Winscott was a historic manor in the parish of

Peters Marland Peters Marland is a small village and civil parish in the local government district of Torridge, Devon, England. The parish, which lies about four miles south of the town of Great Torrington, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes ...

, north

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. Winscott House was built or re-built in 1865 and was demolished after 1931. Winscott was a seat of the Stevens family also of Velstone, in the parish of

Buckland Brewer Buckland Brewer is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, 4.7 miles south of Bideford. Historically the parish formed part of Shebbear Hundred. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 777, increasin ...

and

Cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

, in the parish of

Little Torrington Little Torrington is a village and a civil parish near Great Torrington, in the Torridge district, north Devon, England. In 2001 the population of the civil parish of Little Torrington was 420 and in 2011 it was 376, according to census data. L ...

, the latter existing today as a large Georgian mansion about 2 miles south of

Great Torrington Great Torrington (often abbreviated to Torrington, though the villages of Little Torrington and Black Torrington are situated in the same region) is a market town in Devon, England. Parts of it are sited on high ground with steep drops down to ...

House

There must have been a house at Winscott for several centuries – it was the home of the Stevens family, long prominent in Torrington. The family also owned

, a large house on the outskirts of that town. The old Winscott property had vanished by October 1865 when plans for a large Victorian mansion for Mr J. C. Moore-Stevens were published in ''

The Builder ''Building'' is one of the United Kingdom's oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as ''The Builder'' in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed ''Bu ...

''. The new house was built of local yellow brick from the Marland clay works nearby. Said to have cost over £7,000, the building incorporated a central hall almost 30 feet square. Left empty in 1920, it was finally demolished and all that remains today is a flat area in the middle of a field.

History

Domesday Book

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 records the manor of "Winescote" as one of thirty-one manors, including "Mirland" (Peters Marland) and "Tuchbere" (Twigbeare), held by Roald Dubbed. Before 1066 it was held by Alwin.

Stevens

;Richard Stevens (1702-1776) Richard Stevens (1702-1776) of Winscott, was MP for

Callington Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston. Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...

in Cornwall. His mural monument exists in Peters Marland Church. He married Elizabeth (1707-1760), of unknown family, by whom he had three sons who pre-deceased him without children and two daughters who were also without children. His daughter Elizabeth Stevens (1727-1792) married twice, firstly to Robert Awse, and secondly in 1782 to John Clevland (1734-1817) of Tapely, MP for

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town in North Devon, England, at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool and won great wealth. Later it imported Irish wool, bu ...

1766-1802. ;Thomas Moore-Stevens (1782-1832) Thomas Moore-Stevens succeeded to Winscott under the will of Elizabeth Clevland, He adopted the name and arms of Stevens, by royal licence dated 12 July 1817, on the death of John Clevland, as a condition of his wife's will. According to the death notices in the 1832 Annual Register, Thomas Moore-Stevens died by suicide. ;John Curzon Moore-Stevens (1818-1903), JP, DL. He was the son and heir of Thomas Moore-Stevens and was MP for

North Devon North Devon is a local government district in Devon, England. North Devon Council is based in Barnstaple. Other towns and villages in the North Devon District include Braunton, Fremington, Ilfracombe, Instow, South Molton, Lynton and Lynmouth ...

and

High Sheriff of Devon The High Sheriff of Devon is the Queen's representative for the County of Devon, a territory known as his/her bailiwick. Selected from three nominated people, they hold the office for one year. They have judicial, ceremonial and administrative f ...

in 1870. He rebuilt Winscott in 1865, immediately following his inheritance, at a cost of over £7,000. He served as a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and Winscott House was built with its own "Justice Room" with a separate entrance and lobby. He also rebuilt the nave and chancel of St Peter's Church, Peters Marland, in 1865, also to the designs of William White.Lauder, Rosemary, Vanished Houses of North Devon, Tiverton, 2005, pp. 54–5 ;Richard Moore-Stevens (1854-1931) Col. Richard Arthur Moore-Stevens (1854-1931), was the son and heir of John Curzon Moore-Stevens. In 1886 he married his third cousin May Clare Sophy Haworth. They had three children: John (born 1900), Ralph (born 1904) and Joyce.Fox-Davies A very religious man, he disinherited his son for marrying a Roman Catholic. He shut up Winscott House in around 1920 and moved to Exeter.

Sale of estate

Some time after Richard Arthur Moore-Stevens died, the Winscott estate was sold. A timber merchant purchased the grounds and felled the trees, whilst the building firm of Chambers of

Winkleigh Winkleigh is a civil parish and small village in Devon, England. It is part of the local government area of Torridge District Council. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 1,305, compared to 1,079 in 1901. The population of the el ...

purchased the house, which was eventually demolished without a trace surviving above ground. Some materials were used to construct a new village hall. A few specimen trees survive, but all traces of the orchard, terraces, tennis court and walled garden have vanished. The imposing entrance gates and lodge survive.

References