South Tawton
Encyclopedia
South Tawton, a village on the North edge of Dartmoor
, Devon
, England
is an ancient demesne (royal manor), going back at least to the time of the Saxons
, if not to the Romans
, who named the river Taw
, the Tavus.
, South Tawton was 'held' by Gytha
, the mother of the future King Harold II, then Earl of Wessex
. Like most high ranking Saxons, Gytha held more than one manor, so it is unknown if she ever resided here. And if she did or did not, where was the actual Manor House? It would appear likely, given its proximity to the Church, that the area of the existing Black Hall fits the requirement and the current village would be the settlement required to service the great house. At the same time, an area known as Aissa
(East (Ash)), was under the control of a Saxon known as Wulfric
. When Domesday Book
was compiled (1086/7), this had been appropriated into the manor of South Tawton, and both held by King William. At this time, also, the sub manor of Itton was mentioned as was the castle in Okehampton.
After the death of William, the manor passed into the hands of King Henry I
and his successors and in 1130, there is mention of a further sub manor, Ailrichecot (Addiscot?). 1156 saw the first mention of tin extraction on Dartmoor and in 1195 there was a stannary court and goal built at Lydford. It is thought that the first church in South Tawton dates from about this time. In 1189, a roll was signed by twelve names in the area including Wyke, Goseford, Sele, Cocketryne, (all in the Parish) and other notable names locally - Woneston & Politimore. One other name was Hause which surfaces later as Chuseman. (of the manor?) In 1285, the first de Tony passed the lordship of Black Hall to Walter Tantifer and in 1263 'the Courthouse of Black Hall and the Lordship of the Hundred of South Tawton was passed to Alured, the Mayor of Exeter. The Oxenham family is claimed to go back to the reign of King Henry III
(1216-1272) and so possibly may the sub-manor. In 1299, Robert de Tony II obtained a charter for a market in Sele (South Zeal), the prosperity of which may have been the reason for a survey of 1316 stating that there is 'no royal borough, only one township called South Tawton and the lord is the King'.
By 1377, wages were fixed at 'slavery level', the Black Death
(plague) was rife and the South Tawton peasants revolted against the laws favouring stannators (tinners). This was followed in 1381 by a poll tax
revolt. In 1397, an enquiry at Okehampton into South Tawton manorial rights, reveals some new local names present including Weke, Oxenham, Yeo & Northmore. A 1398 document mentions the 'manor and borough of Sele and a 'fullinge mill and moor' which gives us an indication of the status of Zeal in the area at that time and also an insight into one of the occupations being carried out. It is believed that South Tawton Church House was built somewhere between 1480 and 1520 as a place of public entertainment. Parish records for South Tawton go back to 1540 and are available in the Devon Record Office. Fireplaces, chimneys and a second floor were added to Church House between 1568/1573 and it became used for 'church ales' until banned in 160. It then became a poor house.
Up to this time, the power of the crown had been exercised through the Lords of the Manor and the manorial courts. This was superseded by the appointment of Magistrates and then, supplemented by Parish Constables. By 1600, the various problems of land enclosures and agricultural unemployment led to a need for a formal system of poor relief leading to the Poor Law
Act of 1601, where the responsibility for relief was put in the hands of the church 'Vestry
' (churchwardens appointed from the parishioners). In 1656, three almshouses for poor widows were provided in South Tawton by Robert Burgoyne. One sub-manor that appears to have disappeared now was Fulford. There are records indicating that Fulford house was fortified by royalists, in the English Civil War
(1642/1646) but this was taken by the parliamentarian Fairfax. It is also stated to have contained a Van Eyck portrait of Charles I. Elsewhere it is claimed that in 1650, the great Duke of Marlborough
was born in the manor house of Ash, which was the seat of the Drake family. In 1834, the administration of poor relief was handed to a Board of Guardians elected by the ratepayers.
