Werrington () is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and former manor now in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, United Kingdom. Prior to boundary changes it straddled the Tamar and lay within the county of

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 ...

. The portion on the west side was transferred to Cornwall by the abolition of Broadwoodwidger Rural District by the Local Government Commission for England in 1966. Pevsner, Nikolaus & Cherry, Bridget, The Buildings of England: Devon, London, 2004, p.896 It is situated to the west of the Tamar, the traditional boundary between Devon and Cornwall, and north of Launceston.

Geography

White's ''Devonshire Directory'' (1850) described the parish of Werrington as being near the River Tamar and the

Bude Canal The Bude Canal was a canal built to serve the hilly hinterland in the Cornwall and Devon border territory in the United Kingdom, chiefly to bring lime-bearing sand for agricultural fertiliser. The Bude Canal system was one of the most unusual ...

and having an area of c. 5,000 acres. Yeolmbridge, Druxton and Eggbeer were then within the parish which was included in

Black Torrington Hundred The hundred of Black Torrington was the name of one of thirty two ancient administrative units of Devon, England. The parishes in the hundred were: Abbots Bickington; Ashbury; Ashwater; Beaworthy; Belstone; Black Torrington; Boyton (Cornwa ...

. Druxton Bridge is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

16th century road bridge.

Manor

The descent of the manor of Werrington was as follows:

Crown

Before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

of 1066, the manor of Werrington, in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

Black Torrington Black Torrington is a village and civil parish in Torridge, Devon, England, situated between the towns of Holsworthy and Hatherleigh. It is located on and named after (the dark waters of) the River Torridge. In the 2021 UK census, the populati ...

, was the sole possession of

Gytha of Wessex Gytha of Wessex ( – 1098 or 1107; ) was one of several daughters of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, and his consort, Edith the Fair. Through marriage to Vladimir II Monomakh, Gytha became the princess of Smolensk (1073 ...

(died 1098 or 1107), the daughter of King Harold (d.1066). 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 it is recorded as ''Ulvredintone''. Containing 186 households it was far and away the largest settlement in the far west.

Tavistock Abbey

In about 1066-8 she gave it to

Tavistock Abbey Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Mary, the mother of Jesus, Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. The Abbey was surrendered in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monaste ...

, Hoskins, W.G., A New Survey of England: Devon, London, 1959 (first published 1954), p.513 which held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. According to Risdon (d.1640) Werrington continued to be the "principal manor" of the

honour Honour (Commonwealth English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a quality of a person that is of both social teaching and personal ethos, that manifests itself ...

of the Abbots of Tavistock until Dissolution.

Russell

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries Werrington was granted by King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...

in 1540, together with most of the other vast possessions of Tavistock Abbey, to John Russell, 1st Baron Russell (1485–1555)(later 1st

Earl of Bedford Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England and is currently a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Bedford. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded ...

). In 1810 the manor of Werrington was said to include three parishes: Werrington, St Giles-in-the-Heath and North Petherwin, and was still owned by the Russell family, namely by

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the father ...

(1766–1839), whose steward held courts for the manor. However, it appears that while the manor was retained by the Russells, the estate of Werrington within the manor was sold to Edward Woodward and Henry and Bartholomew Lucas.Cornwall Record Office, Werrington Estate Records, covering dates 1433 – 1909, ref: WW, Introduction The "steward of the court of the Earl of Bedford" at Werrington in about 1600 was John Twiggs, whose family pedigree is included in the 1620

Heraldic Visitation 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 regulat ...

of Devon. John Twiggs's grandson was Richard Twiggs "of Werrington", whose son was Benjamin Twiggs (1616-c.1678/9) "of Werrington", who both described themselves as "of Werrington" in their wills.

Drake

The estate of Werrington was acquired in 1620 by Sir Francis Drake, 1st Baronet (1588–1637), of

Buckland Monachorum Buckland Monachorum is a village and civil parish in the West Devon district of Devon, England, situated on the River Tavy, about 10 miles north of Plymouth. In 2006 the neighbourhood had an estimated 1,511 residents and 654 dwellings. The elect ...

in Devon, nephew of the famous Admiral Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...

(d.1596). In 1631 he obtained a royal licence to empark lands in Werrington and St. Stephen by Launceston and later rebuilt the manor house. In 1649

Sir Francis Drake, 2nd Baronet Sir Francis Drake, 2nd Baronet (25 September 1617 – 6 January 1662) of Buckland Abbey, Devon was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons variously between 1646 and 1662. He was a Colonel of ...

(1617–1662) purchased the nearby manor of Launceston and the borough of Newport in the parish of St. Stephen, and moved his main residence to Buckland Monachorum, whereupon he sold Werrington to Sir William Morice.

Morice

The estate was sold in 1651 to Sir William Morice (1602–1676), Secretary of State to King Charles II, who also purchased from the Drake family the manor of Launceston. The present mansion, today known as ''Werrington Park'' was built by one of his descendants in the 1730s, possibly to the design of

William Kent William Kent (c. 1685 – 12 April 1748) was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, b ...

,Hoskins, p.513 which involved the demolition and re-siting of the parish church of St Martin.

Percy

The manor with 11,000 acres was purchased in 1775 by

Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland, (6 June 1786) was an English peer, politician, and landowner. Origins Hugh Smithson was born , the son of Langdale Smithson (b. 1682) of Langdale, and Philadelphia Reveley. He was a grandson of Sir Hu ...

(1714–1786), who further embellished the interior. He also purchased all the outlying tenements in Newport and much property in the borough of Launceston.

Various 1864–1882

Between 1864 and 1882 Werrington passed through a succession of brief ownerships. In 1864 Werrington was purchased by Alexander Hey Campbell, a Manchester merchant, MP for Launceston from 1865 to 1868. In 1868 he sold it to William Wentworth Fitzwilliam Dick, of County Wicklow, Ireland, who sold it in 1871 to Col. James Henry Deakin I (1823–1880), a Manchester merchant, briefly Member of Parliament for Launceston, who was succeeded in that seat by his son James Henry Deakin II (1851–1881). During this period much of the peripheral lands and properties of the estate were sold off.

Williams

The estate was acquired in 1882 by John Charles Williams (1861–1939) of

Caerhays Castle Caerhays Castle or Carhayes Castle () is a semi-castellated country house built in 1808, south of the village centre, St Michael Caerhays, Cornwall, England. It overlooks Porthluney Cove on the English Channel. The garden has a large collection ...

, who renovated the house, including a re-modelling of the East Range.

Church of St Martin

The churches of Werrington and

St Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

, both in Devon, had the status of chapelries in the Middle Ages; the impropriators of the churches of North Petherwin (Tavistock Abbey) and St Stephen's by Launceston (Launceston Priory). A settlement of the dispute was made in 1500 in favour of the priory which undertook the cost of a resident chaplain to serve both Werrington and St Giles. The original site of the parish church of St Martin was in Werrington Park but it was re-built in 1742 on a new site in the Gothic style; the tower is from the old church. The front in the earliest Gothic Revival style suggests that the architect could have been William Kent. There are two fonts: one is plain and Norman and the other contemporary with the rebuilding. There is a peal of eight bells.Dove, R. H. (1982) ''A Bellringer's Guide to the Church Bells of Britain''; 6th ed. Aldershot: Viggers; p. 116

Sources

Cornwall Record Office, Werrington Estate Records, covering dates 1433 – 1909, ref: WW, Introduction