brother,  George  de  Cantilupe, 
she  having   obtained    it  in  partition  with  her   nephew, 
John,  son  of  her  sister's  husband,  Henry  de  Hastyngs.  ' 
He   granted   the   Dartmouth    property   to    Nicholas,    of 
Tewkesbury,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  merchant  of 
some  eminence  there,  and  this  conveyance  received  the 
Royal  assent  in  the  year   1305.     According  to  Madox, 
"Firma    Burgi,"    Tewkesbury,    in    the    year     1327,    re- 
conveyed  the  town  and  port  to  the   King,  Edward  III ; 
and  it  is  certain  that  that  monarch  conferred  the  manor, 
or  such  portion  of  it  as  had  belonged  to  Tewkesbury, 
upon  his  trusted  servant  and  follower,  Guy  of  Torbrian.' 
Sir  Guy  de  Brien,  son  of  the  grantee,  died,  vitd  patris, 
August,   1385  ;   leaving   by   Alice,   his  second  wife,  two 
daughters  :  Phillippa  (who  was  first  the  wife  of  Sir  John 
Devereux,  and  after  his  death  of  Scrope)  and  Elizabeth, 
whose  first   husband   was   Robert  Fitz-Payne,  and  who 
married,    secondly,    Robei-t    Lovell.       These    daughters 

»  Plac.  do  quo  W arr.  15th  Ed.  I. 
*  Rot.  Pat.  15th  Ed.  III. 

2  X 


354  DEVOSSHIRE  PARISHES. 

appeax  to  have  succeeded  to  their  grandfather's  property 
:is  co-heirs. 

Isabel,  daug  Iter  of  Robert  Fitz-Payne  and  Elizabeth, 
transmitted  the  Dartmouth  property  to  her  son,  Robert 
Lord  Poynuigs,  whose  son,  Richard  Poynings,  pre-deceased 
him,  but  left  a  daughter,  Eleanor,  bom  in  1423,  who 
carried  it  to  her  husband,  Henry,  thii-d  Earl  of 
Northuml>erland. 

This  nobleman  held  high  command  in  the  Lancastrian 
Army  at  the  battle  of  Towton,  and,  although  slain  there> 
in  the  Parliament  assembled  on  the  fourth  of  the 
following  November,  he  was  attainted,  and  Edward  IV. 
seems  to  have  divided  his  property  among  the  Kevilles, 
since  John  Neville,  Lord  ^lontague,  was  create  Earl  of 
Northimiberland,  and  William  Neville,  Lord  Falconberg 
and  Earl  of  Kent,  obtained  a  grant  of  the  Dartmouth 
estate.  Upon  his  death  he  was  succe«led  there  by  the 
King's  brother,  George,  Duke  of  Clarence,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  ultimately  suffocated  in  the  Tower  in  a  butt  of 
malmsev.'  The  voung:  Henrv  Percv  was  a  minor  at  the 
period  of  his  father's  de.ith  at  Towton,  and  the  King 
oi-dered  him  to  be  detained  in  the  Tower  of  London. 
Here  he  remained  until  the  27th  October,  1469.  when  he 
was  brought  before  the  King  at  Westminster  and 
subscribed  to  the  foUoAving  oath  : — 
"  Soveraigne  Loixle, 

"  I,  Henry  Percy,  becora  youre  subgette  and  hegeman 
and  promyt  to  God  and  you,  that  hereafter,  I  Feyth  and 
Trouth  shall  here  to  you,  as  my  soveraigne  liege  Lorde, 
and   to   your  Heii"es,  Kynges  of  England,  of  Lyfe  and 

>  Pat«nt  2nd  Ed.  IV. 


FARlSIl  OF  DARTMOUTU.  855 

Lymiiie  aiid  of  erthely  worshippe  tor  to  lyve  and  die 
uyennst  all  erthely  people.  And  to  you  and  your  com- 
mandements  I  sluUl  be  obeisauut,  i\s  God  mc  help  and  his 
hole  Emnijelistes."  Upon  this  submission  the  King 
ordered  his  release  from  custody. 

In  the  12th  Edward  IV.  this  nobleman,  who  had  been 
permitteil   to   assume   his  father's   title   two  years  pre- 
viously, was  restored  in  blood  and  honours,   ami   to    all 
such  hereditaments  of  the  late  Earl,  whose  attainder  was 
now  reverseil,  as  had  fallen  into  the   Royal   hands.     He 
afterwards  appeai-s  to  have  been  lukewarm  in  his  resis- 
tance at  the  battle  of  Bosworth,  to  the  Earl  of  Richmond 
who,  upon  liis  accession  i\s  Henry  VII,  at  once  took  \\hn 
into  flxvour.     He  was  killed  in  a  riot  at  Cocklodge,  near 
Thirsk,  eighteen  miles  north  of  York,  28th  of  April,  1488. 
He  left  several  children  by  his  wife,  Maude,  daughter  of 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  was  succeeded  by   his   son 
Henry  as  fifth  Eaad  of  Northumberland,  who  in  the  1 5th 
Henry  VIII,  :is  cousin  and  heir  to  Sir  Edward  Poynings, 
Knt.,  had  livery  of  the  lands  of  the  said  Sir  Edward,  he 
l^ing  "  son  and  heir  of  Henry  Percy,  son   of  Eleanor, 
daughter   of  Richard,    son   of  Robert,    Lord    Poynings, 
Fitz-Pain  and  Brian.'     Previously  to  this  there  had  been 
an   agreement   between    him    ai\d    his    wife,    Catherine 
(Spenser),  and  Christopher  (Bainbrigg),  Cardinal  of  York 
and  Archbishop,  concerning  lands  "  in  Lincoln,  Leicester, 
Gloucester,  Somerset,  Sutfolk,   Doi-set,   London,  Canter- 
bury, Devon,  Sussex,  and  Hereford,  im-J tiding  the  Manor 
of  Clifton,  Dartmouth,  Hardnesse.'"'     The  Earl  died  in  the 

»  Rot.  Pat.  15th  Honry  VIII. 
«  Feet  of  FiiK-^,  6tU  Ileury  VIII. 
2  X' 