A directory of 1833 mentions farmers of Sessland, Trundlebeer, West Nymph, Week, Gooseford, Lovaton and Cullaford all of which survive today. No record of the date of the inclusion of the hamlet of Ramsley has been found nor of any detail of a hamlet/farmstead of Blackstreet. Equally a 'Wickington' is mentioned but this may be a version of Week (Wyke, Wike) ton. St. Andrews Church was completely restored
in 1881 and in 1893 Church House was used as a Sunday School
. Between 1875 and 1894 a series of legislative acts
led to the formation of County Councils and then Rural District
and Parish councils. In 600 years, South Tawton had passed from a Royal Manor ruled by the Manor Lord to a democracy
appointed by the electorate of landowners, householders and male adult residents living in the Parish. Its inhabitants had moved from being little more than slaves, working for the lord, in his manor and his fields to being a few comparatively wealthy large farmers and the majority either free but poorly paid agricultural workers, or modestly well off tenant farmers, craftsman and tradesmen. In addition, many females were employed as spinners and weavers and there was some employment in the Taw Green, Frog and Dishcombe Mills and the South Tawton Limestone quarries
. What the new council structure did bring was water, sanitation and education to the ordinary people.
Population distribution at that time was 1264 of which 530 were in South Zeal, 105 in South Tawton Village, 39 in Whiddon Down and the rest dispersed in the farms and hamlets of the Parish. The last century saw the advent of two World Wars, the rise of the town and the demise of the countryside. After the need for agriculture during World War II
, farming has suffered from the rise of the supermarket and cheap competition from abroad. The 1960 saw the loss of many rail tracks and stations and the relative urban affluence has brought about the rise in tourism, house prices and 'incomers' retiring or dropping out of the 'rat race'. Now, whilst the Parish population has grown only slightly, at least half of the population have moved to the villages but where there were shops, craftsmen, tradesmen in plenty, South Tawton villages must travel to the one remaining shop/post office in South Zeal or travel into town.
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...
, Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
is an ancient demesne (royal manor), going back at least to the time of the Saxons
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
, if not to the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, who named the river Taw
River Taw
The River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.-Watercourse:...
, the Tavus.
History
During the reign of Edward the ConfessorEdward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....
, South Tawton was 'held' by Gytha
Gytha Thorkelsdóttir
Gytha Thorkelsdottir , also called Githa, was the daughter of Thorgil Sprakling . She married the Anglo-Saxon nobleman Godwin of Wessex....
, the mother of the future King Harold II, then Earl of Wessex
Earl of Wessex
The title Earl of Wessex has been created twice in British history, once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom...
. Like most high ranking Saxons, Gytha held more than one manor, so it is unknown if she ever resided here. And if she did or did not, where was the actual Manor House? It would appear likely, given its proximity to the Church, that the area of the existing Black Hall fits the requirement and the current village would be the settlement required to service the great house. At the same time, an area known as Aissa
Aïssa
Moulay Aïssa ben Idriss II was born in Fez, Morocco in the 9th century. He was the son of Idriss II and the descendant of both Idriss I and hid brother Suleyman the sultan of Tlemcen...
(East (Ash)), was under the control of a Saxon known as Wulfric
Wulfric
Wulfric is an Anglo-Saxon male name, meaning "wolf power" or "wolf ruler".-Historical mentions:*Wulfric Spot, Earl of Mercia and Chief Councillor of State to King Ethelred; b., d. 12 October 1010. Founder of Burton Abbey, to which he bequeathed land and money in his will of c. 1002-4 .*Wulfric of...
. When Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
was compiled (1086/7), this had been appropriated into the manor of South Tawton, and both held by King William. At this time, also, the sub manor of Itton was mentioned as was the castle in Okehampton.
After the death of William, the manor passed into the hands of King Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
and his successors and in 1130, there is mention of a further sub manor, Ailrichecot (Addiscot?). 1156 saw the first mention of tin extraction on Dartmoor and in 1195 there was a stannary court and goal built at Lydford. It is thought that the first church in South Tawton dates from about this time. In 1189, a roll was signed by twelve names in the area including Wyke, Goseford, Sele, Cocketryne, (all in the Parish) and other notable names locally - Woneston & Politimore. One other name was Hause which surfaces later as Chuseman. (of the manor?) In 1285, the first de Tony passed the lordship of Black Hall to Walter Tantifer and in 1263 'the Courthouse of Black Hall and the Lordship of the Hundred of South Tawton was passed to Alured, the Mayor of Exeter. The Oxenham family is claimed to go back to the reign of King Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
(1216-1272) and so possibly may the sub-manor. In 1299, Robert de Tony II obtained a charter for a market in Sele (South Zeal), the prosperity of which may have been the reason for a survey of 1316 stating that there is 'no royal borough, only one township called South Tawton and the lord is the King'.
