Boconnoc
Boconnoc (
The parish is rural in character and is fairly well wooded. It is bordered to the west by
History
There are Cornish crosses in the churchyard, on Druids' Hill and in Boconnoc Park. The latter cross was removed to here from Lanlivery and has some curious incised ornament.[5]
The manor of Boconnoc is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Bochenod, and was then one of the many hundred possessions of Robert, Count of Mortain, the half-brother of King William the Conqueror.[6] Robert's tenant was a Briton named as "Offers", elsewhere in the Domesday Book named "Offels, Offerd, Offers, Osfert, Osfertus",[7] and now known as "Osfrith of Okehampton" in Devon.[8] In 1086 Osfrith held in total 12 manors in Devon and Cornwall, and before the Norman Conquest of 1066 had held 20.[8] The holder in 1268 was De Cant.[9]
Carminow
At some point Boconnoc came into the possession of the Carminow family, who originated in the Cornish parish of
Some details of Sir Ralph's time at Boconnoc can be found in the “History of Parliament”. In the 1370s he and his brother petitioned Edward the Black Prince, as Duke of Cornwall and his father King Edward III of England against John Sergeaux, husband of his wife’s sister, alleging that Sergeaux had sent men to Boconnoc, viciously assaulted him and his wife, removed 200 pounds worth of goods, and left him for dead. While serving as sheriff of Cornwall, Sergeaux then launched a second effort to obtain the property by an attachment order, taking more of his possessions to an alleged value of 1,000 pounds.[12]
On a visitation of the diocese in 1371, Bishop Thomas Brantingham of Exeter found that Sir Ralph and his first wife Catherine Champernowne were living as man and wife illegally, their marriage being invalid in canon law as they were related in both the third and the fourth degrees of consanguinity. Summoned before the bishop in 1372, Sir Ralph presented letters he had obtained from the papal nuncio, Cardinal Simon Langham, granting the couple dispensation for the marriage.[12]
In 1381 a royal commission found that William Botreaux, 1st Baron, hearing of the Peasants' Revolt in London, had gathered 80 men and broken into the park at Boconnoc, hunted the deer, killing 20 of them, and generally damaged the property. Botreaux’s wife appealed against the charge, saying that her husband was then on military service in Portugal and that the accusation against him was false. In 1383 Sir Ralph was one of 18 major landowners in Cornwall ordered to reside near the sea, in his case probably at Boconnoc which is at the head of the Fowey estuary, in order to provide prompt defence in case of French invasion.[12]
He was supposed to be at Westminster for the opening of Parliament on 1 October 1386 but had not left Boconnoc by 9 October 1386, when he went out hunting with a pair of greyhounds, who pulled him to his death over the edge of a cliff (the fate of the dogs is not recorded).[12]
The estate passed to his younger brother, Sir William Carminow (died 1407),
Courtenay
Sir Edward de Courtenay of Goodrington was the second son of
Sir
It is believed that Boconnoc reverted to the crown in consequence of an attainder in the Courtenay family,[17] and was later regranted to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (c.1485-1555).[18] It was sold in 1579 by Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford (1527–1585) to Sir William Mohun, who died seised of it in about 1587.[19] Sir William Mohun was in any case one of the rightful co-heirs of the Courtenay family of Boconnoc.
- Elizabeth Courtenay, wife of John Trethurffe of Trethurffe in the parish of Ladock, Cornwall.
- Maud Courtenay, wife of John Arundell of Talvern
- Isabel/Elizabeth Courtenay, wife of William Mohun of Hall in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey in Cornwall, a descendant of John Mohun (d.1322) of Dunster Castle in Somerset, feudal baron of Dunster by his wife Anne Tiptoft.[23][24] In 1628 her descendant John Mohun (1595–1641) was created by King Charles I Baron Mohun of Okehampton, his ancestor having inherited as his share Okehampton Castle and remnants of the feudal barony of Okehampton, one of the earliest possessions of the Courtenays.[25] The Mohuns' held the manor of Boconnoc not (as might be expected) as a share of the Courtenay inheritance, but by lease from the Russell family, Earls of Bedford.[26]
- Florence Courtenay, wife of John Trelawny
Thus the Courtenay estates were divided into four parts.[20] On the death of Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, in 1556, the actual heirs to his estates were the following descendants of the four sisters above:[27]
- Reginald Mohun (1507/8-67) of Hall in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey in Cornwall, who inherited Okehampton Castle and had leased Boconnoc from the Earl of Bedford. His descendant was John Mohun, 1st Baron Mohun of Okehampton (1595–1641) who was elevated to the peerage by King Charles I as Baron Mohun of Okehampton, in recognition of his ancestor having inherited Okehampton Castle as his share of the Courtenay inheritance.
- Margaret Buller;
- John Vivian;
- John Trelawny;
Mohun
The Mohuns of Boconnoc and of Hall in the parish of Lanteglos-by-Fowey, in Cornwall, were a junior branch of the Mohun family, and were descended from John Mohun (d. 1322)[28] of Dunster Castle in Somerset, feudal baron of Dunster by his wife Anne Tiptoft.[29][30] William Mohun of Hall married Elizabeth Courtenay, one of the greatest heiresses of her time, one of the four eventual co-heiresses of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1527–1556) the last of the mediaeval Courtenay Earls of Devon. The Mohun share of the Courtenay inheritance included Boconnoc in Cornwall and Okehampton Castle in Devon, and other remnants of the feudal barony of Okehampton, one of the earliest possessions of the Courtenays.