356  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

year  1523.  The  will  of  his  Countess  is  dated  14th 
October,  1542.  They  were  both  buried  in  the  Percy 
tomb  at  Beverley  Minster.  Their  son,  Henry,  who 
succeeded  as  sixth  Earl,  was  in  his  younger  days  a 
member  of  Cardinal  Wolsey's  household,  and  having 
conceived  an  affection  for  Anne  Boleyn  he  is  by  some 
said  to  have  been  a  suitor  for  her  hand,  although  he 
subsequently,  upon  his  oath,  denied  any  contract  or 
engagement  with  her.  Anyway  the  King  proved  a  too 
powerful  rival  for  the  youthful  Earl,  who  ultimately  was 
persuaded  to  marry  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Shrews- 
bury, but  he  left  no  issue.  His  brother.  Sir  Thomas 
Percy,  having  been  concerned  in  the  Askes  conspiracy, 
was  executed  at  Tyburn  in  the  29th  of  Henry  VIII,  and 
he  himself  departed  this  life  in  the  same  year.  His 
youngest  brother.  Sir  Ingelram  Percy,  died  without  issue. 
In  consequence  of  the  attainder  of  his  unfortunate  brother, 
Thomas,  the  Earl,  gave  away  a  considerable  portion  of  his 
property  to  the  King  and  others,  and  the  title  became 
extinct.  It  was  revived,  however,  on  the  30th  of  April, 
3rd  and  4th  of  Philip  and  Mary,  when  the  Queen  con- 
doned the  sins  of  the  father  and  advanced  Thomas,  son  of 
the  aforesaid  Sir  Thomas  Percy,  to  the  degree  of  a  Baron, 
in  consideration  (as  explained  in  the  Patent)  "  of  his 
noble  descent,  constancy,  virtues,  valour  ui  deeds  of  arms, 
and  other  shining  qualifications."  On  the  following  day 
he  was  ci'eated  Earl  of  Northumberland,  with  limitation 
of  his  honours,  in  default  of  his  own  issue,  to  Henry,  his 
brother,  and  his  heirs  male, 

This  Earl  was  a  trusted  servant  of  Queen  Mary,  and 
was  much  favoured  by  Queen  Elizabeth  at  the  commence- 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  357 

nient  of  her  reign.  He  was  afterwards  beheaded  at  York 
22nd  August,  1572.  His  honours,  like  his  property, 
would  have  fallen  to  the  Crown  under  his  attainder,  but 
by  the  reversion  the  titles  descended  to  his  brother 
Henry,  who  thirteen  years  later  was  committed  to  the 
Tower  for  supposed  participation  in  a  plot  for  the  release 
of  the  Queen  of  Scots. 

On  Monday,  the  21st  June,  15S5,  he  was  found  dead  in 
his  bed  there  with  three  bullets  in  his  body  which  had 
entered  near  his  left  breast.  The  door  was  bolted  on  the 
inside,  and  the  pistol  seems  to  have  been  given  him  by 
his  servant,  who  was  examined  at  the  inquest,  together 
with  the  person  from  whom  the  weapon  had  beejr 
jmrchased.  The  jury  found  that  the  Earl  had  committed 
suicide. 

Queen  Elizabeth  appears  to  have  granted  the  manor 
and  borough  of  Dartmouth  to  three  persons.  Downing, 
Ashton,  and  Peter,  who  conveyed  them  to  the  Mayor  and 
Town  Council,  who  still  hold  them.' 

The  statements,  however,  of  our  county  historians  as 
to  when  and  through  whom  the  Corporation  of  Dai-traouth 
became  the  owners  of  the  property,  are  as  irreconcilable 
as  the  various  conjectures  which  have  been  hazarded 
relative  to  the  date  of  the  incorporation  of  the  Borough. 
Westcote  remarks"  that  "  in  process  of  time  Michael  de 
Tewkesbury  and  the  Bryans  did  purchase  this  town  both 
in  lands  and  all  manner  of  customs  to  them  and  their 
heirs  to  the  uae  of  the  town  for  ever."     Risdon  tells  us,' 

1  Mag.  Brit.  2,  157. 

2  "  View  of  Devon,"  424. 
»  "Survey,"  p.  16. 


358  DEVONSHIRE    PARISHES. 

"  One  Robert  Tewkesbury,  a  merchant  and  inhabitant  of 
the  place,  purchased  them  (the  lands),  to  the  use  of  the 
town,  in  the  fifteenth  of  King  Edward  the  Third's  reign, 
at  which  time  the  King  granted  them  power  to  chuse  a 
Mayor  and  other  liberties."  The  Lysons  say,  and 
rightly,  "In  or  about  the  year  1341,  King  Edward  III. 
granted  to  his  servant  Guy  de  Brian  part  of  the  Manor  of 
Dartmouth,  which  had  belonged  to  Tewkesbury."  Prince 
cites  Hoker,  Pole,  Westcote,  and  Eisdon,  and  informs  us 
in  his  "  V7orthies,"  under  Hawle}^  "  the  antiquaries  of 
tliis  county  do  all  agree  that  after  the  Lord  Zouche's 
time,  whose  antiently  Dartmouth  was,  one  Tewkesbury,  a 
merchant  and  inhabitant  of  that  town,  did  purchase  the 
lands  and  all  manner  of  customs  to  him  and  his  heu-s  to 
the  113 ;  of  the  said  town  for  ever." 

It  is  inconceivable  how  these  eri-ors  and  discrepancies 
can  have  arisen,  more  especially  since  Pole  and  Hoker 
flourished  in  the  Elizabethan  age  ;  and  Westcote  and 
Risdon  not  very  long  afterwards.  Of  the  two  latter, 
Westcote  was  rather  the  elder,  although  he  died  nearly 
about  the  same  time  as  his  contemporary.  He  must  have 
written  his  "  View  of  Devonshire  "  between  the  years 
1627-42,  since  he  mentions  Bishop  Hall  as  the  then 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  and  "he  probably  departed  this  life 
between  the  years  1639-44,  since  his  death  is  not  recorded 
[n  the  remaining  portion  of  the  Shobrook  registers,  where 
he  is  known  to  have  been  mterred,  and  the  leaves  which 
contained  the  entries  of  the  above-mentioned  years  have 
been  wantonly  cut  out  of  the  volume."  The  Town 
Council  may  have  owned  a  large  amount  of  scattered 
property  within  the  borough,  and  possibly  were  extensive 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  359 

