Cockington

Cockington
Devon
Cockington, Devon
Location
Grid reference:	SX894638
Location:	50°27’49"N, 3°33’33"W
Data
Population:	10,636  (2011)
Post town:	Torquay
Postcode:	TQ2
Dialling code:	01803
Local Government
Council:	Torbay
Parliamentary constituency:	Torbay

Cockington is a village half a mile from Torquay in south-eastern Devon. It is a mixture of old cottages and modern homes.

The parish church is St George and St Mary. It has been estimated to have been standing since 1069, built by William de Falaise.

History

Cockington Village, ca. 1890 - 1900

There is evidence of two Iron Age hill forts on either side of Cockington valley some two and a half millennia old. The remains of a small Saxon village were found near the Drum Inn, and the excavation evidence shows a community living off fishing and farming.

The earliest written record of Cockington is from the 10th century. The Domesday Book of 1086 records that the manor had been owned Alric before the conquest but at the dtae of the Domesday survey it was held by William de Falais. In 1089, shortly after the Domesday, Survey, William's estate, the Barony of Dartington, which included the manor of Cockington, passed to Robert Fitzmartin. Robert in turn gave the manor to his younger son, Roger in 1125, who adopted the surname de Cockington or Kokintonname.

During the Middle Ages the Cary family acquired the manor and held it until the Civil War, in which Sir Henry Cary stood staunchly with the King, for which Parliament seized his lands. Though they were returned on payment of a heavy fine, the family debts were such that in 1654 Sir Henry sold Cockington to the Mallock family, a family of silversmiths from Exeter. The Mallocks slod the estate finally in 1932, to the Torquay Corporation.

About the village

The cricket field

The Cricket Pavilion stands in a park which is now home to the village cricket club but which was originally a mediæval deer park. Cricket started to be played on it in 1947. The current cricket pavilion was built after the original burnt down ten years ago.

The Drum Inn, the local pub/restaurant, was designed by the renowned architect Edwin Lutyens. It opened in 1936 to replace the old ale-house.

The Almshouses consist of seven terraced cottages built during the reign of King James I of England by the Cary family to house the poor and those who could not work within the village. When the Mallock family took over the Cockington estate, the almshouses fell into disrepair. They were rebuilt between 1790 and 1810.

A historic water millstands in the middle of the village.

Cockington Forge has been in the same place in the village for 500 years.

Cockington Court

Cockington Court was the mansion house of the Mallock family, and remains the focal point of the estate. Originally built in the 16th century, it has few architectural features remaining from then, but was altered and extended several times, particularly in 1673 by Rawlyn Mallock and about 1820 by the Rev'd Roger Mallock. He had the top floor removed and the interior remodelled. Its historical significance merits great care in maintaining its existing fabric and in ensuring new elements are sympathetically designed.

Cockington Court Craft Centre

The house was built over the remains of a mediæval hall. It is now filled with various handicraft|arts and crafts workshops.

In her youth, Agatha Christie regularly visited Cockington. Her novel Why Didn't They Ask Evans? is dedicated to Christopher Mallock. The Mallock family were friends of Christie's from the years before her first marriage. The Mallocks staged amateur theatricals at Cockington Court, in which Christie, managing to overcome her usual crippling shyness, took part.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Cockington)

• Cockington Court