By 1377, wages were fixed at 'slavery level', the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
(plague) was rife and the South Tawton peasants revolted against the laws favouring stannators (tinners). This was followed in 1381 by a poll tax
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
revolt. In 1397, an enquiry at Okehampton into South Tawton manorial rights, reveals some new local names present including Weke, Oxenham, Yeo & Northmore. A 1398 document mentions the 'manor and borough of Sele and a 'fullinge mill and moor' which gives us an indication of the status of Zeal in the area at that time and also an insight into one of the occupations being carried out. It is believed that South Tawton Church House was built somewhere between 1480 and 1520 as a place of public entertainment. Parish records for South Tawton go back to 1540 and are available in the Devon Record Office. Fireplaces, chimneys and a second floor were added to Church House between 1568/1573 and it became used for 'church ales' until banned in 160. It then became a poor house.
Up to this time, the power of the crown had been exercised through the Lords of the Manor and the manorial courts. This was superseded by the appointment of Magistrates and then, supplemented by Parish Constables. By 1600, the various problems of land enclosures and agricultural unemployment led to a need for a formal system of poor relief leading to the Poor Law
Poor Law
The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief which existed in England and Wales that developed out of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws before being codified in 1587–98...
Act of 1601, where the responsibility for relief was put in the hands of the church 'Vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
' (churchwardens appointed from the parishioners). In 1656, three almshouses for poor widows were provided in South Tawton by Robert Burgoyne. One sub-manor that appears to have disappeared now was Fulford. There are records indicating that Fulford house was fortified by royalists, in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
(1642/1646) but this was taken by the parliamentarian Fairfax. It is also stated to have contained a Van Eyck portrait of Charles I. Elsewhere it is claimed that in 1650, the great Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
was born in the manor house of Ash, which was the seat of the Drake family. In 1834, the administration of poor relief was handed to a Board of Guardians elected by the ratepayers.
A directory of 1833 mentions farmers of Sessland, Trundlebeer, West Nymph, Week, Gooseford, Lovaton and Cullaford all of which survive today. No record of the date of the inclusion of the hamlet of Ramsley has been found nor of any detail of a hamlet/farmstead of Blackstreet. Equally a 'Wickington' is mentioned but this may be a version of Week (Wyke, Wike) ton. St. Andrews Church was completely restored
Restored
-Enhanced edition:-Deluxe gold edition:-Standard Australian release:-Awards:In 2006, the album was nominated for a Dove Award for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year at the 37th GMA Dove Awards. The song "Lay Down My Pride" was also nominated for Rock Recorded Song of the Year....
in 1881 and in 1893 Church House was used as a Sunday School
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
. Between 1875 and 1894 a series of legislative acts
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
led to the formation of County Councils and then Rural District
Rural district
Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the administrative counties.-England and Wales:In England...
and Parish councils. In 600 years, South Tawton had passed from a Royal Manor ruled by the Manor Lord to a democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
appointed by the electorate of landowners, householders and male adult residents living in the Parish. Its inhabitants had moved from being little more than slaves, working for the lord, in his manor and his fields to being a few comparatively wealthy large farmers and the majority either free but poorly paid agricultural workers, or modestly well off tenant farmers, craftsman and tradesmen. In addition, many females were employed as spinners and weavers and there was some employment in the Taw Green, Frog and Dishcombe Mills and the South Tawton Limestone quarries
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
. What the new council structure did bring was water, sanitation and education to the ordinary people.
Population distribution at that time was 1264 of which 530 were in South Zeal, 105 in South Tawton Village, 39 in Whiddon Down and the rest dispersed in the farms and hamlets of the Parish. The last century saw the advent of two World Wars, the rise of the town and the demise of the countryside. After the need for agriculture during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, farming has suffered from the rise of the supermarket and cheap competition from abroad. The 1960 saw the loss of many rail tracks and stations and the relative urban affluence has brought about the rise in tourism, house prices and 'incomers' retiring or dropping out of the 'rat race'. Now, whilst the Parish population has grown only slightly, at least half of the population have moved to the villages but where there were shops, craftsmen, tradesmen in plenty, South Tawton villages must travel to the one remaining shop/post office in South Zeal or travel into town.