copy-holders  ;  but  the  Feet  of  Fines  alone  prove  that 
the  Percy  iamily  had  the  manorial  rights  as  late  as 
Easter  Term,  6th  Henry  VIII  ;  and  other  public  records, 
to  which  I  have  also  referred,  clearly  show  their  descent 
and  inheritance  from  the  illustrious  Royal  Standard- 
Bearer,  Guy,  Lord  of  Tor  Brian,  the  trusty  follower  of 
King  Edward  III. — and  again,  during  the  Wars  of  the 
Roses,  upon  the  attainder  of  the  Lancastrian  Percy,  this 
very  manor  of  Dartmouth  was  immediately  conferred  by 
the  Crown  upon  adherents  of  the  House  cf  York.  As 
far  as  the  customs  of  the  town  were  concerned  we 
have  seen  that  it  was  not  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VII, 
and  only  then  because  the  burgesses  had  "  begonne  to 
make  a  mighty  and  defensive  new  tower  and  bulwarke,' 
and  were  about  to  protect  the  hai-bour  with  a  chain,  that 
they  were  granted  an  annuity  of  £40  cut  of  the  customs  of 
Exeter  and  Dartmouth,  so  that  the  various  tales  relative 
to  Tewkesbury,  called  indifferently  Robert,  Michael,  and 
Nicholas,  and  his  purchase  of  the  town  and  customs  in 
conjunction  with  the  Brians,  for  the  use  of  the  town,  can 
be  nothing  more  than  pure  and  simple  tradition.  There 
is  yet  another  discrepancy,  which  is  noticed  by  Lysons," 
which  is  etiually  inexplicable,  unless,  as  is  most  probable, 
there  has  been  an  error  as  to  date  in  some  original 
document,  either  in  the  Inquisition  after  the  death  of 
Guy  de  Brien,  the  elder,  or  in  the  Escheats  and  Close 
Rolls  of  lOth  and  17th  Richard  IT.  The  Inquisition, 
14th  Richard  II,  states  that  his  two  grand-daughters, 
Philippa,  wife  of  Sir  John  Devei'eux,  at  this  time  Wiis 
twelve  years  of  age,  and  Elizabeth,  then  the  wife  of 
1  Mag.  Brit.,  vol.  i,  p.  102,  n. 


360  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

Robert  Lovell,  only  nine.  The  Escheats  and  Close  Rolls, 
dated  two  years  later,  give  the  age  of  Isabel,  daughter  of 
Elizabeth,  as  thirty,  when,  according  to  the  Inquisition. 
her  mother  could  have  only  been  eleven  years  old. 
Ehzabeth  ivas  called  Lovell  in  the  1st  of  Henry  IV. 
(1399),  when  the  estates  of  Sir  Guy  de  Brien  were 
divided  between  her  and  her  sister  Philippa  ;  so,  as  Sir 
William  Pole  says.  Sir  Robert  Fitz- Payne  must  have 
been  her  first  husband,  and,  as  he  died,  seized  of  certain 
estates  in  28th  Edward  III.  (1355)  in  conjunction  with 
Ela  his  wife,  and  is  moreover  declared  to  have  had  an 
only  daughter  and  heir,  Isabel,  married  to  Sir  Richard 
Poynings,  this  lady,  according  to  the  dates  quoted  by  the 
authors  of  the  Magna  Britannia,  would  appear  to  have 
been  born  seven  years  after  her  father's  death,  and  eighteen 
years  before  the  birth  of  her  supposed  mother,  an  impos- 
sibility which  they  do  not  remark  ^ipon,  although  they  di-aw 
attention  to  the  circumstance  that  "  Isabel,  the  heiress  of 
Fitz-Payne,  appears  to  have  been  thirty  years  of  age  at 
the  time  that  the  co-heiress  of  Brien,  erroneously,  as  it 
should  seem,  supposed  to  have  been  her  mother,  was  only 
eleven."  They  also  add  that  "  it  appears  unaccountable 
to  them  that  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  should  have 
been  deemed,  as  Sir  William  Pole  calls  him,  the  heir- 
general  of  Brien,  and  as  such  should  have  had  lands 
awarded  to  him." 

But  amidst  these  conflicting  anachronisms,  there  is 
abundant  evidence  that  Robert  Lord  Poynings  inherited 
the  Baronies  of  Fitz-Payne  and  Brian  in  right  of  his 
mother  Isabel,  and  that  his  grand-daughter  Eleanor,  sole 
heir  to  the  family,  became  the  wife  of  Henry  Percy,  third 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  361 

Earl  of  Northumberland,  after  which  marriage  the  titles 
became  merjjferl  with  tliose  transmitted  by  her  husband  to 
their  descendants,  as  stated  by  Sir  William  Pole.  The 
Percys  ilo  not  seem  to  have  been  at  first  admitted  as  the 
successors  of  the  Brians  la  the  Devonshire  property,  for  in 
the  year  1447  Sir  Henry  Percy  had  a  special  livery  ot  all 
the  lands  of  the  Poynings,  Fitz-Payn  and  Brian  in  right 
of  his  wife  Eleanor,  and  there  is  no  mention  of  any  pro- 
perty in  this  county  in  the  confirmatory  patent,  25th 
Henry  VI  ;  but,  as  I  have  mentioned  elsewhere,  as 
eaily  as  the  year  1498  Heiuy,  Earl  of  Northumberland, 
described  as  Dominn.t  Maneriorum  de  Brian  ct  Slapton," 
presented  a  Rector  to  the  latter  Church.'' 

The  family  of  Fitz  Stephen  were,  at  a  very  early  date, 
the  owners  of  considerable  property  iu  the  vicinity  of 
Dartmouth,  being  lords  of  the  manors  of  Sutune, 
Dunestal,  or  Townstall,  and  Norton,  to  all  of  which  I 
have  referred  already.  In  the  year  1177  the  King 
granted  Robert  Fitz-Stephen,  in  conjunction  with  Milo 
de  Cogan,  the  kingdom  of  Cork,  to  hold  of  himself  and  his 
son  John. 

This  "Robertus  filius  Stephani,"  as  he  describes  him- 
self in  two  inidated  deeds  by  which  he  conveys  land  iu 
Ireland  called  "  Muribot-hinuliui  and  liabilaniioclian  "  to 
the  Priory  of  St.  Nicholas,  at  Exeter,  appears  to  have 
been  contemporary  with  William  and  Eustachius  Fitz- 
Stephen,  both  of  whom  may  have  been  his  sons.  The 
latter  was  High  Sheriff  of  Devon  iu  the  22nd  Menry  II; 
the  former  gave  Townstall  Church  to  the  Abbot  and 
Convent  of  Tor,  and  the  name  of  his  wife  Isabella  occurs 

*  "  Ashbuiton  ami  iU  neighbourhood,"  p.  150. 
2  Y 


.102  DEVONmiRE    PARISHES. 

in  the  deed  of  gift  which  was  confirmed  by  Richard,  his 
son,  and  likewise  by  Simon  of  Apulia  (1214-1224). 