The grandson of William Mohun of Hall and Elizabeth Courtenay was Reginald Mohun (1507/8–1567) of Hall and Boconnoc, who married Jone Trevanion, daughter of Sir William Trevanion and sister of Sir Hugh Trevanion.[31]
The son of Reginald Mohun and Jone Trevanion was Sir
The widow of
Pitt
In 1731 Thomas Pitt (c.1705-1761) of Boconnoc married Christiana Lyttelton, a daughter of Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 4th Baronet, MP, of Hagley in Worcestershire and a sister of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton. His only surviving son was Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford (1737-1793), of Boconnoc, who developed the china clay mine on the Boconnoc estate, and in 1772 added a south wing to Boconnoc House in the form of a picture gallery (demolished 1971).[35] He died in Italy, but his body was brought home and buried within Boconnoc Church, next to the house.[36] A monument survives near the house, in the form of a tall granite obelisk, in memory of the antiquary Sir Richard Lyttelton (d.1770), the uncle of the 1st Baron Camelford, who bequeathed him much of his fortune.[37] Inscribed:[37]
- In gratitude and affection to the memory of Sir Richard Lyttelton and to perpetuate that peculiar character of benevolence which rendered him the delight of his own age and worthy of the veneration of posterity MDCCLXXI
Fortescue
- Anne Pitt(1772-1864) (Lady Grenville).
- Cyril Dudley Fortescue (1847-1890) of Boconnoc, Lt-Col Coldstream Guards,[39] the third son of George Matthew Fortescue.[39] In the Return of Owners of Land survey of 1873 he was listed in the top ten landowners in Cornwall with an estate of 20,148 acres (81.54 km2), or 2.65% of Cornwall.[40] He died without issue when his heir became his younger brother John Bevill Fortescue (born 1850).
- John Bevill Fortescue (born 1850), a barrister, JP and DL for Cornwall, High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1894, who in 1891 married Dorothy Augusta Hoste, a daughter of Admiral Sir William Legge George Hoste, 2nd Baronet (1818–1868).[41]
- John Grenville Fortescue (1896-1969) of Boconnoc (2nd son of John Bevill Fortescue) Coldstream Guards, married Daphne Marjory Bourke, only child of Hon Algernon Henry Bourke, a son of Richard Southwell Bourke, 6th Earl of Mayo. His son and heir was (John) Desmond Grenville Fortescue (1919-2017).
- Captain (John) Desmond Grenville Fortescue (1919-2017), Coldstream Guards, JP and DL for Cornwall, and High Sheriff of Cornwall for 1966/7. He married firstly, in 1942, Nina Kendall-Lane, daughter of Ernest Kendall-Lane, and secondly, in 1988, Angela Dorothy England. In 2003 his address was given as "The Stewardry, Boconnoc", having handed over the management of the house to his son Anthony Desmond Grenville Fortescue (1946-2015).
- Anthony Desmond Grenville Fortescue (1946-2015) of Boconnoc, High Sheriff of Cornwall, who married Elizabeth Ann Evered Poole, a daughter of Major Campbell Evered Poole. He was found dead in Boconnoc House on 9 November 2015 following a firearms incident.[42] The inquest returned an open verdict.[43] He predeceased his father by two years, and left two daughters and co-heiresses.
Boconnoc House and estate
Boconnoc House (Grade II* listed[44]) was built in the 18th century by two members of the Pitt family: one wing was built c. 1721 by Thomas Pitt, Governor of Madras, and the other in 1772 by Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford. The two wings formed an L-shape and the grounds are finely landscaped: on a hill behind the house is an obelisk in memory of Sir Richard Lyttelton (1771). During the 19th century the estate passed into the ownership of the Fortescues who made some alterations to the structure in 1883: there are some more recent additions and the south wing was demolished in 1971.
The parish church is behind the house and fairly small: its dedication is unknown. It contains an interesting 15th-century font and a monument to Penelope Mohun, 1637.[45] The modern tower has five sides in the lower part and eight in the upper. Features of interest include a musicians' gallery, the altar table made by Sir Reginald (Raynold) Mohun, 1621, the Jacobean pulpit, and a monument to Penelope Mohun (d.1637) the wife of William Drew.[46]
The estate, surrounding the
The estate includes the largest landscaped deer park in Cornwall, the home of the Boconnoc Cricket Club.[49] In 1993 the estate was used as a location for the film The Three Musketeers.[50][51]
Trecangate
Between 1820 and 1954 a Methodist chapel stood in the hamlet of Trecangate, in the parish of Boconnoc. It was built using cob walls; a sign marking its position was erected in 2009. [52]
Cornish wrestling
Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes, were held in Boconnoc in the 1700s.[53]
Wildlife and ecology
Old-growth, sessile oak (Quercus petraea), growing in ravines and slopes in parts of the ancient deer park at Boconnoc House, contain an internationally important assemblage of lichens, making it one of the most important sites in Europe. The site is also considered to be the best ″old-growth, southern-oceanic oak woodland″ in the south-west.[4]
See also
References
- ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5
- ^ Cornwall Council online mapping Archived 5 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved May 2010
- ^ Cornwall Archived 2 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine; Explore Britain
- ^ ISSN 0958-0956.
