Tetcott
| Tetcott | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Holy Cross Church, Tetcott | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX330966 |
| Location: | 50°44’42"N, 4°22’2"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | EX22 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Torridge |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Torridge and West Devon |
Tetcott is a hamlet in northern Devon, about five miles south of the town of Holsworthy. To the west is the River Tamar which forms the Cornish border. In 2001 the parish population was 110; half that of a century earlier (220 in 1901).[1]
Tetcott, excluding the wider parish, consists almost solely of the manor house and parish church, Holy Cross.[2] There are however other hamlets in the parish, the largest of which is Lana about half a mile to the south-east.
Parish church
The parish church was dedicated by the Bishop of Waterford in 1338 or 1339. Before the Reformation it was dedicated to the Trinity. In 1740 the parish feast day was said to have been 3 May (the feast date of the Invention of the True Cross) probably leading, according to Nicholas Orme, to its present dedication to "Holy Cross", the first record of which dates from 1742.[3]
The present-day church has a Norman font and partly dates from the 13th century with some 16th-century additions, mainly the tower.[4] The church was restored in 1890.
Holy Cross has one bell, though three are recorded in an inventory of 1553. A local tradition says that the treble bell at North Tamerton, across the River Tamar, came from Tetcott church and John Taylor the bell-founder having recast North Tamerton's ring of five in the early 19th century sold the treble to Tetcott so that the parishioners at North Tamerton could hear it across the valley and decide to acquire it.[5]
The south transept of the church, known as the Arscott Chapel, contains an ornate pew for the family and notable pew railings dating from around 1700.[4] There are also four memorials to members of that family, the most elaborate to John Arscott (died 1675), who was Sheriff of Devon, and his wife.[6]
The Arscott of Tetcott
W. G. Hoskins described the Arscotts as one of the ancient families of freeholders that rose to the ranks of the squirearchy over a period of 300 years or so by the steady accumulation of property, mostly through marriage.[7] Originating at Arscott (now known as South Arscott, north of the town of Holsworthy),[8][9] a junior branch of the family moved to Tetcott in about 1550.[4]
Arthur Arscott (1554–1618) built a new manor house at Tetcott in 1603,[10] which survives today in expanded form. A new and larger house was built adjacent to it by his descendants during the reign of Queen Anne (1702–1714).
References
- ↑ Harris, Helen (2004). A Handbook of Devon Parishes. Tiverton: Halsgrove. p. 168. ISBN 1-84114-314-6.
- ↑ Hoskins, pp.492–3
- ↑ Orme, Nicholas (1996). English Church Dedications. University of Exeter Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-85989-516-5.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Hoskins, p.493.
- ↑ Scott, John; Mack, Frank; Clarke, James (2007). Towers & Bells of Devon. Volume Two. Exeter: The Mint Press. p. 387. ISBN 978-1-90335645-6.
- ↑ Stabb, John (c. 1916). Some Old Devon Churches. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co. Ltd.. p. 229. http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/Tetcott/Stabb-Tetcott.html.
- ↑ Hoskins, p.79. He includes the Acland, Furse, Monk, and Edgcumbe families and a "whole host" of others in this description.
- ↑ Hoskins, p.411. He says the family started here in the time of Henry III.
- ↑ Day, W. I. Leeson (1934). Parochial Histories of Devonshire, No 2 – Holsworthy. The Devonshire Association. pp. 2 (map facing), 29.
- ↑ Hoskins, p.493; Pevsner (p.802) states however that the 1603 datestone was removed from Tetcott Mill and affixed to the present house in the 20th century
- Hoskins, W.G.: 'A New Survey of England: Devon' (1959; first published 1954)
- Luke, W.H., J. Arscott of Tetcote, Esq., and his Jester, Black John, Plymouth, 1880.
- Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Devon, 1952; 1989 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09596-8
- Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L. (Ed.): 'The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895'
- Lauder, Rosemary, 'Vanished Houses of North Devon' (2005) chapter on Tetcott Manor, pp. 39–41.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Tetcott) |