At  a  later  date  Bishop  Edmund  Lacy,  1420-1458, 
estimated  the  Vicarage  of  Towustall  at  twenty  marks 
\aluo  for  the  purpose  of  taxation.  In  1251,  Gilbert,  son 
of  Richard  Fitz-Stephen,  who,  afterwards  as  Lord  of 
Townstall,  obtained  a  Market  and  Fair  for  Clifton,  In 
Sutune,  in  1301,  entered  into  an  agreement  with  the 
Abbot  and  Convent  in  respect  of  his  Chantry  Chapel  of 
Norton;  and,  in  1294,  his  signature  occurs  to  another 
deed  in  connexion  with  the  advowsoi  of  Townstall 
(/hurcli.  His  father,  Richard,  appears  also  to  have  given 
the  Monks  of  Tor  a  certain  quantity  of  land  in  the 
Manors  of  Norton  and  Townstall  ;  his  deed,  "  de 
quibnsdam  particulis  terre  jacentibus  apud  Townstalle," 
was  probably  executed  about  the  year  1284,  and  there 
were  other  conveyances  of  his,  of  subseqvient  date, 
relative  to  two-acres-and-a-half  of  land  in  the  Manor  of 
Norton,  and  "  de  ii  acris  et  dimid.  jacentibus  apud 
Townstalle."  Ultimately  the  Abbot  and  Convent  of  Tor 
became  the  owners  of  the  -whole  ]\Ianor  of  Townstall, 
exclusive  of  Norton,  and  at  the  dissolution  it  was  valued 
at  £7  lis.  7d.  a  year. 

"  Redditus  assisi  de  liberis  ct  convencionariis  tenenti- 
bus  ibidem  per  anniun  \\\l.  \\s.  \\<1. 

"  De  finibus  terrarum  cum  j)erquisitis  curie  et  aliis 
profiscuis  ibidem  eommunibus  annis  v.s.  iiirf."' 

Gilbert  Fitz-Stephen  seems  to  have  been  the  last  of  his 
name  at  Dartmouth,  and  his  line  probably  terminated  in 
co-heirs.     One  of  these  is  stated  to  have  married  Bastard, 
1  "  Valor  Eccl, 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  363 

of  Garstoii  (now  of  Kitley )  ;  the  other  probably  became 
the  wife  uf  Dawney.  It  is  eei'taiti  that  the  Dawneys 
succeeded  tlio  Fitz-Steplieus  at  Norton  either  by  i)urch;use 
or  otherwise,  and  the  Manor  was  afterwards  distiii;^'iushed 
by  the  addition  of  their  name,  and  was  known  as  Norton- 
Dawney. 

Jolui,  son  of  EUas  de  Churchelle,  and  liis  wife,  Dorothy 
Columbers,  married  Joan,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Roger, 
son  and  heir  of  William  Dawuey,  and  had  two  daughters, 
Margaret,  the  wife  of  HUlersdon,  and  Agnes,  whose 
husband  was  Thomas  Gilford,  of  Thewborough.  The 
other  co-heir  of  Roger  Davvney,  Emeline,  was  not  married 
to  Edw;ird,  Ecul  of  Devon,  as  sttited  by  Risdon,  but  to 
Edward  Courtenay,  of  Godlington,  third  of  the  eight  sons 
of  Hugh  de  Courtenay,  second  Earl  of  Devon  ot  that 
name,  and  who  died,  vita  Fatris.  The  eldest  son,  Hugh, 
commonly  called  Hugh  Courtenay  le  Fitz,  who  had 
married  Elizabeth,  sister  of  Guy  de  Brian,  King  Edward's 
Standai-d  Bearer,  had  also  departed  this  life,  and  had  left 
issue  a  son,  Hugh,  who  had  married  Matilda,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Holland,  Eiirl  of  Kent,  hy  Joan  I'lantagenet,  his 
wife  (known  as  the  "  Fair  Maid  of  Kent,"  granddaughter 
uf  Edward  I,  and  mother,  by  the  Black  Prince,  of  King- 
Richard  II)  ;  but  he  died  childless  in  1377.  Con- 
sequently, upon  the  death  of  his  grandfather  iu  the  latter 
year,  whose  second  son,  Thomas,  M.  P.  for  Devonshire, 
was  also  doiul,  the  title  and  estates  descended  to  Edward 
Courtenay,  known  as  tlie  "  Blind  Earl,"  eldest  son  of  the 
aforesaid  Edward  and  of  liis  wife,  Emeline  Dawnoy.  He 
was  succeeded  in  due  course  by  his  son  Hugh,  whose 
wife,  Aim,  according  to  Risdon,  held  the  Dartmouth 
2  Y-^ 


3()4  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

property  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI  ;  ))ut,  althougli 
Norton-Dawney  appears  to  have  continued  I'or  several 
i^erierations  in  the  Courtenay  family,  it  is  not  referred  to 
in  tlie  Exchequer  record  of  the  possessions  of  the  said 
Hugh,  and  this  omission  is  the  more  pecuhar  since  the 
account,  which  is  long,  and  apparently  exhaustive, 
particularly  describes  the  lands,  and  distinguishes  what, 
and  how  much,  he  held  as  belonging  to  his  Earldom  of 
Devon,  and  what  as  belonging  to  his  Barony  of  Oke- 
hampton,  and  also  the  multitude  of  fees  he  held  by 
Knight's  service. 

Subsequently  the  family  of  Boone  resided  at  Townstall 
in  a  house  called,  after  them,  Mount  Boone,  which  resi- 
dence during  the  Civil  War  was  fortified  and  taken  by 
storm,  prior  to  the  capitulation  of  J64G,  by  Col.  Pride 
during  his  attack  upon  the  north  side  of  the  town.  It  is 
said  to  have  been  armed  with  twenty- two  guns.  The  last 
of  the  family  was  Thomas  Boone,  who,  by  his  will,  dated 
14th  March,  1677,  gave  to  the  poor  of  Dartmouth  an 
annuity  of  £10  out  of  "his  moiety  and  halfendeal, 
undivided  of  the  messuage  tenement  and  appurtenances, 
called  Townstall,  situate  in  the  said  parish."  Mr.  Boone 
died  in  1G79,  and  shortly  afterwards  Norton-Dawney  was 
purchased,  under  a  decree  of  the  Court  of  Chancery,  by 
John  Harris,  whose  family  subsequently  sold  it  to  John 
Seale,  who  then  resided  at  Mount  Boone,  which  "  godely 
heritage  "  his  trustees  had  purchased  for  him  during  his 
minority. 

