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Lewtrenchard is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. Most of the larger village of Lewdown is in the parish. In the Domesday Book of 1086, a manor of Lew is recorded in this area and two rivers have the same name: see
River Lew A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wa ...
. Trenchard comes from the lords of the manor in the 13th century.


Lew House

Lew House (or Lewtrenchard Manor) was built in the early 17th century (a datestone says 1620) but was altered considerably by the Victorian squire and parson Sabine Baring-Gould who resided there for many years. In 1872 he inherited the family estates of Lew Trenchard, which comprised 3,000 acres (12 km2), and the gift of the living of Lew Trenchard parish. He was already in holy orders, so when the living became vacant in 1881, on the death of his uncle Charles Baring-Gould, he was able to appoint himself to it, becoming
parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term d ...
as well as squire. He did a great deal of work restoring St. Peter's Church and his home Lew House, which has been preserved as he rebuilt it and is now a hotel.


Parish Church

The Parish Church of St Peter (originally dedicated to
St Petroc Saint Petroc or Petrock ( lat-med, Petrocus; cy, Pedrog; french: link=no, Perreux; ) was a British prince and Christian saint. Probably born in South Wales, he primarily ministered to the Britons of Devon (Dewnans) and Cornwall (Kernow) then f ...
) is not of great architectural interest: the upper part of the tower is of granite ashlar and there is a fine series of benchends similar to those found in Cornish churches. These were returned to their original places when Sabine Baring-Gould replaced the deal box-pews that had been installed by his uncle. There are monuments of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries to many Goulds and Baring-Goulds, including that of Beatrice Gracieuse Baring-Gould (d. 1876, aged 3), 1879, by Knittel of Fribourg (many of the earlier ones were moved here from Staverton by the parson as part of his programme of
restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...
). There is a painting of the Adoration of the Magi by the mediocre artist (Melchior-)Paul von Deschwanden (another copy is at Fribourg). The rood screen, carved by the
Pinwill sisters The Pinwill sisters (consisting of Mary (1871–1962), Ethel (1872–1951) and Violet (1874–1957)) were British professional woodcarvers in Devon from 1890 onwards. Although in their era there were women who produced stained glass, sculpture, ...
, is impressive and was designed to resemble the one installed in 1523-24: it is adorned by 23 paintings, by Sabine Baring-Gould's daughter, Margaret (Daisy), 11 of the life of Jesus and 12 of Westcountry saints, and was completed in 1915.


Battle of Gafulford

Galford near Lewdown is assumed to be the site of the Battle of Gafulford in the 9th century. The ''
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...
'' states that in 825 (adjusted date) a battle was fought involving the "West Welsh" and the "Defnas". it states:- ''"The Westwealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) fought at Gafulforda"''. However, there is no mention of who won or who lost, whether the men of Cornwall and Devon were fighting each other or on the same side, and no mention of Egbert of Wessex. Local vicar Sabine Baring-Gould was the first to suggest that Gafulforda should be identified as Galford on the banks of the River Lew. He gave the name Galford a Celtic origin (''Gafi'' a holdfast, and ''ffordd'' a road), though a more recent derivation is ''Gafol-ford'' meaning ''tax/tribute ford''. Others, however, have suggested that Gafulford should be placed at Camelford, some 60 km further west.


Notable residents

*
Jethro Jethro is a male given name meaning "overflow". It is derived from the Hebrew word ''Yithrô''. People named Jethro * Kenneth C. "Jethro" Burns (1920–1989), mandolin player in satirical country music duo Homer and Jethro * Jethro Franklin ...
(1948-2021), West Country
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
, resided in Lewdown. * Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924), Anglican priest, hymn writer, landowner, antiquarian. Thomas Wood of Lew Trenchard built a mansion at
Trevillet Trevillet or ''Trevillett'' is a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is located within the civil parish of Tintagel, to the east of Bossiney village. Trevillet was the site of a mansion built in the 16th century by Thomas Wood of Lew ...
, Tintagel, Cornwall, in the 16th century. His son John became member of Parliament for the borough of Bossiney in the parliaments of 1614 and 1621–22, and died in 1623.Canner, A. C. (1982) ''The Parish of Tintagel''. Camelford: A. C. Canner; pp. 37-38


References

*Dickinson, Bickford H. C. The Parish Church fSt Peter, Lew Trenchard, & the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould. ew Trenchard: the Author, ca. 1963


External links


GENUKI article on Lew Trenchard
{{Devon parishes Villages in the Borough of West Devon Military history of Cornwall Battles involving the Cornish Former manors in Devon Civil parishes in Devon