Werrington, Cornwall

Coordinates: 50°39′54″N 4°21′58″W / 50.665°N 4.366°W / 50.665; -4.366
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

St Martin's Church, Werrington

Werrington (

civil parish and former manor now in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Prior to boundary changes it straddled the Tamar and lay within the county of Devon. The portion on the west side was transferred to Cornwall by the abolition of Broadwoodwidger Rural District by the Local Government Commission for England in 1966.[2][3][4] It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) to the west of the Tamar, the traditional boundary between Devon and Cornwall, and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Launceston
.

Geography

White's Devonshire Directory (1850) described the parish of Werrington as being near the River Tamar and the

Grade II* listed
16th century road bridge.

Manor

The descent of the manor of Werrington was as follows:

Crown

Before the

hundred of Black Torrington,[6] was the sole possession of Gytha of Wessex[7] (died 1098 or 1107), the daughter of King Harold (d.1066). In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is recorded as Ulvredintone.[8] Containing 186 households it was far and away the largest settlement in the far west.[9]

Tavistock Abbey

In about 1066-8 she gave it to

honour of the Abbots of Tavistock until Dissolution.[11]

Russell

At the

Heraldic Visitation of Devon.[14] John Twiggs's grandson was Richard Twiggs "of Werrington", whose son was Benjamin Twiggs (1616-c.1678/9) "of Werrington", who both described themselves as "of Werrington" in their wills.[15]

Drake

The estate of Werrington was acquired in 1620 by Sir Francis Drake, 1st Baronet (1588–1637), of Buckland Monachorum in Devon, nephew of the famous Admiral Sir Francis Drake (d.1596). In 1631 he obtained a royal licence to empark lands in Werrington and St. Stephen by Launceston[16] and later rebuilt the manor house.[2] In 1649 Sir Francis Drake, 2nd Baronet (1617–1662) purchased the nearby manor of Launceston and the borough of Newport in the parish of St. Stephen, and moved his main residence to Buckland Monachorum, whereupon he sold Werrington to Sir William Morice.[13]

Morice

New Haven
, USA

The estate was sold in 1651[17] to Sir William Morice (1602–1676), Secretary of State to King Charles II,[2] who also purchased from the Drake family the manor of Launceston. The present mansion, today known as Werrington Park was built by one of his descendants in the 1730s, possibly to the design of William Kent,[18] which involved the demolition and re-siting of the parish church of St Martin.[18]

Percy

The manor with 11,000 acres[13] was purchased in 1775 by Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1714–1786), who further embellished the interior.[18] He also purchased all the outlying tenements in Newport and much property in the borough of Launceston.[13]

Various 1864–1882

Between 1864 and 1882 Werrington passed through a succession of brief ownerships. In 1864 Werrington was purchased by Alexander Hey Campbell, a Manchester merchant, MP for Launceston from 1865 to 1868. In 1868 he sold it to William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Dick, of County Wicklow, Ireland, who sold it in 1871 to Col.

James Henry Deakin II
(1851–1881). During this period much of the peripheral lands and properties of the estate were sold off.

Williams

The estate was acquired in 1882 by John Charles Williams (1861–1939) of Caerhays Castle,[13] who renovated the house, including a re-modelling of the East Range.[19]

Church of St Martin

The churches of Werrington and St Giles, both in Devon, had the status of chapelries in the Middle Ages; the impropriators of the churches of North Petherwin (Tavistock Abbey) and St Stephen's by Launceston (Launceston Priory). A settlement of the dispute was made in 1500 in favour of the priory which undertook the cost of a resident chaplain to serve both Werrington and St Giles.[20]

The original site of the parish church of St Martin was in Werrington Park but it was re-built in 1742 on a new site in the Gothic style; the tower is from the old church. The front in the earliest Gothic Revival style suggests that the architect could have been William Kent. There are two fonts: one is plain and Norman and the other contemporary with the rebuilding.[21] There is a peal of eight bells.[22]

Sources

References

  1. ^ Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF) : List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel. Cornish Language Partnership.
  2. ^ a b c Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.896
  3. ^ "Cornwall Council – Werrington Parish Council". Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  4. ^ "Werrington As described in John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887)". A Vision of Britain Through Time. University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
  5. ^ Werrington, Devon; GenUKI
  6. ^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2, 1,50
  7. ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Countess Gytha (of Wessex)". Domesday Book. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  8. ^ Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 1,50
  9. ^ "Werrington | Domesday Book". opendomesday.org.
  10. ^
    Hoskins, W.G.
    , A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.513
  11. ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.231
  12. ^ Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions
  13. ^ a b c d e Cornwall Record Office, Werrington Estate Records, covering dates 1433 – 1909, ref: WW, Introduction
  14. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.742, pedigree of "Twiggs of Werrington"
  15. ^ Richard Twiggs (will dated 1625/6, CRO AP/T/449 Benjamin Twiggs (born 1616 (aged 4 in 1620), will dated 1678/9, CRO AP/T/1221)[1]
  16. ^ Cornwall Record Office, Werrington Estate Records, covering dates 1433 – 1909, ref: WW, Introduction [2]
  17. ^ Hoskins, p.513 "1651"
  18. ^ a b c Hoskins, p.513
  19. ^ Pevsner, p.897
  20. ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 218
  21. ^ Pevsner, N. (1952) North Devon. Penguin Books; pp. 163–64
  22. ^ Dove, R. H. (1982) A Bellringer's Guide to the Church Bells of Britain; 6th ed. Aldershot: Viggers; p. 116

Further reading

  • Hole, William, M.A. A Sermon Preached in the Parish Church of Werrington, Devon, at the consecration of that church, on Wednesday 7 December 1743. Oxford: James Fletcher (1743), 41 pp

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Werrington, Cornwall.

See also

50°39′54″N 4°21′58″W / 50.665°N 4.366°W / 50.665; -4.366

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