About  the  commencement  of  the  17th  centuiy  a 
certaui  Robert  Seale,  of  an  ancient  Northumbrian  stock, 
a  member  of  which  had  reoeived  a  grant  of  arms  from  the 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  305 

Heralds'  College,  9tli  July,  1599,  came  southwanl,  and 
settled  ill  Jersey,  where  the  Carterets,  Seigneurs  du 
St.  Owen,  had  long  "  flourished  iu  much  reputation." 
Thomas  Seale,  son  of  this  Robert,  married  Anne,  daughter 
ol  Sir  Philip  Carteret  (who  was  killed  iu  battle  with  the 
Dutch  28th  May,  1(572),  and  sister  of  the  celebrated  Sir 
George  Carteret,  Chief  Justice  of  the  island  and  Governor 
of  Mount  Orgueil  Castle,  who  became  at  eight  years  of 
age  (9th  March,  1674),  the  husband  of  Lady  Grace 
Granville,  and  was  raised  to  the  Peerage  as  Baron 
Carteret  of  Hawnes,  in  the  county  of  Bedford,  iu  the  year 
1681. 

Sir  Bernard  Burke  says  that  Thomas  Seale  was  the 
only  son  of  the  aforesaid  Robert,  but  it  would  appear  that 
he  had  a  ))rother  called  I'eter,  since  "  Thomas  Seale,  sou 
of  Peter  Seale,  of  Jersey,  gentleman,"  matriculated  at 
Pembroke  College,  ()xford,  -ind  L)eceml)er,  170(3,  being 
then  aoed  16.  He  was  afterwards  Fellow  of  Exeter  from 
1709  to  1729,  and  died  Hector  of  Broad  Somerford, 
Wiltshire,  iu  1771. 

John,  sou  of  Thouiiis  Seale,  and  Anue  Carteret  his 
wife,  wiis  of  Mount  Boone,  iu  the  parish  of  Towiistall, 
that  estate  having  been  purchased  for  him  by  Iiis  trustees 
duriu"-  his  minority.  He  was  thrice  married,  lirst  to  the 
only  daughter  of  Charles  Hayne,  of  Fuge,  in  the  parish  ol' 
Blackawton,  whose  grandfather,  Cornelius  Hayne,  had 
built  the  house  there  in  172.'5.  She  died  issueless,  as  did 
also  his  third  wife,  Anna  Maria,  grent-gi-and-daughter  of 
the  Rev.  Vincent  Rogers,  of  Stratford-le-Bow,  and  sister 
of  Sir  John  Rogers,  of  Plymouth,  M.P.,  for  that  borough 
and  High  Sherili' of  Devoushiie  iu  the  year   17U6,   who 


366  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

WHS  created  a  Baronet  21st  of  February,  1G98,  and  who, 
by  liis  marriage  with  Mary,  daughter  of  Mr.  Alderman 
Vincent,  of  the  City  of  London,  becanie  the  ancestor  of 
the  present  Lord  Blachford,  creation  4th  November,  1871. 
By  his  second  wife,  EHzabeth,  daughter  of  John  Fownes, 
of  Nethway,  in  the  parish  of  Brixham,  William  Seale  had 
three  sons,  of  whom  Thomas  died  s.p.  1772  ;  Henry,  also 
s.p.  1768  ;  and  Elizabeth  niai'ried  Charles  Fanshaw, 
Recorder  of  Exeter.  Their  father  expired  7th  September, 
1777,  and  was  succeeded  at  Townstall  by  his  second  and 
oidy  surviving  son,  John  Seale,  of  Mount  Boone,  who 
married  in  1775,  Sarah,  daughter  of  Charles  Hayne,  and 
sister  and  co-heir  of  Charles  Hayne,  of  Lupton  and  Fuge, 
and  had  by  her  three  sons  and  two  daughters,  who 
maiTied  Kekewich  and  Lister.  Of  the  sons  Robert  died 
unmarried  in  1819,  and  Charles  Henry,  who  was  a 
captain  m  the  navy,  married  in  1827,  and  has  issue 
surviving.  Mr.  Seale  died  23rd  May,  1824,  aged  seventy- 
one,  and  his  eldest  son  and  successor,  John  Henry  Seale, 
born  August,  1785,  represented  Dartmouth  in  Pai'liament, 
and  was  created  a  Bai'onet  in  1838.  He  married,  in  1804, 
Paulina  Elizabeth,  only  child  of  Sir  Paul  Jodrell,  M.D., 
second  son  of  Paul  Jodrell,  of  DuflSeld,  Solicitor-GeneriJ 
to  Frederick  Prince  of  Wales.  By  this  lady,  who  died 
17th  April,  1862,  Sir  J.  H.  Seale  had  a  numerous  family — 
seven  sons  and  two  daughters.  Upon  his  death,  29th 
November,  1844,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  Baronetcy  by 
his  eldest  son,  the  present  Sir  Henry  Seale,  who  was 
borne  at  Mount  Boone  17th  February,  1806,  but  who  now 
resides  at  Norton  Parks  and  Hill-field.  His  second  son, 
Charles,  inherited  the  Brixham  property,  took  with  it  the 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  367 

name  of  Hayne  upon  attaining  his  majority,  and  was  the 
father  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Seale  Hayue,  M.P.,  of  Fuge, 
and  Kingswear  Castle.  Sir  John's  third  son  was  the  llev. 
Edward  Taylor  Seale,  Rector  of  Moreleigh,  near  Totnes. 
His  eldest  daughter  is  the  widow  of  the  1 0th  Lord 
Cranstoun.  The  arms  granted  by  the  Heralds'  College  to 
Seale  of  Northumberland  in  1599  were:  Or,  a  fesse  be 
tween  three  wolves'  heads  erased  sa. — Crest  out  of  a 
Uucal  Coronet  or,  a  wolfs  head  arg.  embrue  1  at  the  nose 
and  mouth.  The  coat  of  Sir  Heiu-y  Seale  is  somewhat 
similar,  b\it  it  has  been  duly  dirterenced,  and  the  following 
is  the  blazon  of  "Seale  of  Mount  Boone,  Co.  Devon, 
Bart.  "  :— Or,  two  barrulets  az.  between  three  wolves' 
heads  erased  Sa.  in  the  fesse  point  a  mural  crown  gu. 
Crest  out  of  a  crown  vallery  or,  a  wolf's  head  arg.,  the 
neck  encircled  with  a  wreath  of  oak  vert. 

