The historic manor of Tawstock was situated in North Devon, in the hundred of Fremington,Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 2, 1:40 2 miles south of Barnstaple, England. According to PolePole, p.14 the feudal baron of Barnstaple Henry de Tracy (died 1274) made Tawstock his seat, apparently having abandoned Barnstaple Castle as the chief residence of the barony.Strong, H.W., History and Description of Tawstock Church, Barnstaple, 1889, p.8, Tawstock thought to have been a later seat of the feudal barons of Barnstaple; "None of the lords of the borough" (i.e. of Barnstaple) "ever resided there, and this circumstance doubtless assisted the townsmen in their moves towards self-government", per Woodger, L. S., Borough of Barnstaple, History of Parliament, House of Commons 1386–1421, ed. J.S. Roskell, L. Clark, C. Rawcliffe, 1993 Many of the historic lords of the manor are commemorated by monuments in St Peter's Church, the parish church of Tawstock (situated to the east of the manor house) which in the opinion of Pevsner contains "the best collection in the county (of Devon) apart from those in the cathedral",Pevsner, p.790 and in the opinion of Hoskins "contains the finest collection of monuments in Devon and one of the most notable in England".Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.489
The manor house, known in the 17th century as Tawstock House and today known as Tawstock Court, is situated at the west end of the parish church and is in the Georgian neo-gothic architectural style, having replaced the former Tudor mansion which was destroyed by fire in 1787. The only survival from the earlier house is the splendid Tudor gatehouse with the 1574 datestone, one of only a few in Devon. Some of the buildings on this property are Heritage listed including St Michael's School (now a residence), the Stable Block, garden structures, the Gatehouse and other gates, and the Coach House (all Grade II).Tawstock
The Church of St Peter is a Grade I listed property. A church existed at this location circa the 12th century, but was extensively modified and enlarged. According to the listing summary, "the crossing tower, north and south transepts and aisles were added" in the 14th century; additional modifications were made in the next two centuries before a restoration in 1867-1868.CHURCH OF ST PETER
Tawstock Court
The Elizabethan mansion re-built by William Bourchier, 3rd Earl of Bath, no longer exists apart from the gatehouse, with date-stone 1574. Four years after Sir Bourchier Wrey, 7th Baronet, inherited the estate the house burned down in 1787 and was rebuilt by him in the Neo-Gothic style by about 1800, when Rev. John Swete described visiting it in his travel journal: "Entering through a gateway of antient date by the stables I arrived in front of Tawstock House the seat of Sir Bourchier Wrey which when completed (for it is now but a shell) will be one of the finest houses in the county".Gray & Rowe, 1999, vol.1, p.33 Part of the Elizabethan house survives today on the south front. The north front was re-modelled in 1885.Pevsner, N. (1952) North Devon. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 154
The principal east front, with crenellated parapet and two end turrets, faces towards St Peter's Parish Church and has an extensive view across the River Taw to Bishops Tawton village and Codden Hill. Sir Robert Bourchier Sherard Wrey, 11th Baronet (1855–1917) was the last to live at Tawstock Court and "to keep house in the old manner". In about 1940 it damaged by fire and was restored and let by the 13th Baronet to St Michael's Preparatory School. His nephew and heir, the 14th Baronet sold Tawstock Court to the school in the 1970s.
The school continued to occupy Tawstock Court until 2012 when it closed due to insolvency. On 17 July 2012 the property with 32 acres was purchased from the administrator by a property investor and developer, as a private residence.GVA. GVA completes the sale of Tawstock Court, 17 July 2012. Accessed 3 December 2016. As a condition of the sale, the nursery school division of St Michael's School continued to operate (in 2013) in the stable blocks to the immediate west of the house.Jobs saved as Tawstock Court sale completed
A building described as "a folly, built in form of look-out tower" located near the Manor was dubbed "The Tower" in its 1965 Grade II listing report (Entry #1253651). The structure was restored and converted into a home that was listed for sale in 2019/2020 as "Tawstock Castle". Some reports states that the tower was thought to have been built by Sir Bourchier Wrey and subsequently expanded.Fairy-tale castle with towers and heli-pad goes on the market in North Devon The Historic England summary simply indicates that it probably originated in the late 18th century.THE TOWER An article in Country Life (magazine) referred to the structure as a "baby Windsor Castle".A ‘baby Windsor Castle’ in Devon that's been transformed into a gorgeous family4 bedroom detached house for sale Tawstock, Barnstaple
Church of St Peter This church is very unusual in having a tower over the crossing and not as usual at the west end. Only a few other churches in Devon display this feature, for example at Crediton, Colyton and Axminster.Pevsner, p.788
The "Bourchier Pew" (or "Manorial Pew") in the north transept was made in about 1550 in Franco-Flemish early Renaissance style,Pevsner, p.789 and decorated with Bourchier knots, it was used by the lords of the manor of Tawstock. The unusual and small manorial pew has been mistaken for a confessional due to its box-like appearance.