- ^ Langdon, A. G. (1896) Old Cornish Crosses. Truro: Joseph Pollard; pp. 51-52, 167-68, 291-93
- ^ opendomesday.org
- ^ "Osfrith".
- ^ a b opendomesday.org
- ^ "Boconnoc". GENUKI. Archived from the original on 10 May 2008. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ a b c "The Visitations of Cornwall". pp. 72–74. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ "Cornwall Churches". Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f "CARMINOWE, Sir Ralph". History of Parliament. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
- History of Parliament biography [1]"of Haccombe and Bampton, Devon", no mention being made of Boconnoc
- ^ History of Parliament biography
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.245, pedigree of Courtenay
- ^ Itineraries of William Worcester, quoted in Lysons
- ^ Lysons. Possibly following the death of Sir Hugh Courtenay II at the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471. Certainly his cousin the 7th Earl of Devon, who died in the same battle fighting for the same Lancastrian cause, was attainted at that time
- ^ Daniel Lysons and Samuel Lysons, 'Parishes: St Blazey - Bodmin', in Magna Britannia: Volume 3, Cornwall (London, 1814), pp. 24-38 [2]
- ^ Lysons
- ^ a b Lysons, Daniel & Samuel, Magna Britannia, Vol 6, Devonshire, 1822, pp.496–520
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.245, pedigree of Courtenay
- ^ Prince, biography of Edward Courtenay (d.1556), 1810 edition, p.263
- ^ Vivian, 1895, p.565
- ^ Vivian, Heraldic Visitations of Devon, pp.245, 565, 566, where she is called "Elizabeth", frequently interchangeable with "Isabel"[3] Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.11
- ^ "MOHUN, Reginald I (1507/8-67), of Hall and Boconnoc, Cornw. | History of Parliament Online".
- History of Parliament biography of Reginald Mohun (1507/8-67) of Hall [4]
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 565
- ^ "Vivian, 1895, pp. 245, 565, 566". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2022.
- ^ See pedigree of Mohun of Boconnoc, in Vivian, J. L., ed. (1887). The Visitations of Cornwall: comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1530, 1573 & 1620; with additions by J.L. Vivian. Exeter: W. Pollard, p.324 [5]
- ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p. 566
- ^ "MOHUN, William (c.1540-88), of Hall and Boconnoc, Cornw". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
- ^ Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p. 11
- ^ Delderfield, p.15
- ^ Listed building text
- ^ Delderfield, p.16
- ^ a b Delderfield, p.17
- ^ Cornwall Archives, "Fortescue Family of Boconnoc"
- ^ a b c Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.356, pedigree of Fortescue
- ^ Who Owns Britain – by Kevin Cahill Archived 27 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 15th Edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p.810, pedigree of "Fortescue of Boconnoc"
- ^ Morris, Steven (10 November 2015). "High sheriff of Cornwall found shot dead on estate". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ^ "Cornwall High Sheriff Anthony Fortescue: Open verdict over shooting death". BBC News. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
- ^ Historic England. "Boconnoc House (Grade II*) (1140354)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ Pevsner (1970) Cornwall; p. 40
- ^ Mee, Arthur, ed. (1937) Cornwall. London: Hodder & Stoughton; p. 22
- ^ "Boconnoc Park". Plantlife. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
- ^ "Boconnoc Park & Woods" (PDF). Natural England. 14 November 1986. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
- ^ "Boconnoc Cricket Club - Boconnoc Cricket Club". Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
- ^ IMDB movies with location Boconnoc
- ^ The History of Boconnoc House in Cornwall Archived 27 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Researcher discovers family links with long gone chapel". thisiscornwall.co.uk. 16 February 2009. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
- ^ S Baring-Gould, Cornish Characters and Strange Events, 1909.
Further reading
- Betjeman, John (April 1933) "Two Cornish houses: Glynn; Boconnoc", in: Architectural Review (reprinted in Betjeman's Britain; selected, edited and introduced by Candida Lycett Green. London: John Murray, 1999; pp. 43–51)
- Lysons, Daniel & Samuel, Magna Britannia, Vol.3, Cornwall, London, 1814, pp. 24–38 [6]
- Gilbert, Davies, (ed.), The Parochial History of Cornwall: Founded on the Manuscript Histories of Mr Hals and Mr Tonkin, Volume 1, London, 1838, p. 63 [7]
- Catherine Lorigan, Boconnoc: The History of a Cornish Estate, 2017
- Pedigree of Mohun of Boconnoc, in Vivian, J. L., ed. (1887). The Visitations of Cornwall: comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1530, 1573 & 1620; with additions by J.L. Vivian. Exeter: W. Pollard, pp. 323–6 [8]