In  the  year  1675  King  Charles  the  Second  raised 
Charles  Peg,  to  whom  he  had  given  the  name  of  Fitz- 
Charles,  to  the  Peerage  by  the  style  and  title  of  Baron 
Dartmouth,  Viscount  Totnes,  and  Earl  of  Plynunith. 
This  nobleman  was  the  King's  natural  son,  by  Catheiine, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Peg,  of  Yeldersly,  in  Derbyshire,  who 
hiwl  also  a  daughter  by  him  called  after  her,  but  who  ilied 
in  infancy.  Lord  Plymouth  married  Bridget  Osborne 
(third  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Osborne,  wlio  was  raised 
to  the  Peerage  in  1673,  1  5tli  August,  and  was  elevated 
to  the  Dukedom  of  Leeds  4th  May,  1604),  but  had  no 
issue  by  her.  He  died  at  tlie  siege  of  Tangier,  17th 
October,  1680,  when  his  title  became  extinct.  His  arms 
may  be  still  seen  in  St.  Saviour's  Church  in  one  of  the 
windows  ; — The   Boyal   Arms   debruised    with   a   baton 


368  DEVONSHIBK  PARISHES. 

sinister,  and  sm-niounted  by  a  coi'onet.  His  widow 
niaiTJed  secondly  Dr.  Philij)  Bisse,  who  was  translated 
from  St.  David's  to  the  See  of  Hereford  in  January, 
1712-13.  He  died  on  the  6th,  and  was  buried  In 
Hereford  Cathedral  on  the  11th  September,  1721. 

Admiral  George  Legge  was  raised  to  the  Peerage  by 
tlie  title  of  Baron  of  Dartmouth,  2nd  December,  1G82. 
His  son,  William,  2nd  Baron,  was  advanced  to  the 
dignities  of  Viscount  Lewlsham  and  Earl  of  Dartmouth, 
5th  September,  1711.  The  fourth  son  of  the  hrst  Earl, 
the  Ho)i.  Henry  Bilson  Legge  was  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  in  the  Duke  of  Newcastle's  administration  in 
17ri4.  He  married  September  .Trd,  1750,  Mary,  only 
daughter  and  heir  of  Edward,  last  Li)rd  Stawell,  aiid 
whose  peerage  was  revived  in  her  person  by  a  fresh 
patent  creating  her  Baroness  Stawell,  of  Somerton,  co. 
Somerset,  May  21st,  1760  ;  her  granddaughter,  Mary, 
carried  with  her  the  Stawell  property,  in  Hampshire,  to 
her  husband,  the  Hon.  John  Dutton,  second  Lord 
Sherborne,  and  at  her  death  Hinton  Anmer,  in  Hamp- 
shire, which  had  been  derived  by  the  Stawells  thi'ougli 
marriage  with  the  Stucleys,  passed  to  her  second  son,  the 
late  Hon.  John  Dutton,  who  mariied  Lady  L.  A.  Parkei', 
youngest  daughter  of  the  5th  Lord  Macclesfield,  and  had 
issue. 

The  name  of  Hawley  has  been  so  thoroughly  identified 
with  Dartmouth  that  some  mention  of  the  family  here  is 
absolutely  necessary,  although  the  materials  for  anything 
like  a  complete  or  connected  history  of  this  ancient  Dart- 
mouth family  are  but  scanty.  The  great  ruins  of  Hawley 's 
hall  were  remaining  in  that  part  of  the  town  called  Hard- 


PAIIISII  OF  DARTMOUTH.  3G9 

nesse  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  as  testified  by  Leiand 
in  his  Itinerary,  and  a  quaint,  but  by  no  means  reliable 
account  of  John  Hawlcy  is  given  by  Prince,  who  inchides 
him  in  his  "  Worthies  of  Devon." 

It  is  certain  that  John  Hawley,  the  older,  was  a  most 
successful  merchant,  that  he  acquired  innnense  we;iltli, 
and  that  he  appears  to  have  used  it  "  with  great  liberality 
and  public  spirit."  Of  his  birth  and  extraction  nothing  is 
known.  He  represented  his  ancient  borough  in  Parlia- 
ment during  a  great  part  of  the  reign  of  Henry  IV. 
(1399 — 1408).  He  founded  the  Chancel  of  S.  Saviour's 
Church,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity,  October 
13th,  1372,  as  shown  by  Bishop  Brantyngham's  Register. 
He  seems  to  have  hired  Portuguese  ships  at  his  own  cost 
and  to  have  descended  upon  the  French  soon  after  Easter 
1389,  when  he  captured  thirty-two  vessels  laden  with 
"  wine  of  Rochelle '" — and  last,  but  not  le;ist,  he  is  shown 
by  the  Close  Rolls,  4th  Horny  IV,  to  have  Ijeen  called 
upon  to  appear  before  the  Privy  Council  in  1492,  to 
explain  his  connection  with  certain  piratical  proceedings. 
He  probably  did  explain  away  the  suspicion  which  had 
been  raised  against  him,  for  we  find  that  he  return(,>.il  to 
Dartmouth  wheie  he  died,  and  was  buried  on  the  30th  of 
December,  1408.  His  first  wife,  Joanna,  died  12tli  July, 
1394.     His  second,  Alice,  7th  January,  1403. 

His  son,  John  Hawley,  who  was  also  M.P.  for  Dart- 
mouth, during  the  reigns  of  Henry  IV,  V,  VT,  married 
Emma,  daughter  and  heir  of  Sir  Robert  Tresilian,  by 
Emmot,  or  Emmeline,  daughter  and  heir  of  Sir  h'ichard 
Huyshe,   of  Chagford,  and  had    an  only    daughter   and 

1  Sir  H.  Nicholas,  "  History  Koyal  Navy,"  II,  329. 


370  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

heii'    Elizabeth,    the    wife    of    John    Coplestone,    who 
died  1458. 

His  second  son,  Nicholas,  married  Jane  Hext,  oi 
Kingston,  in  the  parish  of  Staverton,  and  may  have  been 
the  father  of  Edward  Hawley,  who  was  a  benefactor  to 
Exeter  College,  Oxford,  of  twenty  marks,  and  who 
flonrished  there  abont  the  year  14G0.' 

The  arms  of  Hawley,  quartered  by  Coplestone,  were 
Arg.  three  bugle  horns  Sa.,  the  lower  surmounted  by  an 
arrow  in  pale  between  two  mullets  of  the  second.  There 
is  a  trick  of  these  arms  in  the  Chapter  House,  Exeter, 
M.S.,  No.  3532. 

