Croker's Hele, Meeth
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Croker's Hele is an historic estate in the parish of
Meeth Meeth is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a ...
in
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
.


Descent


Domesday Book

It was one of several estates split-off from the single manor of ''Hele'', listed in 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
of 1086 as the 47thThorn, Caroline & Frank, (eds.) Domesday Book, (Morris, John, gen.ed.) Vol. 9, Devon, Parts 1 & 2, Phillimore Press, Chichester, 1985, Part 2 (Notes), Chapter 15:47 of the 79 Devonshire holdings of
Robert, Count of Mortain Robert, Count of Mortain, first Earl of Cornwall of 2nd creation (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at t ...
(died 1090), half-brother of King
William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
and one of his
Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the we ...
. Robert's tenant was Erchenbald, who held from Robert several other Devonshire manors, including Culleigh,
Alverdiscott Alverdiscott (pronounced ''Alscott'', or ) is a village, civil parish, former manor and former ecclesiastical parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England, centred south-south-west of Barnstaple. Besides the small village of Alverdiscott ...
,
Bratton Fleming Bratton Fleming is a large village, civil parish and former manor in Devon, England, about north-east of Barnstaple and near the western edge of Exmoor. The parish includes the hamlets of Knightacott and Stowford. The population of the parish ...
,
Croyde Croyde is a village on the west-facing coastline of North Devon, England. The village lies on the South West Coast Path near Baggy Point, which is owned by the National Trust. It lies within the North Devon Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Be ...
and Stockleigh. The single manor of Hele listed in the Domesday Book probably involves two adjacent manors of that name, one in the parish of
Petrockstowe Petrockstowe (or Petrockstow) is a small village and civil parish in the district of Torridge in Northern Devon, England. Its population in 2001 was 379, hardly different from the figure of 385 recorded in 1901. The southern boundary of the pa ...
the other in
Meeth Meeth is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a ...
. Later sources evidence three further subdivisions of Hele which had occurred by that time, namely: *''Hele Sechevil'', named after its then lord Richard de Sechevil (the Satchville family were seated at
Heanton Satchville, Petrockstowe Heanton Satchville was a historic Manorialism, manor in the parish of Petrockstowe, North Devon, England. With origins in the Domesday manor of Hantone, it was first recorded as belonging to the Yeo family in the mid-14th century and was then ...
), as listed in the
Book of Fees The ''Book of Fees'' is the colloquial title of a modern edition, transcript, rearrangement and enhancement of the medieval (Latin: 'Book of Fiefs') which is a listing of feudal landholdings or fief (Middle English ), compiled in about 1302, bu ...
(c.1302). It was later held by John Crokker as listed in the Feudal Aids 1284-1431. This is therefore believed to have become today's ''Crocker's Hele'' in the parish of Meeth. *''Hele Pore/Pouere'', held with Hele Sechevil by Robert de Stocheye of Stockey in the parish of Meeth, as listed in the Feudal Aids 1284-1431. Hele Pore/Pouere was later known as ''Fry's Hele'' (today corrupted to "Friar's Hele"), after it was acquired by the Fry family. It was held by Geoffrey Frye as listed in the Feudal Aids 1284-1431. ''Fry's Hele'' is in the parish of Meeth. This is the earliest known seat of the Fry family, of which the prominent branch seated at
Yarty Yarty is an historic estate in the parish of Membury, Devon, Membury in Devon, and was from the 14th century until 1726 for many centuries the principal seat of the Fry family. It takes its name from the River Yarty which flows near or through ...
in the parish of Membury is assumed to be a branch, which bore a differenced version of the arms of Fry of Fry's Hele. The Fry family of Fry's Hele died out in the 16th century on the death of John Fry, and his daughter and sole-heiress Elizabeth Fry brought the estate to her husband Thomas Parker (d.1545) of
North Molton North Molton is a village, parish and former Manorialism, manor in North Devon, England. The population of the parish in 2001 was 1,047, decreasing to 721 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. An electoral ward with the same name also ...
, thus she was the ancestress of the
Parker Baronets There have been seven baronetcies created for persons with the surname Parker, three in the Baronetage of England, two in the Baronetage of Great Britain and two in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. Two of the creations are extant as of 2008 ...
of
Melford Hall Melford Hall is a stately home in the village of Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Since 1786 it has been the seat of the Parker Baronets and is still lived in by the Hyde Parker family. Since 1960 it has been owned by the National Trust. The ...
in Suffolk and of Viscount Boringdon and
Earl of Morley Earl of Morley, of Morley in the County of Devon, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for John Parker, 2nd Baron Boringdon. At the same time he was created Viscount Boringdon, of North Molton in the County o ...
of
Saltram House Saltram House is a listed building, grade I listed George II of Great Britain, George II era house in Plympton, Devon, England. It was deemed by the architectural critic Nikolaus Pevsner to be "the most impressive country house in Devon". ...
in Devon. *''Hele Godyng'', today "Hele Barton" in the parish of Petrockstowe, held by Thomas Tyrel as listed in the Feudal Aids 1284-1431.


Croker

Hele is the earliest known Devonshire seat of the prominent Crocker family, which according to a traditional Devon rhyme:
Crocker, Cruwys, and Copplestone,
When the Conqueror came were all at home
was one of just three Devon families to have a pre-Conquest pedigree – a claim dismissed by
W. G. Hoskins William George Hoskins (22 May 1908 – 11 January 1992) was an English local historian who founded the first university department of English Local History. His great contribution to the study of history was in the field of landscape history. ...
as a "hackneyed jingle" with "not a word of truth in it". Croker's Hele was the seat of William Crocker, living during the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377). He is the earliest member of the family recorded in the
Heraldic Visitations Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or alternatively by heralds, or junior officers of arms, acting as the kings' deputies) throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulate ...
of Devon, Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.254 although one of his ancestors is known to have been Richard Crocker (fl.1335) of Devon, England, a Member of Parliament for
Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency) Tavistock was a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the town of Tavistock; it returned two ...
in Devon in 1335. In the 14th century Croker's Hele was abandoned by John Crocker (William's grandson) in favour of Lyneham in the parish of
Yealmpton Yealmpton () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English county of Devon. It is located in the South Hams on the A379 road, A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and is about from Plymouth. Its name derives fr ...
, Devon, which he had inherited from his wife Alice Gambon, daughter and heiress of John Gambon of Lyneham. The last male of the Crocker family of Lyneham was Courtenay Crocker (died 1740), several times MP for Plympton.


Present day

Since 2014 Crocker's Hele has contained a
solar farm A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...
with power capacity of over 1 MW.


Notes

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References

Historic estates in Devon