The Bourchier knot is much in evidence within the church, in windows, on bench-ends and on monuments. Much detail concerning the administration of the manor in the 17th century survives in the form of the household accounts maintained by the 5th Earl of Bath and his wife and include a complete inventory of the household contents room by room in 1648.Gray, 1996, p.304 et seq
Descent of the manor
Royal demesne In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as TAVESTOCHE, the 40th of 72 holdings in Devon held in demesne by King William the Conqueror.Thorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, part 1, 1:40 There were approximately 48.5 households in the settlement at that time making it larger than about 80 percent of other settlements.Tawstock
de Totnes
Juhel de Totnes King Henry I (1100–1135) granted the manor to Juhel de Totnes (died 1123/30), feudal baron of Barnstaple (died 1123/30). Tawstock thus became one of the many manors which comprised the barony. He gave the tithes of the rectory to the Priory of St Mary MagdaleneThorn & Thorn, part 2, 1:40 in Barnstaple which he had founded near his seat Barnstaple Castle in about 1107.
Alfred de Totnes Juhel's son and heir was Alfred de Totnes, who died sine prole some time before 1139, leaving two sisters as his co-heiresses each to a moiety of the barony: Aenor, who married the Welsh Marcher Lord Philip de Braose (died 1134/55), 2nd feudal baron of Bramber, Surrey, and a sister whose name is unknown, who married Henry de Tracy (died before 1165). The inheritance of the barony of Barnstaple by two co-heiresses split its possession during the period c. 1139 to 1213 into two moieties, which later became re-united under the de Tracy family. Amongst the manors which were inherited by Aenor as her share was Tawstock.
Aenor de Totnes Sister and co-heiress of Alfred de Totnes, who married Philip de Braose (died 1134/55), 2nd feudal baron of Bramber.
de Braose
William de Braose (died c. 1192/3)Date of death of William de Braose as given by Sanders, p.105 Eldest son and heir.
William de Braose (died 1211) Son and heir. He gave the manor of Tawstock to his daughter Loretta de Braose together with two other knight's fees within his moiety of the barony, as her marriage portion on her marriage to Robert FitzPernel, Earl of Leicester (alias Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died c.1204)).Pole, p.14, "Tawstock" mis-transcribed in 1791 edition from 17th-century manuscript as "Tavistocke", see Pole p.xv re transcription errors William III's son and heir was Reginald de Braose, who due to King John (1199–1216) having in 1208 confiscated his father's lands, never inherited the Braose moiety of the barony of Barnstaple.
Loretta de Braose Daughter of William de Braose (died 1211) and wife of Robert FitzPernel, Earl of Leicester (alias Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died c.1204)). Loretta was childless and according to PolePole, pp.14, 389 gave Tawstock (2/3rds of the manor only according to Thorn) to her niece Matilda de Braose, daughter of the disinherited Reginald de Braose (son of William de Braose (died 1211)) and wife of Henry de Tracy (died 1274). Henry was the great-grandson of the second unnamed daughter and co-heiress of Alfred de Totnes, and thus had already inherited the other moiety of the feudal barony of Barnstaple. The remaining 1/3rd of the manor of Tawstock was given, apparently by Loretta, to Buckland Priory in Somerset, for the support of the sisters of the Order of St John of Jerusalem. In 1213 King John granted the Braose moiety which he had confiscated from William de Braose to Henry de Tracy (died 1274),Sanders, p.105 the husband of his granddaughter Matilda de Braose. Thus were the two moieties of the barony re-united together and with 2/3rds of the manor of Tawstock.
de Tracy Matilda de Braose was given 2/3rds of the manor of Tawstock by her childless aunt Loretta, Countess of Leicester. Matilda married Henry de Tracy (died 1274), feudal baron of Barnstaple, who according to Pole made Tawstock his seat, apparently having abandoned Barnstaple Castle as the chief residence of the Barons of Barnstaple. Tawstock then descended via her daughter Eve de Tracy., by her husband Henry de Tracy (died 1274), feudal baron of Barnstaple.
FitzMartin Henry de Tracy's heir to the entire barony, including 2/3rds of the manor of Tawstock, was his granddaughter Maud de Brian (or Briene) (died before 1279), daughter of Guy de Brian of Laugharne Castle, Carmarthenshire by his wife Eve de Tracy, daughter of Henry de Tracy.Sanders, p.105, note 9 Maud's first husband was Nicholas FitzMartin (died 1260), who had pre-deceased his father Nicholas FitzMartin (died 1282), feudal baron of Blagdon, Somerset.Sanders, p.15, Blagdon, note 5 Maud married secondly Geoffrey de Camville (died 1308), of Clifton Campville, Staffordshire, who had summons to attend the king at Portsmouth, with horse and arms, to embark in the expedition then proceeding to Gascony. He was subsequently summoned to parliament as Baron Camville, of Clifton, in the county of Stafford, from 23 June 1295 to 22 February 1307. Camville survived her by about 29 years during which time he retained possession of the barony, including 2/3rds of the manor of Tawstock, under the curtesy of England.
The barony was recovered on Geoffrey's death by Maud's son William FitzMartin (died 1324) whose son and heir William FitzMartin died sine prole in 1326.
Audley