There  is  another  Dartmouth  worthy  who  demands 
more  than  a  passing  notice,  and  concerning  whom  I  am 
able  to  give  a  more  reliable  and  connected  account  than 
has  been  possible  in  the  case  of  Hawley.  Thomas 
Newcomen,  the  inventor  of  the  Stationary  Steam  Engine 
was  a  native  of  Dartmouth,  and  was  baptized  at  St. 
Saviour's  Church,  February  28th,  1663.  But  very  little 
about  him  has  been  hitherto  known  in  Dartmouth, 
excejjting  that  he  resided  there  in  a  house  situated  in 
Lower  Street,  and  is  believed  to  have  been  a  Non- 
conformist, and  a  tradesman  of  the  town,  either  a 
lock-smith  or  an  ironmonger :  —it  has  been  also  said  a 
chemist.  The  house  in  which  he  lived  was  taken  down 
by  oi'der  of  the  Local  Board  in  November,  1864,  and  Mr. 
Thomas  Lidstone,  the  present  Diocesan  Surveyor,  became 
the  purchaser  of  the  most  interesting  portions  of  the  old 
dwelling,  such  as  carved  wood-work  and  projecting 
windows.  These  he  afterwards  incorporated  in  a  new 
building  wliich  he  erected  at  his  own  expense,  and  called 

'  Reg,  CoD.  Exon.  Boase. 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  371 

Newcomen  Cottage.  A  scientific  man  himself,  Mr. 
Lidstone,  became  very  much  interested  in  the  history  of 
Thomas  Newcomen,  a;id  he  also  interested  me.  He  was 
astonished  to  find  how  very  little  was  known  about  him 
in  his  own  neighb  )urhi)od,  and  how  very  unsatisfactory 
that  little  was.  In  1871  he  published  a  small  pamphlet 
entitled,  "  A  Few  Notes  and  Queries  about  Newcomen," 
and  "  a  drawing  of  his  Engine,  his  house,  and  fire-place," 
and  wiis  good  enough  to  send  me  a  copy.  Some  time 
afterwards  he  discovered  at  the  neit{hbourinf  Church  of 
Stoke  Fleming,  an  old  brass,  which  dirt  and  neglect  had 
made  very  difficult  to  read.  Of  this  brass  he  kindly  gave 
me  a  rubbing,  and  1  at  once  found  that  it  aftbrded  the 
necessary  clue  for  the  identification  of  the  family  and 
descent  of  the  inventoi*.      The  inscription  is  as  follows  : — 

"  Elias  old  lies  here  intombed  in  grave 
But  Newcomiti  to  heaven's  habitation, 
In  knowledge  old,  in  zoal  in  life  most  grave, 
Too  yood  for  all  who  live  in  lamentation, 
Whose  sheep  and  seed  with  heavie  plaint  and  mone. 
Will  say  too  late,  Klias  old  is  gone." 
The  13tli  July,  1614. 

Over  this  inscription  is  a  sliield  of  arms,  with  helmet, 
crest  and  mantling,  which  was  easily  explained  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Heralds'  College  Records. 

1.  Arg.  a  lion's  head  erased  Sa.  between  3  crescents 
Gu.  (Newcomen,  of  Saltfletby,  co.  Lincoln). 

2.  Sa.  a  chevron  between  3  escallops  Arg.  (King  of 
Gains  boro). 

3.  Arg.  a  chevron  cnigraled    between    3    clarions   Gu. 

(Grenfeild,  of  Barnebow,  co.   York). 
2  7/ 


372  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

4.  Gu  (?)  on  a  bend  Arg.  3  leopards'  heads  vert. 
(Stevenson,  of  Boston,  co.  Lincoln). 

5.  Arg.  a  chevron  engraled  between  3  lions'  heads, 
erased  Sa.  (on  the  brass,  a  chevron  between  3  leopards' 
faces  a  bordure  engraled),  (Fereby,  co.   YorkJ. 

6.  P.  Pale  Erin,  and  Gu,  a  rose,  counterchanged 
(Nighthigale). 

7.  On  a  chevron  engraled  Gu.  3  escallops  between  3 
lions  pass  Gd.  ?     (Ellis.) 

8.  Newcomen  (as  before). 

Crest.  A  lion's  gamb  erased  and  erect  Sa.  differenced 
ivith  a  crescent,  thereon  a  mullet. 

Gorton  (Biographical  Dictionary)  calls  "Newcommen" 

"a    practical  philosopher  distinguished    for   his 

successful  efforts  towards  the  improvement  of  the  steam 
engine.  He  was  a  locksmith  at  Dartmouth  in  Devonshire, 
towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  notwith- 
standing his  humble  situation  he  engaged  in  scientific 
researches."  Thomas  Newcomen,  however,  was  the  direct 
lineal  descendant  of  one  of  the  oldest  county  families  in 
Lincohhshire,  and  a  Devonshire  man  in  riofht,  of  beinef  third 
in  descent  from  his  great  grandfather,  Elias  Newcomen, 
rector  of  Stoke  Fleming.  The  pedigree  of  his  house  is  pre- 
served at  the  College  of  Arms  (Vincent,  150,  fo.  133),  and 
commences  with  Hugo  Newcomen,  of  Saltfletby  co.  Lincoln, 
A.D.  1189-99.  The  arms  of  King  were  acquired  by  the 
marriage  of  William  Newcomen,  of  Saltfletby,  (eightli 
in  descent  from  Hugh),  who  died  in  1466,  with 
Alice  daughter  and  heir  of  William  King,  of  Gains- 
borough, merchant ;  those  of  Gren  field,  Stevenson, 
and  Fereby  by  the  marriage  of  Brian  Newcomen  (grand- 
son of  William  and  Alice),  with  Margaret,  daughter  and 


PARTSII  OF  DARTMOUTH.  373 

co-heir  of  John  Grenfeld,  of  Barneborough,  co.  York,  by 
his  wife  Isabella,  daughter  and  heir  of  Robert  Stevenson, 
of  Garthorp,  co.  Lincoln.  The  descents  of  both  Grenfeild 
and  Stevenson  are  given  in  the  chart.  Nightingale  and 
EUis  were  broiiglit  in  by  the  alliance  of  Charles 
Newcomen,  of  London  (second  son  of  Brian  and  Margaret 
Grenfeld),  with  Johane  daughter  and  heir  of  Richard 
Nightingale  and  Elizabeth  (Ellis?)  his  wife.  Eli;is 
Newcomen,  of  the  Bi-ass,  was  the  third  son  of  Charles. 
He  was  in  Holy  Ordera,  became  Rector  of  Stoke  Fleming, 
as  shown  by  the  Episcopal  Registers  hi  the  year  IGOO 
and  died  in  1614. 

He  had  a  brother,  Robert,  who  went  to  Ireland  and 
was  created  a  baronet.  Eight  descents  of  this  branch  are 
recorded  in  Burke. 

His  son,  Thomas,  appears  to  have  settled  in  the 
adjacent  pai-ish  of  Dartmouth,  and  lived  in  the  house  in 
Lower  Street,  afterwards  occupied  by  the  inventor.  He 
is  party  to  a  bond  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  lloldsworth  of 
Kino-sbridoe,  dated  27th  November,  1651.  His  son, 
called  after  the  Rector  of  Stoke  Fleming,  Elias,  was  the 
father  of  the  inventor,  whose  baptism,  "  Thomas,  son  of 
Elias  Newcomen,"  occurs  in  the  S.  Saviour's  Baptismal 
Register,  February  28th,  1G63.  He  married  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Peter  Waymouth,  of  Malburough,  co.  Devon, 
Mamage  Licence,  Principal  Registry,  Exon,  dated  13th 
July,  1705.     He  died  in  1729. 

He  left  two  sons  :  Thomas  and  Elias.  Thomas 
Newcomen,  son  of  Thomas,  compiled  a  pedigree  with  a 
view  of  proving  his  claim  to  the  Irish  Baronetcy,  which 
had  been  conferred  upon  Robert,  brother  of  Elias,  Rector 


374  DEVONSHIRE  PARISHES. 

of  Stoke  Fleming,  but  probably  abandoned  the  attempt 
from  want  of  funds  to  prosecute  his  claim. 

Elias,  second  son  of  the  inventor,  married  Hannah, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Waymouth,  of  Exeter.  Her  settle- 
ment, dated  27th  November,  1749,  conveys  to  her  the 
house  in  Lower  Street  in  which  her  father-in-law,  Thomas 
Newcomen  had  lived  (Waymouth,  8,  D.,  14,  61,  Coll.,  Ar.) 
Her  husband,  Elias,  was  engaged  in  the  erection  of 
steam  machinery.  His  will,  dated  24th  May,  17G0, 
was  proved  22nd  of  November,  17G5.  His  seal,  appended 
to  a  cancelled  will,  bears  the  arms  and  crest  of 
Newcomen,  of  Saltfletby.  They  had  issue,  Thomas 
Newcomen,  who  died  young ;  Samuel  Newcomen,  who 
died  at  Charlesto%vn,  S.  Carolina  M  26  and  unmarried  ; 
John  Newcomen,  -who  died  young  ;  Hannah  and  Martha. 
Hannah,  married  twice ;  first,  Nicholas  Gibbs ;  and 
second,  William  Prance,  of  Plymouth.  Martha  married 
John  Shute,  of  Crediton.  Licence  dated  28th  June, 
1773,  Principal  Registry,  Exon.  See  also  Waymouth's 
Ped.  Coll.  Ar.  as  above.  Li  the  Museum  of  Kinsf's 
College  is  preserved  the  "  original  "  model  of  Newcomen's 
steam  engine,  iJthough  Mr.  Lidstone  considers  that  it 
was  not  his  work,  but,  perhaps,  that  of  his  son  Elias.  It 
is  said  to  have  been  constructed  for  presentation  to  King 
George  IH,  and  was  exhibited  at  South  Kensington  in 
1876.  An  older  model,  described  as  a  rude  one,  and  the 
identical  one  which  "  Watt  was  repairing  when  he 
invented  his  improvements "  is  in  the  Museum  of  the 
Gliisgow  University.  These  models  are  in  fact,  models 
of  the  first  machine,  by  means   of  which  steam  power 


PARISH  OF  DARTMOUTH.  375 

could  be  safely  applied  for  mechanical  purposes. 
Newcomeu  appeai-s  to  have  had  his  atteiitioa  directed 
to  this  matter  by  the  schemes  and  observations  of"  the 
Marquess  of  Worcester,  the  French  philosopher  Papin, 
and  by  Captain  Savery's  proposal  to  employ  the  power  of 
steiun  ill  draining  the  Cornish  mines,  and  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  producing  a  vacuum  below  the  piston  of  his 
engine,  after  it  had  been  raised  by  the  expansive  force  of 
the  elastic  vapour.  This  he  eftected  by  the  injection  of 
cold  water  to  condense  the  vapour.  He  appears  at  fu'st 
to  have  been  ;ussisted  in  his  experiments  by  two  other 
Dartmouth  men — Calley,  a  brazier,  and  a  person  called 
How  ;  in  a  somewhat  higher  capacity  than  that  of 
mechanics ;  but  ultimately  he  seems  to  have  pm-sued  his 
experiments  "  alone  and  in  secret  on  the  leads  of  his 
house."  The  Marquess  of  Worcester  appears  to  have  first 
adopted  the  idea  of  employing  steam  to  work  a  permanent 
engine,  and  he  (then  Lord  Herbert)  had  established  what 
he  termed  "a  water  commanding  enjjine  "  at  Kaifland 
Castle,  ill  1 040.  He  appears  to  have  employed  high 
pressure  steam  upon  water  contained  in  close  vessels,  and 
■was  thus  enabled  to  force  water  to  considerable  elevations. 
Then  Cii])tain  Savery  created  a  vacuum  within  the  vessels 
by  the  external  application  of  cold  water.  Papin,  of 
Blois  in  France,  proposed  the  use  of  a  cylinder  and 
piston,  separate  from,  but  connected  with,  the  work  to  be 
done,  but  gave  no  practical  effect  to  his  suggcstion.s, 
which  was  left  for  Newcomen  to  accomplish,  and  a.«  we  all 
know  the  work  was  ultimately  i)erfected  and  conqiletcd 
by  James  Watt,  of  Glasgow,  and  Birmhigham.    It  appears 


370  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

extraordinary,  as  Mr.  Lidstone  remarks,  that  "  the  inipor- 
tiuice  of  this  invention  has  never  been  pubhcly  recognized 
in  connection  with  Newcomen's  memory  ;  and  that  there 
should  be  in  no  place  greater  apathy  on  the  subject  than 
in  the  town  where  he  perfected  his  wonder  working 
machine." 


END     OF    VOL.     I. 


NOTICE. 

An     Index    to    tlie 

two 

volumes, 

;in(l 

tlic!  list   of"  Subscriber 

s   to 

the   work 

^vill 

be    issued    in    the    second 

volume    of 

"  Devonshihk    Parishes.  " 

37fi  DEVONSHIRE   PARISHES. 

extraordinnry,  as  Mr.  Lidstone  remarks,  that  "  the  itiipor- 
tunce  of  this  invention  has  never  been  pubhcly  recognized 
in  connection  with  Newcomen's  memory  ;  and  tliat  there 
should  be  in  no  place  greater  apathy  on  the  subject  than 
in  the  town  where  he  perfected  his  wonder  working 
machine." 


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